This film had been shown on local Cable TV in the late 1990s, but I had missed out on its handful of broadcasts; in any case, the main reason that would have drawn me to it was the fact that amiable character actor Walter Brennan won the second of three Supporting Oscars (a record, also because all occurred within a five-year span!) for his performance here. In retrospect, while his contribution is easily the best thing about the movie, I would argue that Brennan's fellow nominees were perhaps more deserving of the accolade – since, for one thing, none would ever win eventually and they each involved more demanding roles! For the record, I have yet to catch Basil Rathbone in IF I WERE KING (as the French King Louis XI), but did get to see John Garfield in FOUR DAUGHTERS (his renowned debut), Gene Lockhart in ALGIERS (though Malta's own Joseph Calleia, in his personal favorite part, was no less impressive!) and Robert Morley in MARIE ANTOINETTE (as Louis XVI).The film is nevertheless also notable for its gleaming Technicolor: that said, the thin narrative of a Southern Romeo and Juliet-type feud was hardly worthy of such exclusive attention, especially since its horse- racing backdrop had already been (more) successfully dealt with in monochrome in such classics as Frank Capra's Broadway BILL (1934) and the Marx Bros. vehicle A DAY AT THE RACES (1937)! Anyway, following a nicely atmospheric prologue set during the Civil War (the participation of Karen Morley and Douglass Dumbrille is restricted to this sequence), we fast-forward to contemporary times as their offsprings, Richard Greene and Loretta Young respectively, end up romancing each other without the latter knowing the former's true identity; he even trains their sole remaining horse (actually owed to them by Greene's banker father) after the patriarch blows away all their money on cotton whose price "nose-dived" soon after!Brennan is the man's brother, a connoisseur of thoroughbreds but who is deemed an eccentric on account of his irascible behaviour – indeed, while Young had her eyes set on the champion stud in the Greene family stable, her uncle persuades the heroine to settle for the second-best – because he saw in its eyes what he calls "The Look Of Eagles", the title of the story which inspired the film! Incidentally, the scene where the stallion is chosen constitutes an undeniable highlight – the crooked groom hides the two horses from their enemies, but Eddie "Rochester" Anderson's singing the champion's praises are enthusiastically joined in by Brennan, egging him on into revealing its whereabouts! Despite the subject matter, only two contests are incorporated into the plot (and with the first being only heard on the radio in the ticket booth); both are won by the horse Brennan had faith in…but its triumph at the all- important derby is too-briefly enjoyed by him, since he suffers a heart attack and expires at the racetrack. Unsurprisingly, 'uneducated' black servants abound throughout – notably a chicken thief expelled from one household and taken in by another. Finally, I guess I ought to point out that this was thrice remade – as DOWN ARGENTINE WAY (1940), HOME IN INDIANA (1944; also featuring Brennan) and APRIL LOVE (1957) – but, it goes without saying, I have no immediate interest in checking them out...

I'll have to begin with the biggest negative to this film. Do we really need yet another film where young Bobs Watson demonstrates his ability to cry hysterically????? In "Boys Town" it was touching, but it got sickening after a while.Beyond that, this is a really good film. Particularly because one of its supporting actors, and in my view the real star of the film -- Walter Brennan -- who at 40 years of age was able to skillfully play the grandfather (who had been played in childhood by Bobs Watson).The titled star of the film -- Loretta Young -- doesn't arrive until 18 minutes into the film, but I think that tells you something about the intent here -- to make a good film, not just highlight the stars. She's beautiful, and one can see why she was a star. This was one of her few color films. The other star is Richard Greene, a British actor who was building to a great career until the war intervened, and never quite got it back together after the conflict. He's very good here.What isn't so good any longer is the color, which has faded somewhat and is a bit uneven, particularly on Loretta Young's face. Almost makes this look like a colorized film, but it's real Technicolor. And, the age and lack of restoration has made the print shown on TCM not crisp. However, the original production standards here were high, and it's noticeable.This film is far better than its listing description, which makes it sound like a hillbilly film with two feuding families. Yes, the families are feuding, but they're not hillbillies...they're the horse-racing elite of Kentucky -- families divided years before by the Civil War (that part of the story is highlighted in the first 15 minutes of the film, then it forwards to the "present" time...where Loretta Young and Richard Greene come in).Films all have happy endings. Right? Wrong. The ending here is bittersweet, at best. And throughout the picture, 3 key characters die. But again, that proves that the producers here wanted a solid story, and they deliver.A fine film. Watch it!

Kentucky (1938) *** (out of 4) Fun film involves two horse racing families from Kentucky who have been doing battle since the start of the Civil War and it continues to the current times. Eventually opposite family members Loretta Young and Richard Greene fall in love just as the Kentucky Derby comes around where Greene tries to prove himself as a horse trainer. I was surprised to see how enjoyable thing film was and one of the big benefits is the Technicolor used in the film. These early Technicolor films are often hit and miss on how well they look but this film here is quite beautiful to look at. It's certainly one of the best looking early Technicolor films that I've seen from this period. Another nice thing are the performances, which are all a lot of fun. Neither Young nor Greene speak with a southern accent, although the screenplay gives a reason for Greene not doing so. Even with the accents being wrong, both work incredibly well together and this here helps the love story (and the fighting moments). Walter Brennan won the Best Supporting Actor Oscar and he gives a fun, if over the top, performance. His redneck antics are pretty over the top but it's still fun and keeps the film moving with some nice laughs. Being from Kentucky it was great seeing how Churchill Downs looked back then as well. The stereotypes of the black servants in the film might offend some as they all come off rather dumb but so do the Southern characters.

The Yankee ransacking prelude more or less spells out the eventuality that years later Young is going to fall for Greene and that their respective families are going to trample the path of true love. Quite literally, as the updated story is now played out against a bluegrass background.Get yourself into Hollywood mode and dispense with the logistics of script and story, and instead enjoy everything else. The performances, even though they embody strictly cliché and (predictably racial) caricature, are still marvellous for those who love a Fox-style wallow - Brennan won that year's Best Supporting Actor Oscar. The film is generally well and pacily edited, and the racing sequences are particularly exciting.The real star of this show though, for me, was the sublime photography which I can honestly say offered the most richest and well-preserved example of pre-40s 3-strip Technicolor I have so far seen. Even after more than 50 years, its luminescence (at least in this Channel 4 print) was breathtakingly striking and full of lustre, with yellow in particular registering far more strongly than I have previously seen in a 30s Technicolor movie, and natural outdoor verdance looking as if it had been sprayed with kiwi fruit dye. No doubt deployed deliberately to enhance the otherwise routine nature of the story, it would still take a considerable kick of horsepower to elevate the film to the grandeur of, say, 'Gone With The Wind', to which it bears more than a passing dramatic resemblance.