Riding High

RIDING HIGH is Frank Capra's remake of his own 1934 film BROADWAY BILL, in which romance and comedy play out against the backdrop of thoroughbred horse racing. Real-life racing enthusiast Bing Crosby takes over Warner Baxter's starring role from the earlier film (Baxter was admittedly skittish about horses) and lends greater emotional resonance--as well as a few musical sequences--to the lighthearted story of a wealthy businessman who abandons his privileged lifestyle in favor of racing horses. While Coleen Gray replaces Myrna Loy as co-star, most of the original cast members reprise their supporting roles--including Clarence Muse, Raymond Walburn, Margaret Hamilton, and Douglass Dumbrille--and Oliver Hardy appears without Stan Laurel in a memorable cameo.