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A quite unique film, portraying a lost world before WW2, where lords and ladies and everyone else were dedicated to sportsmanship, and that meant horseracing.
The narrative runs in three stages, the first setting the scene in which a gypsy girl marries Lord Clontarf. When he dies prematurely she returns to the gypsy life in Spain. With the beginnings of the civil war making things there uncomfortable, her daughter Maria (Annabelle) must be spirited out of the country, dressed as a boy, and the main part of the story can begin.
She meets Kerry (Henry Fonda, at the early end of his career) and when she later reveals herself as a woman a love interest develops instantly. The climax of the film is at the Derby horse race, and this is the opportunity for us to see a glimpse of real life.
But the script is so other-worldly that it's difficult to enjoy it as an adventure film, and today the main interest is the view of that quaint and long-lost era.
It was the first British Technicolor film; and you get some live singing by the Irish tenor John McCormack; and the real life champion jockey Steve Donaghue appears.
HF August 2001
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