Horse Fever: The Mandrake StingMovies like Horse Fever: The Mandrake Sting
- Key Features:
- Gambling, Horse racing, Cheating, Comedy, Friendship, Financial desperation, Scheme, Underdogs, Misadventures
- Tone:
- humorous, witty
- Target Audience:
- Comedy fans, Gambling enthusiasts, International audiences, Fans of lighthearted films
- Emotional Arc:
- Anticipation → Frustration → Hilarity
Horse Fever: The Mandrake Sting

Mandrake and his new friends still continue to bet (and lose a lot of money) on horse races. What will they invent for cheating money?
Horse Fever: The Mandrake Sting
Bruno Fioretti, known as "Mandrake", is an inveterate gambler who never misses a day at the horse racing track in Rome. He is doubly unlucky: he bets too much on one horse, and his wife is sleeping with his best friend because Mandrake is always at the track. Penniless and cuckolded, Mandrake decides to make one last bet.

This is the story of four French friends: the Greek (an osteopath), Fifi (who lives with his mother), Fortuné (a West Indian) and Freddy (a gambler). They meet up regularly at a Parisian bookmakers’, their favourite haunt. Tired of frittering away the little spare cash they have, they agree to give up gambling. But no sooner have they taken this pledge than Fate intervenes, in the guise of the turf king, Monsieur Paul. The latter persuades the four friends to buy a champion racehorse, not knowing that it is in fact an old nag…

Two dimwitted friends hatch a money-making scheme after discovering a giant fly in the trunk of a car.

A group of middle-aged time-share investors get ripped off and their desire for revenge is well-timed for them to be recruited by a bank clerk who feels the same about his employers.

The new owner of a brilliant race horse finds love while carrying out his revenge on the man who murdered his father.

An average kind of guy who has a slight problem with gambling goes to the track, and mystically, it seems as though he can't lose, no matter how he bets; and he has an incredible day.

The misadventures of different Italian rascals who came to the famous Montecarlo Gran Casinò to get lucky.

Down-on-his-luck race car driver Jim Douglas teams up with a little VW Bug that has a mind of its own, not realizing Herbie's worth until a sneaky rival plots to steal him.

Lino lives in Turin with the family of his sister. He doesn't have a good job and never enough money. But in a day his life changes: he wins 1 billion dollars in a lottery and... everyone becomes a friend, the girl who he liked becomes his girlfriend and his sister begins to love him. He leaves Turin with his friend Parola and, in a casino, he loses all money! But luck returns...

The inspiring true story of Dream Alliance, an unlikely race horse bred by small town bartender, Jan Vokes. With very little money and no experience, Jan convinces her neighbors to chip in their meager earnings to help raise Dream and compete with the racing elites. Their investment pays off as Dream rises through the ranks and becomes a beacon of hope in their struggling community.

When a hopeful young American hot-dogger goes pole-to-pole with an arrogant Austrian pro, the snow really starts to fly! But as hot as it is on the mountain, it gets even hotter off when the pro's ex-girlfriend sets her eyes on the new blood. Who'll win the competition and the girl? Only a race to end all races can determine which skier can really cut the mustard!

A novice con man teams up with an acknowledged master to avenge the murder of a mutual friend by pulling off the ultimate big con and swindling a fortune from a big-time mobster.

To inherit his mother-in-law's colossal fortune, a hard living gambling addict must change his unhealthy ways before it gets the best of him.

A bumbling government agent recruits a trucker whose gambling knowledge can help crack an illegal Florida operation.

Four friends become stranded in Eastern Europe and have to become hit men, prostitutes, corrupt cops, smugglers and more to make it home.

The whole intrigue is centered around carte-blanche documents kept in a vault. Whoever fills in the blank becomes the owner of a revue. Big money is involved. The nephew of the owner of the vault is trying to cheat his uncle and have his name in the documents. Everything is even more complicated because the manager of the bank has a finger in the pie, too. Who but a humble bank-teller (Pierre Richard) will ruin the scheme?

The plot thickens around two horse-racing competitors when three beautiful women come into their lives and a murder is committed.

Fred P. Chaney receives as inheritance after the death of his mother a speaking horse that also has good knowledge about the stock-market. With the help of this horse Fred gains a lot at the stock-market of Chicago.

Four out-of-shape car mechanics decide to participate in the Rotterdam marathon. If they reach the finish in time, they will be able to pay off their debt — if they don't, they will lose their garage.

Back to school for Ducobu, Léonie Gratin and Latouche. But this year, a major rival for Ducobu arrives at school: TGV, the king of cheating 3.0. While the financial situation of Saint-Potache becomes disastrous, the two dunces will have to unite their creativity to win a song contest and save their school.

Expert conman Joe Thanks teams up with half-breed Bill and naive Lucy to steal $300,000 from the Indian-hating Major Cabot. Their elaborate plan is full of disguises, double-crosses, and chases, but Joe always seems to know what he's doing.

While traveling with his father, young Alec becomes fascinated by a mysterious Arabian stallion that is brought on board and stabled in the ship he is sailing on. When it tragically sinks both he and the horse survive only to be stranded on a deserted island. He befriends it, so when finally rescued both return to his home where they soon meet Henry Dailey, a once successful trainer. Together they begin training the horse to race against the fastest ones in the world.

A not-so-clever guy called Bertie with an Opel Manta (a low-budget European sports coupé from the '80s) gets competition in a street race from a guy with a fast Mercedes, and another slick guy with a Ferrari tries to get his hands on Bertie's girlfriend.

While other kids buy into countless hours of studying just so they can get a mark in some teacher's report book, Handsome Davis sees it as nothing more than a system of control over your mind. That's why Handsome and his three best friends Sammy, Victor and the cribsheet genius Applebee have banded together and found ways to cheat on their tests all through their school years.

Sickan has a new plan. This time, the gang are going to steal a small computer micro chip which contains a top secret plan of what the government intends to do with Sweden in the future. But, Wall-Enberg is also planning to steal the chip. The payment will be 55 million Swedish crowns in gold and diamonds to whoever can deliver the chip to the foreign investors. Who will grab hold of the chip, the Jönsson gang or Wall-Enberg?

Italy, mid '60s. Three guys from a poor neighbourhood try to get rich by printing fake money using the fact that one of them works as a typographer. The story unravels around their embarrassed efforts to spend the money, their little family issues and ends with a surprise.

Marino Pacileo has a soft spot for gambling. When he discovers that Lila's father, the young Chinese girl that he is in love with cannot pay a debt, the gambler steals money from the jail he is in to help the love of his life.

When a member of their fantasy football league vanishes on his wedding day, a motley group of friends recount the lead-up to his chaotic bachelor party.

Lucky Jackson arrives in town with his car literally in tow ready for the first Las Vegas Grand Prix - once he has the money to buy an engine. He gets the cash easily enough but mislays it when the pretty swimming pool manageress takes his mind off things. It seems he will lose both race and girl, problems made more difficult by rivalry from Elmo Mancini, fellow racer and womaniser.

After losing their respective nest eggs thanks to a bumbling bank employee, three men use him to plot a bold and batty heist to get their money back.

Drowning in debt, two brothers concoct a plan to scam a wealthy heiress and save their home in Naples — but unexpected love soon complicates the scheme.

Go-ni tries his best to worship Pyung Gyung-jang as his teacher, and promises to stop gambling after winning his money back. But people's desires are endless.

Fred works for a company that creates alibis for cheaters until Clio, the daughter of one of his client, falls in love with him.

The story takes place in the racecourses around Paris. A so-called major sells his tips to naive characters.

A gambling addict faces a conflict when entrusted with keeping a bunch of money that isn't his.

Sami, Tacchini, Yaya and Kader are four small-time crooks from the suburbs of Paris. After a failed robbery, their boss, Carlito, sends them to Canada to spy on his fiancée. There, they are mistaken for a band of professional killers and are hired to assassinate the heiress Léonore de Segonzac...

Nello and Rufetto are life long friends, and also a team of criminals who dream to make the big shot and set themselves for live, being punished with bad luck.

When Jan decides to marry his girl-friend Sara, he is not aware of his opponent: her father, who is an Italian.

Vinayak, a suspended cop, helps a group of four men rob cricket betting money amounting to 500 crores INR. When it comes to splitting the amount, betrayal hits the team hard and a chase ensues.

Daniel and Stéphane, two salesmen working in the same store but who cannot stand each other, decide despite everything to team up to participate in television games so they can pay their debts.

A young bank teller, literally allergic to paper money, becomes the worst nightmare of his best customer, a wealthy butcher who manages his business unscrupulously.

Pressured by a greedy uncle and a pile of debt, lovable loser Steve Barker resorts to an unthinkable, contemptible, just-crazy-enough-to-work scheme. He pretends to be mentally challenged to rig the upcoming Special Olympics and bring home the gold. But when Steve's fellow competitors get wise to the con, they inspire him to rise to the greatest challenge of all: becoming a better person.

The inimitable VW Beetle is losing all his races and destined for the scrap heap until mechanic Hank takes him over and gives him a new lease of life. Soon, Herbie is winning again, to the fury of his previous owner, who builds a menacing black bug to challenge Herbie to the ultimate race.

In a town in the Northwest of the province of Buenos Aires, a group of neighbors is organized to recover the economy of the area, but when the corralito is implemented in the country and they suffer a fraud, their hopes disappear. Now, they will unite to recover the lost money and give the blow of their lives to their greatest enemy.

On New Year's Eve, a young woman and an out-of-work actor complicate a pickpocket's plans to ply his trade.

Two con artists hire an unwitting medical-school student as a secretary for their latest scam.

When Rachel Phelps inherits the Cleveland Indians from her deceased husband, she's determined to move the team to a warmer climate—but only a losing season will make that possible, which should be easy given the misfits she's hired. Rachel is sure her dream will come true, but she underestimates their will to succeed.

After a near-fatal accident, on a horse the experts thought was nothing special, a determined rider from the wrong side of the tracks defies all the odds to pursue her dreams of winning a national jumping championship.

Delphine, a disillusioned humanities teacher, makes an agreement with her students : they leave her in peace, as they get A+ grades. But these excellent results turn into a nightmare when the class is qualified for the Latin World Championships, in Naples.

The paths of four dream-chasing college friends cross with an array of colourful characters, from a tough-talking Punjabi female don to a Jugaad Baaz college watchman. Mayhem ensues.

A misfit group of New Mexico cowboys find themselves on the journey of a lifetime when they learn their crooked-footed racehorse qualifies to run in the Kentucky Derby. Based on the true story of Mine That Bird, the cowboys must overcome impossible odds even before they reach Churchill Downs and the land of Kentucky's blue bloods.

The frustrating adventures of a humble employee who all the time has to fullfill the wishes and desires of his bosses.

Hapless Henry Palfrey is patronised by his self-important chief clerk at work, ignored by restaurant waiters, conned by shady second-hand car salesmen, and, worst of all, endlessly wrong-footed by unspeakably rotten cad Raymond Delauney who has set his cap at April, new love of Palfrey's life. In desperation Henry enrolls at the College of Lifemanship to learn how to best such bounders and win the girl.

College buddies chip in and promise that the group's last unmarried man will collect a cash pot. Seven years later, the kitty is worth $500,000 -- money Michael needs to pay a gambling debt. Problem is, the only other single guy is a hopeless womanizer!

The mid 90’s. Turkey’s political instability, inflation and hopelesness on people were increased. In those years when all hope was lost, people deeply bond with Bold Pilot and Halis Karataş who win every race coming from the last place. People see themselves at the point where this horse and jockey are: at the back. This duo make people to believe that everybody can win. The race ends at the finish line and the first to cross this line are Bold Pilot and Halis riding it.

True story of the undersized Depression-era racehorse whose victories lifted not only the spirits of the team behind it but also those of their nation.

Dante, a pony express in serious debt, meets Nina, a hostess stuck in Torino for the night.

Esposito is a thief who cons tourists in Rome. Officer Bottoni manages to catch him and starts persecuting him. When Esposito manages to flee, Bottoni's superiors inform him that he'll lose his job if he can't catch Esposito.

Niyazi is a humble factory worker whose life is turned upside down when he wins the “altılı ganyan” (six-horse accumulator) lottery. Suddenly, everyone from neighbours to total strangers, claiming to be his long-lost relatives, crowds around him hoping for a share of his fortune. Thanks to his quick wit, Niyazi manages to outsmart these opportunists and keep his winnings.

Dino craft practice tattoos, Bruna is a beautician; their studies are facing each other. They learn of a mysterious treasure hidden in a chair that belonged to a woman now dead.

Gambling fever -- along with a brutal bookie -- leads three crooked cops into a double-dealing scheme that lands them in hot water way over their heads.

To climb the corporate ladder to success, a businessman agrees to coach his company's all-girl soccer team with the help of his secret weapon: his fiancee's son.

After a failed bank robbery, an ex-con, an ex-waitress and a few of their friends train a pack of doberman dogs to rob a bank for them.

What started off as a whirlwind romance takes an unexpected turn when Mark discovers his beautiful bride-to-be is plotting against him. In cahoots with an old school buddy, they hatch a plan to take half of Mark’s £20 million fortune and use it for their own happy ending. What they don’t realize is that Mark is one step ahead of them.

Kyle and Max are two extreme sports athletes, two riders in continuous challenge and search for money. When they find out of the enigmatic proposal for a mysterious contest by an unknown organization, Black Babylon, they can’t turn down the $ 150,000 prize. But the “contest” will turn out to be much darker and deadlier than expected.

Valdomiro gets involved in yet another scheme, this time involving the same people that tricked him into losing everything - and he brings everyone from Ms. Jô's hostel along.

Willy and Tony have a brilliant idea for getting out of it financially: stealing a dog from the brigade des stups. But everything does not go as planned and the two accomplices will have to rely on the most corrupt of the cops.

Two small-town singers chase their pop star dreams at a global music competition, where high stakes, scheming rivals and onstage mishaps test their bond.

Gambling addiction bring the stories of three otherwise unconnected people together as it destroys each of their lives.

100 miles north, a bit east and up, is Pinchcliffe, the home of bicycle repairman Reodor Felgen and his two assistants, Solan Gundersen and Ludvig. Sponsored by oil sheik Ben Redic Fy Fazan, they build the car "Il Tempo Gigante" to race against Reodor's former assistant Rudolf Blodstrupmoen, who has stolen one of Reodor's inventions to become a world racing champion.

Francesco, nicknamed 'Toscano', is a very good pool player but he never wins when he plays for money. He meets Chiara, a saxophone player, on a late night bus by swapping his case containing the cue with her one, containing the sax. The two fall in love, but in the meantime Francesco loses a big amount of money playing versus 'Scuro', the long-time Italian champion. His only chance to pay the debt is to win the Italian Championships.

A feared local rowdy, known for his dominance in the streets and pigeon racing, finds himself at odds with a newly appointed police officer. As tensions rise, hidden motives and betrayals unfold, shaking the balance of power in the neighborhood.

3 men from a provincial town who are in an urgent need for money so they decide to buy a lottery ticket. They win the lottery, but very soon, the ticket gets stolen.

Set in 1890, this is the story of a Pony Express courier who travels to Arabia to compete with his horse, Hidalgo, in a dangerous race for a massive contest prize, in an adventure that sends the pair around the world...

Winning Streak is the astonishing story of a group of young down-and-outs who are presented with a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity; to change their luck and set off on the adventure of their lives. Thanks to an infallible method based on the roulette wheel’s imperfection, their lifestyle is about to become better than their wildest dreams, as they set out to break the banks at casinos around the world.

At the beginning of the 20th century, a newspaper organizes an endurance horse race : 700 miles to run in a few days. 9 adventurers are competing, among them a woman, Miss Jones, a Mexican, an Englishman, a young cow-boy, an old one and two friends, Sam Clayton and Luke Matthews. All those individualists will learn to respect each other.

Emil's reputation for being a troublemaker makes the Svensson family's neighbours take up a collection for sending the boy off to America. But even if he among other unfortunate mishaps causes his father to get stuck in the outhouse window and get bitten by crawfish, all is forgotten when he skillfully wins the family a free horse. And when Alfred the farmhand gets seriously ill, Emil puts his own life on the line, venturing into a snow storm to get his best friend to a doctor before it is too late.

Con artist Lawrence Jamieson is a longtime resident of a luxurious coastal resort, where he enjoys the lavish fruits of his deceptions -- that is, until a competitor, Freddy Benson, shows up. When the new guy's lowbrow tactics impinge on his own sophisticated work and believing him to be the infamous conman 'The Jackal', Lawrence resolves to get rid of him. Confident of his own duplicitous talents, he challenges Freddy to a winner-takes-all competition: whoever swindles their latest mark, American heiress Janet Colgate, out of $50,000 first can stay, while the other must leave town.

Sequel to "Those Magnificent Men In Their Flying Machines". This time an international car rally from England to Monte Carlo provides the comedic farce.

Aging small-time conman Augusto works with two younger men: Roberto, who desires to become the Italian Johnny Ray, and Carlo, nicknamed Picasso. Through a series of mishaps and personal entanglements, things go badly for Augusto.

Salvo and Valentino are two happy Sicilian friends, who do not want to work, because they know that if they find a permanent job, their girlfriends will ask them to marry them.

Shattered illusions are hard to repair -- especially for a good-hearted zebra named Stripes who's spent his life on a Kentucky farm amidst the sorely mistaken notion that he's a debonair thoroughbred. Once he faces the fact that his stark stripes mark him as different, he decides he'll race anyway. And with help from the young girl who raised him, he just might end up in the winner's circle.

In order to make his little sick brother's dream come true, Leo and his best mates organize a fake score...but on the d day, they make a mistake and the fake score becomes a real hold up.Here starts the extraordinary adventure of PUBLIC Amis.

Astérix and Obélix have to win the Olympic Games in order to help their friend Alafolix marry Princess Irina. Brutus uses every trick in the book to have his own team win the game, and get rid of his father Julius Caesar in the process.

Catherine refuses to believe that her business partner, the unlikeable François, has a best friend, so she challenges him to set up an introduction. Scrambling to find someone willing to pose as his best pal, François enlists the services of a charming taxi driver to play the part.

Because of a bet, Werner and his friend have to construct the fastest vehicle to win a race, because life depends on it.

A bankrupt entrepreneur attempts to recoup some of her losses by getting a washed-out boxer she picked up as a tax loss back into the ring — an idea her protégé isn't fond of.

A group of physically disabled lowlifes plots the the perfect heist, but things go south as each reveals an agenda of their own.

A daring dream to scale the world's most challenging trio of mountains soon turns into a terrifying nightmare for a group of friends when a deadly storm traps the climbers near the summit and cuts off all hope of rescue. With the odds stacked against them, the friends are forced to trust each other to save themselves by any means necessary.

A womanizer bets that he can get someone to accept his marriage proposal after dating them for just 30 days. What he doesn't know is that the woman he targeted has some serious commitment issues.

In an accident the young mechanic Marco Coccia meets Cristiana. The two fall in love with one another. Cristiana confesses only later that she is a genuine princess. For Marco it is not a problem, but for Cristiana's parents it is a very big problem. The two must separate. When one evening Cristiana calls Marco and lets him know about her forthcoming wedding, Marco with the car races toward Paris and has an accident...

Franky and Krimo dream of leaving the grey grime of their neighborhood behind and of traveling to the famous and diabolical Thai beach resort of Pattaya. To get there cheaply, the two friends have the crazy idea of registering, unbeknownst to him, the local little person for the Thai Dwarf Boxing World Championship. But what was supposed to be a dream vacation will transform into the most insane and dangerous adventure of their lives.

An ad executive and a fashion designer-blogger don't believe in love, so they place a bet to make the other fall head over heels - with unusual tactics.

Marco encounters his ex-girlfriend Consueloand starts seeing her without telling that he has just married. Antonio is an MP and during his European trip he has a love affair with elegant Olga who has a big secret to hide. Recently-jilted Fabio is mistaken for psychiatrist by a beautiful girl Valentina with whom he falls in love. A divorce lawyer Sandra is romantically attracted to her client's husband Massimo.

A broke mechanic turns a bank loan denial into an impromptu robbery that puts him on the run with his best friend and a starlet they hold hostage.

Naples/Sorrento, mid 20s. A couple of small thieves conceive a scam whereby one of them dresses up as a eunuch Turk to care for the women of the family of a wealthy man. They end up messing everything up, with lots of gags and funny events in the meantime.

Lucia is a young and talented advertiser but is out of luck when it comes to love. Madly in love with her best friend's boyfriend, she struggles with her feelings when they are set to get married.

Bibi Blocksberg visits her friend Tina Martin at the riding stables during the summer vacation. This year there is to be a special horse race organized by Count Falko. However, the two friends run into trouble when Sophia von Gelenberg from an elite boarding school at Falkenstein Castle, a participant and close acquaintance of the house, arrives and tries to steal Tina's boyfriend Alexander. The shady businessman Hans Kakmann is also up to no good, and it's not just the foal Socrates, known as "Socke", he's after. Bibi tries to save Alex and Tina's relationship on the one hand and expose Kakmann's business practices on the other. But even witchcraft can't prevent her from turning everyone against her, Count Falko enrolling his son in boarding school and Kakman offering to buy the foal "Socke".

