Boots Malone

Boots Malone [William Holden] is a down-on-his-luck jockey agent, scraping by in a diner with his long-time associate, Stash Clements [Stanley Clements]. When teenage runaway Thomas Gibson Jr. [Johnny Stewart]—often called The Kid—tries to pay for his meal with a hundred-dollar bill, Boots sees opportunity and agrees to mentor him. Tommy wants to become a jockey and offers to pay Boots to train him.

Meanwhile, Boots, Stash, and “Preacher” Cole [Basil Ruysdael] set their sights on a promising horse, White Cargo. They engineer a plan to have the horse perform poorly at a workout, enough to attract attention at auction and secure a purchase by their crew. They secretly weigh White Cargo to secure better odds in a later race. The plan seems clever until reality tests it: White Cargo bolts with Tommy astride, revealing the boy’s natural talent.

Boots gives Tommy a chance to ride in a race on a horse, but he keeps the weights under wraps. The youngster doesn’t know the truth about the sabotage; Boots wants to avoid breaking the boy’s confidence, even as the deception remains. After this, Tommy rides another race on a different horse and wins, resurrecting his hope and trust in Boots.

As the big race approaches, Boots faces pressure from a private investigator hired by Tommy’s mother, the wealthy businesswoman Mrs. Elizabeth B. Gibson [Ann Lee]. The mother calls Boots, and he reluctantly informs her where to collect her son. She warns him that Boots is risking the boy’s affection and trust. Despite her objections, Tommy escapes again and returns in time for the race, and the pair reconcile. Boots even warns her that if she tries to block the race, she risks losing the boy’s love.

Meanwhile, Matson [Hugh Sanders], a gangster to whom Boots owes money, orders Boots to throw the race. Boots pleads with Tommy to follow along, but he cannot bear to ruin what might be the boy’s final ride. In the end, White Cargo wins the race, fulfilling the plan in a sense but creating a new moral weight for Boots. After the victory, Tommy heads for a train back to school, and Boots learns that Matson and his henchmen are waiting for him. He leaps onto the moving train to avoid capture and to protect the boy’s chance at life beyond the tracks.

Last Updated: October 09, 2025 at 11:04