Home | Movies By Year | Movies from 1923


Riding to Win

Buy Riding to Win now from Amazon

First, read the Wikipedia article. Then, scroll down to see what other TopShelfReviews readers thought about the movie. And once you've experienced the movie, tell everyone what you thought about it.

Wikipedia article




'Riding to Win' is an Australian comedy drama silent film starring Australian gangster Squizzy Taylor and his girlfriend Ida Pender. Made in 1922 it was banned by the Victorian censor but obtained release in Sydney and Brisbane under the title 'Bound to Win'.[http://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/taylor-joseph-leslie-squizzy-8762/text15355 Chris McConville, 'Taylor, Joseph Leslie (Squizzy) (18881927)', Australian Dictionary of Biography, National Centre of Biography, Australian National University] accessed 5 September 2013 It is considered a lost film.

Plot



A heroic jockey (Taylor) saves his girlfriend (Pender), the daughter of a horse trainer, from a criminal gang determined to stop him from riding the race favourite to win in the Eclipse Steeplechase.

Production



At the peak of Squizzy Taylor's fame, he was contacted by producer-director Eric Harrison who convinced Taylor and his then-girlfriend Pender to star in a sporting comedy drama which would exploit Taylor's experience as a jockey. Shooting took place in 1922 in Melbourne, with scenes shot at Caulfield and Moonee Valley. The working title was 'In Emergency Colours'.[http://www.nfsa.gov.au/blog/2013/07/26/squizzy-taylor-reel-life-gang-star/ Tenille Hands, "Squizzy Taylor, the reel-life gang-star", 'National Film and Sound Archive'] accessed 5 September 2013

Reception



The film was banned from public screening by Victorian censor on the basis it was "representing two persons who figured recently in Criminal Court proceedings".

Eventually Harrison obtained a release for the movie in under the title of 'Bound to Win' in Sydney in 1923 and Brisbane in 1925. It is not known how well the film performed financially although a contemporary newspaper report claimed "large numbers of people visited" the Majestic Theatre to see the Brisbane premiere.

Taylor died in a gunfight in 1927.



References



Category:Lost Australian films

Category:1923 films

Category:Australian silent feature films

Category:Australian black-and-white films

Category:Australian comedy-drama films

Category:1923 comedy-drama films

Category:1923 lost films

Category:Lost comedy-drama films

Category:Silent comedy films

Buy Riding to Win now from Amazon

<-- Return to movies from 1923



This work is released under CC-BY-SA. Some or all of this content attributed to http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=1109119587.