Dead Cert
Dead Cert (1974)
Tagline: "A race to the death"
Starring: Scott Anthony, Geoffrey Bateman, John Bindonm Judi Dench
Featured Racecourses: Aintree, Fontwell Park
Director: Tony Richardson
Producer: Neil Hartley
Writers: John Oaksey, Tony Richardson (based on novel by Dick Francis)
Release Date: May 1974
Runtime: 99 mins
Wikipedia Synopsis: As a surprise, two horse owners decide to ride their animals themselves in a steeplechase. But Bill Davidson's horse "Admiral" behaves weirdly, and falls hard after an obstacle. Bill dies from his injuries. His friend Alan York suspects the animal was doped by unscrupulous bookies and starts to investigate. He doesn't know how serious his opponents are, and that he's in danger to suffer the exact same fate as his friend!.
Where to Buy: Amazon
Personal Review
Major Bill Davidson, a racehorse trainer and owner based in Sussex, decides to ride his own horse Admiral at Fontwell after learning via a telephone call that external sources are planning to "stop" the horse from winning. The horse acts in a very strange manner during the race and eventually falls which leads to the death of Bill - the race is won by Bill's life-long friend Alan York aboard Crystal Dancer. Alan senses foul play and together with Bill's wife Laura and fellow jockey Sandy Mason, sets out on a mission to uncover the cause of Bill's death. Alan is playing a very dangerous game though and gets mixed up with some very nasty people who are willing to stop Admiral from winning a race at any cost. The horse is being aimed at the Grand National but with the stakes so high and various associates falling by the wayside will the horse even make the starting line-up?
The film is based on a Dick Francis novel of the same name with the screen play written by Tony Richardson (won an Oscar for best director in the film Tom Jones) and famous jockey and racing presenter Lord John Oaksey (died 2012). Lord Oaksey has multiple roles in this film as a race commentator, jockey (at least his name was on the numbers board anyway) and a veterinary surgeon examining Admiral for signs of doping. It was great to see a young elvish looking Dame Judy Dench in this film (only her 7th career movie) although I'm not sure she would have been too pleased with her character Laura Davidson. No sooner has her husband Bill died then she is in bed with his friend Alan York whom she has been having an illicit affair with and then when Bill has a one night stand with Penny she doesn't seem to bat an eyelid. She is also seen kissing jockey Sandy Mason (Michael Williams) after asking him to ride Admiral in the National but we will let her off that one because the pair of them had been married in real life since Feb 1971 - Michael Williams sadly died in Jan 2001.
Scott Antony plays Alan York and I thought his acting was rather good but for some reason he only appeared in a handful of TV shows and movies in the early seventies. John "Biffo" Bindon is well cast as the Whiteleys' heavy Walter (he also appeared in some classic films including; Get Carter, Inspector Clouseau and Quadrophenia) and it was also good to see Mark Dignam as Clifford who appeared in many films in the 60s and 70s and also whose voice can be heard at the end of the Beatles song "I Am A Walrus".
I don't think you get a feel for the characters in this film and the plot was very weak and not very well explained. We assume that the Whiteleys gang want to stop Admiral from winning to make money from their bookmaking exploits but it seems preposterous to go around killing all and sundry to achieve their aim. Jockey Sandy Mason, who is eventually unearthed as the key linchpin in the story, just wants to ride Admiral in the National but there surely would have been easier ways to achieve this considering he was already friendly with the Davidson's - even then the Whiteleys gang wouldn't let him win the race anyway. There are just too many holes and unexplained events in the storyline for my liking but having said that Dick Francis novels are always far-fetched and probably best left to the page than being turned into movies.
Dead Cert is not the only Dick Francis book to appear on the screen. The Racing Game (1979-80) consisted of six made-for-TV movies which starred Mike Gwilym as Francis's protagonist Sid Halley and Mick Ford as his partner Chico Barnes, The first of the episodes "Odds Against" used a Francis title but the others were just created for the series. Three more TV films in 1989 were adaptions of "Blood Sport", "In The Frame" and "Twice Shy" all starring Ian McShane as David Cleveland but this was a character only used once by Francis in the novel "Slayride". None of the above will be included in this website as they were not released as big screen movies but I will certainly be watching them all the same. Dick Francis himself was a top National Hunt jockey who won over 350 races and was also champion jockey in the 1953-54 season - he is probably best remembered for being aboard the Queen Mother horse Devon Loch in the 1956 Grand National which inexplicably sprawled in the last few hundred yards when close to winning the race. Dick Francis sadly died in February 2010.
In contrast to the weak plot of Dead Cert, the racing action was simply superb and by far the best I have seen in all of the films reviewed. There are four races covered in the film, three from Fontwell and then the Grand National at Aintree, and in each race there is skulduggery involved where one jockey comes a cropper. One jockey falls and gets crushed by his own horse, one falls in the water (the stunt man used for this actually broke his wrist), one crashes through the wings and one lands on railings covered in metal spikes - each scene is well executed and realistic. The close up racing action was enhanced by using helicopters and jockey cams hidden in boot and helmets and apparently some jockeys even held cameras when riding - you get a real sense of how exciting and dangerous jump racing can be.
It was great to see my local racetrack Fontwell as it used to be in the 1973, almost fifty years after it first opened, and things have certainly changed a lot over the years, particularly from 2007 when Northern Racing took over, demolishing some old buildings and then opening a new £6,5m premier grandstand in August 2010. It was also good to see Aintree racecourse as it used to look with all the uncovered stands and some of the crowd scenes were filmed during the 1973 Grand National which was won by Red Rum - the actual "National" in the film was shot during July 1973 where the Admiral was played by three-day eventing champion Conishman V. Aintree doesn't feature in the original Dick Francis novel but the production team decided to use the National as a finale to the film to try and increase the box office potential.
Dead Cert received negative reviews when it was first released in May 1974 and I can understand why due to the implausible storyline and lack of character building but to the true racing aficionado the racetrack scenes more than make up for the weak plot. (Rating 7/10)
Favourite Quotes
Sandy Mason: "I was an apprentice getting my arsed kicked while he was trickling down his mothers leg. I’ve sweated and grafted for 20 years to learn this business and all that time I’ve been dreaming of a ride like this in the National. And now you go and put some clumsy, fat arsed amateur up, who thinks he knows it all after 20 rides!"
MOVIE STILLS
