Three Pals

Although some elements of this drama smack of the tired ploys of Drury Lane melodramas -- the demand for either the payment of a debt or the girl's hand, the girl riding her horse to victory -- a couple of unusual twists add some interest. Two Southern gentlemen, Colonel Girard (Josef Swickard) and Major Wingate (William H. Turner), have a falling out which separates their romantically inclined children, Betty Girard (Marlyn Mills) and Larry Wingate (Walter Emerson). Wingate's secretary (James McLaughlin) won't acknowledge the receipt of a payment on a note from Girard. When Girard comes over to demand an explanation, Wingate turns up dead. Girard is thrown in jail and the secretary tells Betty that either she must come up with the money or marry him. Betty's two horses uncover enough clues to place the responsibility for the murder on the secretary's shoulders. She then rides in the big race, wins the ten-thousand-dollar purse, and reunites with Larry.