Item: A Day at Santa Anita
Rating: 4.9
Author: Archivist John

If you have about eighteen minutes to kill and you like looking at old Technicolor, this is probably worth your time. It’s a short film that feels like a 1930s version of an Instagram story, mostly just showing off how fancy the Santa Anita racetrack was back in the day.

Horse people will probably like it, but anyone looking for a heavy plot is going to be disappointed. It’s very light on its feet.

The whole thing stars Sybil Jason as Peaches. She was Warner Bros.' answer to Shirley Temple, but she feels a bit more natural, even if her lines are kind of stiff.

Her dad was a horse trainer who passed away, leaving her with her uncle and a horse named High Jinks. The horse is supposedly heartbroken, which the movie shows by having the horse just... stand there looking like a horse.

The Technicolor is the real star here. It is so bright it almost hurts your eyes, but in a good way. Everything looks like it was painted with neon sugar.

The grass at the track is a green I don't think actually exists in nature. It makes the whole world look like a toy set.

I noticed a lot of the background extras seem to be looking directly at the camera. It gives the whole thing this slightly awkward, homemade feel despite the big budget color.

One of the weirdest things is the celebrity cameos. They just sort of happen without much fanfare.

You see Al Jolson and Ruby Keeler just sitting in the stands. Then Bette Davis pops up for a second, looking remarkably like she’s just trying to enjoy her lunch.

It’s funny to see these icons just being background noise. It’s like the director told them, "Just act like you’re at the races," and they took it very literally.

There is a scene where Sybil Jason’s character is talking to the horse in the stable. The lighting is weirdly dark compared to the rest of the film, and the shadows on the horse's face make it look kind of spooky.

The plot moves fast, which is a blessing. High Jinks won't run, the uncle is worried, and then Peaches shows up to save the day.

It’s the kind of logic you find in a lot of these shorts, like Horace Greeley, Jr. where everything is solved by a kid being cute. It’s simple, but it works if you don't overthink it.

I did find myself wondering about the logistics of the race. They use real footage of the track, and the scale of the crowd is actually pretty impressive.

There are thousands of people in the stands. It makes you realize how huge horse racing was as a social event back then.

Matthew "Stymie" Beard from the Little Rascals shows up too. He’s great, as always, though his role is tiny and mostly just there for flavor.

The music is constantly blaring in the background. It’s that old-school orchestral swell that tells you exactly how to feel every five seconds.

It gets a bit exhausting after a while. Sometimes silence is okay, guys.

The climax of the race is edited pretty well, actually. You get some POV shots from the horses that feel surprisingly modern for 1937.

One shot of the horses rounding the turn is a bit blurry, but it adds to the speed. It felt more real than the scripted parts.

The ending is very abrupt. The horse wins, everyone is happy, and the screen just kind of fades out.

It doesn't have the polish of something like Ye Olden Days, but it has a certain charm. It’s more of a postcard than a movie.

I’ll say this: Sybil Jason’s hat in the final scene is massive. It’s almost wider than her shoulders.

If you're into the history of the studio system, seeing how they used these shorts to test out Technicolor and promote their stars is fascinating. Otherwise, it’s just a sweet story about a kid and her pony.

It’s not going to win any awards in your heart, but it’s a nice little distraction. 🐎