Wine, Women and Horses

Jim Turner (Barton MacLaine) loves "wine, women and horses," though not always in that order. Our hero's revelry is interrupted by his shrill and prudish wife Marjorie (Peggy Bates), who tells him to stay away from the racetrack or she'll walk. Presumably to the cheers of the audience, Turner ultimately dumps her, enjoying a happily-ever-after denouement in the arms of down-to-earth Valerie (Ann Sheridan), who has loved Jim all along, warts and all. Critics looked down their noses at this harmless bit of frivolity, but like most Warner Bros. programmers of the period the film posted a profit. On the strength of its title alone, Wine, Women and Horses was included in a popular 1970s book devoted to the worst films of all time (though one suspects that the authors never bothered to see the picture).