Princess O'Hara: A strange, scrappy relic

Is it worth your time?

Honestly, only if you have a soft spot for 1930s fluff that feels like it was put together with scotch tape and good intentions. If you want something that makes a lick of sense, skip it. If you want to see a movie that feels like a weird, scrappy stage play on wheels, you’ll probably find something to grin at here.

The plot starts with a cab driver getting bumped off in a turf war, which is a dark start for a movie that quickly turns into a goofy caper about a stolen horse. It’s based on a Damon Runyon story, and you can tell. Everyone talks like they’re trying to impress a bartender with their vocabulary.

Jean Parker is in this, and she does her best to hold the screen while everything else feels like it’s falling apart around her. The whole thing with the racehorse feels like an afterthought. It's just a MacGuffin to get people running in circles. There is a scene about thirty minutes in where the pacing just hits a wall. It’s like the editor decided to take a nap right in the middle of a chase.

I found myself staring at the background extras more than the leads. There’s this one guy in a bowler hat near the back of the stable scenes who just looks completely confused. He is clearly not being paid enough to be there. 🐎

It’s not as polished as something like Chicago, but it has a weird, frantic energy that I can’t totally hate. The dialogue is snappy until it isn't. Sometimes they just run out of things to say and everyone just starts shouting. It reminded me a bit of the frantic energy in Sally, though way less musical and way more desperate.

There's a moment where a horse is supposed to be this big, majestic beast, but the way it's framed makes it look like a nervous pony from a petting zoo. It’s kind of funny. You can tell the production budget was basically pocket change and a sandwich.

I wouldn't call this a masterpiece. I wouldn't even call it a good movie, really. It just exists. It’s a bit messy, a bit loud, and it ends before you can really get annoyed with it. That’s a win in my book. 🤷‍♂️