Stablemates (1938)

“Stablemates” is a 1938 film starring Mickey Rooney and Wallace Beery that not only showcases their skills and personalities but also displays values useful today.When racehorse Lady Q unexpectedly starts running slower and losing races, her owner (Arthur Holt) fires stable boy Mickey (Mickey Rooney) and plans to ship the horse off to a bad fate. Loving Lady Q, Mickey takes her in lieu of money owed. Tom (Wallace Beery) has been watching Lady Q and thinks the problem is medical. Despite Tom’s apparent inebriation and furtive behavior, Mickey is able to work out that Tom is a skilled veterinarian and gets Tom to operate on Lady Q. Tom and Mickey go to the beach to work on rehabilitating Lady Q.The mostly successful project leads parentless Mickey to suggest to childless Tom that they create their own family by having Tom be “Pop” and Mickey be the son. Both like the idea, and they perform their own adoption ritual. Mickey wants to become a veterinarian too.The big initial problem is that they have no money to pay the $75 entry fee to the next horse race in Burlington. They make do working on the farm of five-times-widowed Beulah Flanders (Margaret Hamilton) and get most of the way to the goal.The second problem is when Mickey goes into Burlington to buy a race entry form, he runs into Barney Donovan (Minor Watson), a race track detective, who says that Tom is a veterinarian fleeing a manslaughter charge. Donovan starts asking questions about Mickey’s “father”.How does it resolve? Being a 1930’s movie, the good guys win and those who deserve punishment get it.Wallace Beery and Mickey Rooney have a grand time and play well off each other, although more sentimentally than would be shown nowadays. Beery ranged from drunk to fatherly to gracefully accepting. Rooney played his emotions largely, was kind to animals, was loyal, and showed off his physique on the beach and on the farm. They both were happy doing manual labor to build their savings. I also enjoyed the smaller performance of Margaret Hamilton, who ranged from a preview of the following year’s “The Wizard of Oz” to a woman smitten with Beery’s Tom.Both the black & white picture and sound are sharp, clear, and restored. My player timed the film out at 89.5 minutes, which matches IMDB’s 89 minute listing. The only extras are the theatrical trailer and the cover art with four still photos.“Stablemates” is enjoyable film with good values and a good place to see its stars.

A classic favorite. Mickey Rooney will steal your heart. And watch for Margaret Hamilton--- not as a witch, but as a very crusty gal, nonetheless!

Nice