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''Into the Straight'' is a 1949 Australian horse racing melodrama directed by T. O. McCreadie.


Plot

The Curzons, an Australian horse racing family, are visited by an English horse trainer, Hugh Duncan, and his playboy son, Paul. Both men fall for June Curzon. However, after she is crippled in an accident Paul loses interest, and she realises she loves Hugh. With Hugh's encouragement, June writes a piano concerto and learns to walk again. Her brother, the weak Sam Curzon, steals money from his father to pay gambling debts and allows Paul to take the blame. However, a horse secretly trained by Paul wins the Melbourne Cup.


Cast

* James Workman as Hugh Duncan * Charles Tingwell as Sam Curzon *
Margo Lee Margaret Stella Lee (20 June 1923 - 16 October 1987) credited as Margo Lee, was an Australian actor and singer of radio, stage, film and TV. She worked briefly in Hollywood. Filmography Film *''Into the Straight'' (1949) *'' The Twelve Pound ...
as Zara Marlowe *
Muriel Steinbeck Muriel Myee Steinbeck (21 July 1913 – 20 July 1982) was an Australian actress who worked extensively in radio, theatre, television and film. She is best known for her performance as the wife of Sir Charles Kingsford Smith in '' Smithy'' (1946) ...
as Mrs Curzon * Nonnie Peifer as June Curzon *Shirley Hall as Bunty * George Randall as W.J. Curzon * Alan White as Paul Duncan


Production

Charles Tingwell also worked as a trainee to Alex Ezard. Shooting began in June 1948, on location in Scone, New South Wales, and at the studio of Commonwealth Film Laboratories in Sydney. The Victoria Racing Club allowed a re-creation of the Melbourne Cup to be shot at Flemington Racecourse and scenes were also filmed at
Randwick Racecourse Royal Randwick Racecourse is a racecourse for horse racing located in the Eastern Suburbs (Sydney), Eastern Suburbs of Sydney, New South Wales. Randwick Racecourse is Crown Land leased to the Australian Turf Club and known to many Sydney ra ...
. Several jockeys made cameos in the film, including Jack Purtell and George Moore. The film featured a piano concerto which took up several minutes of screen time.


Reception

The film was well received in Perth but only had a short run in Sydney and Melbourne. ''Filmink'' later wrote "Steinbeck was the biggest name in the cast at the time, but it isn’t much of a role… and in hindsight that was a mistake. The filmmakers would have been better off building the movie around Steinbeck – either have her play the role of her daughter... or made her character the center of the action. But then, Australian cinema has traditionally demonstrated a poor understanding how best to exploit potential stars."


References


External links

*
''Into the Straight''
at Australian Screen Online
''Into the Straight''
at Oz Movies
Review
at ''Variety'' 1949 films Australian drama films Australian horse racing films 1949 drama films Australian black-and-white films 1940s Australian films 1940s English-language films {{1940s-Australia-film-stub