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The Homestretch (20th Century-Fox) canters in Technicolor through the not particularly fascinating vicissitudes of a raffish racing man (Cornel Wilde), his Back Bay bride (Maureen O'Hara) and his somewhat Bohemian girl friend (Helen Walker). Miss O'Hara wants Wilde to settle down and stop living out of Miss Walker's pocket; she also tends to misunderstand the free-&-easy way these old friends kiss each other.

Meanwhile, three horses, one for each principal, do a lot of running, over a plethora of courses in England, South America and the U.S. They are nobly beautiful animals and interesting to watch. But for all their running, they cannot parlay Homestretch into anything better than just another race-track picture.

Ramrod (United Artists) is a pretty, mildly sluggish western about a very bad woman (Veronica Lake), a very good one (Arleen Whelan), a good man (Joel McCrea) and a rat (Preston Foster). The main problems: 1) Will Miss Lake prevail against her father (Charles Ruggles), Foster and his hard guys, in her determination to graze her cattle on land they forbid her? and 2) Which girl will ultimately throw and brand McCrea?

The movie has its moments--a night stampede along a cliff, several brutal fights and killings, and a long, tense stalking sequence, with rifles, in a pitch-dark canyon. It also has more than its quota of good performances, notably by Wally Cassell, Donald Crisp, Don DeFore, Lloyd Bridges. Best of all, it is finely set and photographed (by Allan O'Dea and Russell Harlan) and carefully directed (by Miss Lake's husband, Andre de Toth).

The landscapes and shacks have a remoteness seldom appreciated in films; it has even occurred to someone that the noise of blowing leaves is pleasant. Such careful details help bring the audience deeper into the country. Ramrod is decently made, nice to look at, and at times exciting. Unluckily the story is long, complicated and not, on the whole, worth the care that has been lavished on it.

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