Stallion Road is a 1947 film directed by James V. Kern.
Stephen Purcell (Zachary Scott), a best-selling writer looking for material, goes to stay with his old friend Larry Hanrahan (Ronald Reagan), a veterinarian and horse rancher. Larry goes out on a call to treat a sick horse and meets Rory Teller (Alexis Smith), a lovely young woman with a horse ranch of her own. Both Larry and Stephen fall for the ravishing Rory, but it's clear that Larry is the only one with a shot.
Larry and Rory's romance proceeds despite Larry having to fend off the affections of an old girlfriend, the now-married Daisy Otis (Peggy Knudsen). However, when Larry goes off to treat Mr. and Mrs. Otis's herd of cattle rather than treating Rory's prized mare, and the mare dies, Rory blames Larry and they break up. Larry had a good reason, though: the Otis cattle heard was infected with anthrax, which winds up spreading to all the horse ranches in the valley.
Tropes:
- Bar Brawl: Everybody in the community has decided to hate Larry after Larry does not save Rory's horse. The insults and snubs from Mallard, the owner of the Local Hangout, eventually lead Larry to punch him. Cue Bar Brawl that ends with Larry knocking Mallard out and leaving.
- Betty and Veronica: Larry's love interests are the wholesome, earnest Rory, and the sexy, slutty, married Lana.
- Deadpan Snarker: Zachary Scott's having to play the obvious Romantic False Lead was probably made more palatable by Stephen having all the best lines. When Rory says "I was reading your book in the barn," he says "that's the best place for it." When Lana says that she'll take Larry from Rory because she's "mean", Stephen rolls his eyes and says "You're just glandular."
- Divorce in Reno: Lana says she's leaving for Reno to get a divorce, after which she'll take her ex-husband's money and buy Larry a shiny new lab for his veterinary research.
- Drowning My Sorrows: Stephen gets drunk in the Local Hangout one night after figuring out that he stands no chance with Rory.
- Finger-Twitching Revival: Horses don't have fingers so a head is the next best thing. Larry is despondent after his experimental anthrax serum has seemingly failed to cure his horse, dying of anthrax. The horse lies on its side in its stall as all the ranchers talk about the fix they're in. Then the horse twitches its head. A moment later it's up on it's legs again, to the delight of all the ranchers.
- Gilligan Cut: Stephen takes a look at the clouds and suggests that it's going to rain. Pelon the trusty farmhand "Rain in California in May? No such luck." Cut to pouring rain that night.
- Glasses Pull: Dr. Stephens the people doctor pulls his pince-nez off his nose before telling everyone the dire news: Larry has contracted anthrax.
- How We Got Here: The first scene has a depressed Stephen coming back home, telling his maid to admit no one, and starting to type out his new book "Stallion Road". The rest of the story plays out from there.
- Love Dodecahedron: Larry and Stephen, who both like Rory. Daisy Otis, who lusts for Larry but has a one-night-stand with Stephen. Daisy's husband presumably fits in somewhere.
- Match Cut: The camera zooms in to the face of a stuffed bobcat in Larry's house, its mouth open wide. Cut to a middle-aged woman at Rory's party, mouth open, before she says "New York for your honeymoon?" with astonishment.
- The Needs of the Many: Larry's stated reason for treating the Otis cattle heard instead of Rory's mare, saying "I can't endanger the whole range for one horse!" The story is a little vague but apparently Rory did not get the news about the anthrax, which is why she dumps Larry.
- Please Wake Up: Chris, who is 10 years old, says this word-for-word after Sulty, their prized mare, dies.
- Romantic False Lead: Stephen, and unlike many romantic false leads he knows it. He gets drunk at the bar when he figures out that Rory loves Larry. Later, when Rory offers herself to Stephen after breaking up with Larry, he expresses concern about being her "rebound". He asks her to marry him anyway.
- Stepping Out for a Quick Cup of Coffee: Larry is dying of anthrax, but he has a serum that has been shown to be effective against anthrax...on horses. Rory begs Dr. Stephens to use the serum, but Dr. Stephens says that he couldn't possibly give untested horse medicine to a human patient. Rory says that she could do it. Dr. Stephens pauses for a bit, then talks about how most of the big advances are made by amateurs because professionals have too much to lose. Then he says "I think I'll take a little walk around." While he's gone, Rory gives Larry the serum, offscreen. Larry lives.
