Sweepstakes Winner
{{short description|1939 film by William C. McGann}}
{{Infobox film
| name = Sweepstakes Winner
| image = File:Sweepstakes Winner.jpg
| alt =
| caption =
| director = William C. McGann
| producer = Bryan Foy
| screenplay = John W. Krafft
| story = Hugh Cummings
Albert DeMond
| starring = Marie Wilson
Johnnie Davis
Allen Jenkins
Charley Foy
Jerry Colonna
Frankie Burke
| music = Howard Jackson
| cinematography = Arthur Edeson
| editing = Frank Magee
| studio = Warner Bros.
| distributor = Warner Bros.
| released = {{Film date|1939|5|20}}
| runtime = 59 minutes
| country = United States
| language = English
| budget =
| gross =
}}
Sweepstakes Winner is a 1939 American comedy film directed by William C. McGann, written by John W. Krafft, and starring Marie Wilson, Johnnie Davis, Allen Jenkins, Charley Foy,{{sfn|The American Film Institute|1999|page=255}} Jerry Colonna and Frankie Burke.{{cite web|url=http://www.bfi.org.uk/films-tv-people/4ce2b6b76f5eb|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161002010510/http://www.bfi.org.uk/films-tv-people/4ce2b6b76f5eb|url-status=dead|archive-date=October 2, 2016|title=Sweepstakes Winner|work=British Film Institute|location=United Kingdom|accessdate=September 17, 2016}}{{cite web|url=https://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/title/2066/sweepstakes-winner#credits |title=Sweepstakes Winner|work=Turner Classic Movies|publisher=Turner Broadcasting System (Time Warner)|location=Atlanta|accessdate=October 2, 2022}} It was released by Warner Bros. on May 20, 1939.{{cite web|url=https://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/title/2066/sweepstakes-winner|title=Sweepstakes Winner (1939) - Overview |work=Turner Classic Movies|publisher=Turner Broadcasting System (Time Warner)|location=Atlanta|access-date=September 3, 2015}}{{cite web|url=https://www.nytimes.com/movies/movie/112410/Sweepstakes-Winner/overview|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151222183647/http://www.nytimes.com/movies/movie/112410/Sweepstakes-Winner/overview|url-status=dead|archive-date=December 22, 2015|title=Sweepstakes-Winner - Trailer - Cast - Showtimes|location=New York City|department=Movies & TV Dept.|work=The New York Times|author=Sandra Brennan|date=2015|accessdate=September 3, 2015}}{{cite web|url= https://catalog.afi.com/Film/6703-SWEEPSTAKES-WINNER|title=Sweepstakes Winner|work=American Film Institute|location=Los Angeles|date=|accessdate=October 2, 2022}}
Plot
A naive girl, Jennie, inherits $1,000 from her grandfather, who tells her to buy a particular racehorse with it. His instructions send her to two broke bookies. They tell her she need $5,000 to buy the horse and offer to bet it for her on a 5 to 1 horse in a race that day. That horse wins, but one of the bookies, Jinx Donovan, followed a bad tip and instead bet $500 on a loser. Rather than admit he lost the money, he arranges to have her robbed just after he returned the remaining $500 to her in a wad to look like the $5,000. Down to her last few dollars, Jennie gets a job as a waitress. The bookies eat a meal at the restaurant. Too broke to pay for it, they sell her an Irish Sweepstakes ticket for $10 and the meal. The ticket wins the first round, meaning she would win a huge cash prize if her horse won the sweepstakes race. She is offered cash for the ticket, but decided to rely on her luck instead.
Cast
- Marie Wilson as Jennie Jones
- Johnnie Davis as Mark Downe
- Allen Jenkins as Xerxes 'Tip' Bailey
- Charley Foy as 'Jinx' Donovan
- Sam McDaniel as Mose
- Jerry Colonna as Nick
- Frankie Burke as Chalky Williams
- Vera Lewis as Mrs. McCarthy
- Granville Bates as Pop Reynolds
- Eddie Kane as Mr. Blake
- Bert Hanlon as Poolroom Guard
- George Lloyd as Dutch
- Sidney Bracey{{sfn|Palmer|1988|page=53}} as Mr. Simpkins
- Charles Irwin as English Radio Announcer
- Bernice Pilot{{sfn|McCann|2009|page=266}} as Martha (Uncredited)
References
{{reflist}}
=Sources=
{{Refbegin}}
- {{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=e024jm9X7gQC&q=Sweepstakes+Winner+1939+film&pg=PA255|title=The 1941-1950: American Film Institute Catalog of Motion Pictures Produced in the United States: Feature Films (The AFI Catalog of Motion Pictures Produced in the United States)|author=The American Film Institute|publisher=University of California Press|location=Oakland, California |year=1999 |isbn=978-0520215214 |edition=3 Volume set|page=255}}
- {{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=SPps6d210zYC&q=Sweepstakes+Winner+1939+film&pg=PA53|title=A Who's Who of Australian and New Zealand Film Actors:The Sound Era|first=Scott|last=Palmer|publisher=Scarecrow Press|year=1988|location=Lanham, Maryland|isbn=978-0810820906|page=53}}
- {{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=X7ZYsnTPIhwC&q=Sweepstakes+Winner+1939+film&pg=PA266|title=Encyclopedia of African American Actresses in Film and Television|first=Bob|last=McCann|year=2009|publisher=McFarland & Company|location=New York City|isbn=978-0786437900|page=266}}
{{Refend}}
External links
- {{IMDb title|0031997}}
- {{tcmdb title|2066}}
- {{AFI film|6703}}
{{William C. McGann}}
Category:American black-and-white films
Category:American comedy films
Category:Films directed by William C. McGann
Category:American horse racing films
Category:1930s English-language films
Category:English-language comedy films
Category:Films scored by Howard Jackson (composer)
{{1930s-comedy-film-stub}}