Rental of the Week: "The Story of Seabiscuit"

"The Story of Seabiscuit" is certainly a feel-good flick that I highly recommend! The 1949 movie stars Shirley Temple as an Irish girl named Margaret O'Hara. Margaret has come to America with her uncle, Shawn O'Hara, who is played by Barry Fitzgerald. Shawn is an Irish horse trainer who has been hired in the US by a man named Thomas Millford. Shawn is hesitant to train horses due to a recent race accident in Ireland that resulted in the death of his nephew, who was Margaret's brother. However, Shawn is an expert in judging horses on whether or not they have racehorse potential, and he convinces Thomas to keep an unprepossessing horse named Seabiscuit. Unfortunately, Thomas is talked out of the idea by his other trainer, George Carson. As for Thomas' jockey, Ted Knowles, he finds himself falling for Margaret, who is spending her time studying to be a nurse. Ted later talks to Shawn about pushing Margaret to liking him, but Shawn will only intervene if Ted will buy Seabiscuit. Ted agrees to the deal, but when he talks to Thomas about buying the horse, Thomas ends up giving into Shawn's faith in Seabiscuit instead. Sadly though, Seabiscuit performs poorly in races. Determined that Seabiscuit has excellent potential, Shawn convinces a racehorse owner from California to buy the horse. The owner, Charles Howard, buys Seabiscuit from Thomas along with Ted's racing contract. Shawn eventually makes Seabiscuit a winner, and Ted eventually woos Margaret, but if you want to know anything else, you're going to have to watch the movie yourself! I definitely recommend this movie to anyone who enjoys a feel-good feature! I've never seen the re-make of the film, but I doubt it can top this!