She Went to the Races (1945)

(On Cable TV, December 2022) Horse-track romantic comedy is given a thin (but cute) scientific veneer in She Went to the Races, where a female scientist turns (with a few colleagues) to a mathematical system of horse-track betting in order to save her uncle from ruin. How mathematics can possibly predict horse racing is an idea that’s best left to degenerate gamblers and frantic screenwriters, but once you accept that premise, then the film becomes a lot easier to take in. There isn’t much going on here—but you get Frances Gifford and a pre-fame Ava Gardner competing for James Craig’s affections, with loonier performances from the supporting actors. As a comedy, it’s slight—you can argue that it’s funnier to watch Hollywood’s idea of scientists than the first-degree comedy of the film. As a romance, it’s more interesting but for the wrong reasons: Gifford feels bland whenever Gardner shows up on-screen, and it’s clear that Gardner (who was a year away from her big break) eclipsed the film’s designated lead. The rest of She Went to the Races is charming, but not essential nor all that memorable.