TIVOLI

Sun (Auckland), Volume I, Issue 155, 21 September 1927, Page 15

TIVOLI

."DOWN THE STRETCH” The soul of the race tracks has been captured by King Baggot in the stirring drama of the turf, “Down the Stretch,” a Universal Jewel production which will make its debut at the Tivoli Theatre to-morrow. There

is more to the race track than the churning of nervous crowds, the beat of hoofs, the frantic betting, and the fine gowned women. Behind all this there is a human story of the lads who ride and the girls< who love them. In the weary months of

,w ‘ ■ ——■■ weary iuuuuia ui training life is no glamorous pageant tor the people o£ the track. It is more often a grilling, hopeless striving, in which the weak drop out, and the strong survive, to be paid by a single moment of victory. In “Down the Stretch” Baggot has presented a sympathetic picture of life in the grey paddock. He has sounded the soul of an apprentice jockey under the iron hand of a heartless trainer. The boy weakens under the rigorous training, and wants to quit; but the love of a girl, and that burning desire to win that makes races, had got into his blood, and he stays for the great day that may mean tragedy or triumph. Marian Nixon is the sweetheart of the jockey, played by Robert Agnew. Otis Harlan of the funny feet plays a comic character part. Jack Dougherty, Ward Crane, and Virginia True Boardman are among the others in the all-star east.