''Racing Luck'' is a 1924 American silent

comedy film The comedy film is a film genre that emphasizes humor. These films are designed to amuse audiences and make them laugh. Films in this genre typically have a happy ending, with dark comedy being an exception to this rule. Comedy is one of the o ...

directed by Herman C. Raymaker and starring

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Helen Ferguson Helen Ferguson (July 23, 1901 – March 14, 1977) was an American actress later turned publicist. Biography Born in Decatur, Illinois in 1901, Ferguson graduated from Nicholas High School of Chicago and the Academy of Fine Arts. Ferguson was ...

, and

Lionel Belmore Lionel Belmore (12 May 1867 – 30 January 1953) was an English character actor and director on stage for more than a quarter of a century. Life and career Onstage, Belmore appeared with Wilson Barrett, Sir Henry Irving, William Faversham, Lil ...

Plot

As described in a film magazine review, Mario, a young Italian immigrant, comes to New York City and falls in love with a Rosina, a young woman. They become dancing partners in a cafe. Mario raises a drink to toast the

Statue of Liberty The Statue of Liberty (''Liberty Enlightening the World''; ) is a colossal neoclassical sculpture on Liberty Island in New York Harbor, within New York City. The copper-clad statue, a gift to the United States from the people of French Thir ...

but a policeman stops him, the

Volstead Act The National Prohibition Act, known informally as the Volstead Act, was an act of the 66th United States Congress designed to execute the 18th Amendment (ratified January 1919) which established the prohibition of alcoholic drinks. The Anti- ...

having established the

prohibition Prohibition is the act or practice of forbidding something by law; more particularly the term refers to the banning of the manufacture, storage (whether in barrels or in bottles), transportation, sale, possession, and consumption of alcoholic b ...

alcoholic drink Drinks containing alcohol (drug), alcohol are typically divided into three classes—beers, wines, and Distilled beverage, spirits—with alcohol content typically between 3% and 50%. Drinks with less than 0.5% are sometimes considered Non-al ...

s. Gang leader Tony Mora is jealous of him and gives Mario some rough moments, but he whips several of Tony's crowd and knocks out the leader. Having learned to drive a Ford, he is induced to enter a road race. Conspirators lock his racing car in high gear and it has no brakes. As the machine cuts circles, hops out into fields, and performs all sorts of incredible antics, the fun grows fast and furious as onlookers alternately rock with laughter and gasp in sympathy with the amateur driver in his hairbreadth escapes from sudden death. While Mario finds himself in serious difficulties, he wins the affections of Rosina and all ends well.

Cast

Preservation

Prints of ''Racing Luck'' are held in the collections of Cinémathèque royale de Belgique in

Brussels Brussels, officially the Brussels-Capital Region, (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) is a Communities, regions and language areas of Belgium#Regions, region of Belgium comprising #Municipalit ...

and

Gosfilmofond Gosfilmofond is a state film archive in Russia. It is the main film archive of the Russian Federation and a member of the International Federation of Film Archives (FIAF). It is a state cultural institution — curator of films collection and ot ...

Moscow Moscow is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Russia by population, largest city of Russia, standing on the Moskva (river), Moskva River in Central Russia. It has a population estimated at over 13 million residents with ...

.Library of Congress American Silent Feature Film Survival Database: ''Racing Luck''
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References

Bibliography

* Munden, Kenneth White. ''The American Film Institute Catalog of Motion Pictures Produced in the United States, Part 1''. University of California Press, 1997.

External links

* 1924 films 1924 comedy films American auto racing films Silent American comedy films American silent feature films 1920s English-language films American black-and-white films Films directed by Herman C. Raymaker Associated Exhibitors films 1920s American films {{1920s-silent-comedy-film-stub