While Thousands Cheer (1940)

• 74%
• 1940
• Drama
• Leo C. Popkin
• Kenny Washington
• Mantan Moreland
• Al Duvall

Kenny Harrington, the star football player of Gilmore College, leads his team to many victories, raising hopes that Gilmore will play in the "Peach Bowl," the championship playoffs of the Western conference. Unknown to Kenny, Downey, the head of a gambling syndicate, has placed a $100,000 bet against the Gilmore team and has sent his henchman, Green, to see to it that Kenny does not play in the upcoming game. When Green and Johnson, head of the west coast offices of the gambling syndicate, find Kenny at the Collegiate Café and offer him $25,000 to leave the team until after the Peach Bowl, Kenny, his pal Phil Harrington and other college students throw them out of the cafe. Later, Phil throws a party at Johnson's cafe, where a brawl breaks out when he cannot pay the bill. When Kenny and his trainer, Nash, learn of the riot, they rush to the cafe and help Phil and the other students escape. After Green and Johnson blackmail Kenny, threatening to reveal that he was responsible for knocking a waiter at the cafe unconscious, Kenny agrees to drop out of the team's game against Carlton College. Just before the game, however, Kenny decides to play, and he helps his team win. To get back at Kenny for double-crossing them, the gamblers bribe Rose, a "college widow," to lure him and Phil to their hideout, where they plan to hold them captive. As the game between Gilmore and Union gets underway, Myra, Kenny's sweetheart, and her pal Daisy confront Rose and force her to tell them where Phil and Kenny are being held. With help from other members of Kenny's team and from the police, Myra and Daisy go to the hideout and arrive in time to save them. The gangsters are placed under arrest, and Kenny is rushed to the football field, where he eventually leads the team to victory. With Gilmore's place in the Peach Bowl playoffs assured, Kenny and Myra plan their wedding.