shift away from the track regularly. Cri-Cri feels that he is too young to take seriously, though, and she prefers the attention of Gordon Bradley (Robert Condon). Sparke is not aware that Char is madly in love with him, and instead considers her as 'one of the guys'. Meanwhile, he continues to train the horse's foal, who, during her first race, is seriously injured. Shortly after her recovery, Sparke realizes how Char feels about him and responds to her love. Thunder has since found out that the foal is going blind, but nevertheless allows Sparke to race her. Through determination and skills, he wins the race. Returning home with the horse, who has convinced Thunder to return to his business, Sparke kisses Char. Cast Walter Brennan as J. F. 'Thunder' Bolt Charlotte Greenwood as Penny Bolt Ward Bond as Jed Bruce Charles Dingle as Godaw Boole Lon McCallister as 'Sparke' Thornton Jeanne Crain as Charlotte 'Char' Bruce June Haver as Christopher 'Cri-Cri' Boole George H. Reed as Tuppy Production In November 1940, 20th Century Fox first announced its plans to shoot a film about trotting tracks, called Home in Indiana. The film would serve as a follow-up for the horse tracking films Kentucky (1938) and Maryland (1940). As with the latter film, John Payne, Walter Brennan and Fay Bainter were set to serve the lead roles, with Kenneth Macgowan as a producer and John Taintor Foote as the screenwriter. Ultimately, Foote did work on a screenplay, but his work was not included in the final print. In March 1942, agent Charles K. Feldman planned on making a film adaptation of the Chamberlain novel, with Howard Hawks as a proposed producer. Winston Miller worked on a screenplay, but he decided to sell its rights to 20th Century Fox. Actor George Cleveland was offered a role, but commitments to another project forced him to resign. The film marked the highly promoted debuts of both Jeanne Crain and June Haver. McCallister's contribution to the film delivered him a four-year contract with Fox. Scenes were partly filmed on the trotting tracks of Indiana, Marion, Ohio Marion County Fairgrounds and Kentucky. See also List of American films of 1944 References External links 1944 films 1940s adventure drama films 1944 romantic drama films 20th Century Fox films American adventure drama films American romantic drama films 1940s English-language films Films based on American novels Films based on