Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, June 15, 1990 TAG: 9006150094
SECTION: EXTRA PAGE: E-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Chris Gladden
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
I'll have to admit that I don't know a whole lot about horses, though I once won a few bucks at the Camp Town races from a columnist who formerly worked for this newspaper. The horse I bet on was chewing the door off his stall, and I figured anything that ornery would have to run fast. I also managed to find the betting window at Churchill Downs one time, though my handicapping there wasn't nearly as scientific or as successful.
Despite my ignorance of the equine world, I enjoy a good horse movie - and there have been a few. Obviously, there is the western. So important are horses to this genre that westerns have been dubbed "horse operas" and "oaters." Back in the old days, cowboys kissed their faithful steed instead of the girl, which tells you something either about cowboys or about the importance of the horse. Trigger and Silver were as much stars as Roy Rogers and the Lone Ranger.
But there are other horse movies that qualify as a genre separate from westerns. Some of the best occur when horses converge with youngsters caught in the painful process of growing up.
Perhaps the best known is "National Velvet," the 1944 classic starring Elizabeth Taylor and Mickey Rooney as two youths who train a horse to race in England's Grand National.
Taylor is absolutely luminous as Velvet Brown, and Rooney is at his most engaging. There's a fine supporting cast and classy directing from Clarence Brown.
When "The Black Stallion" was released in 1979, it became an instant classic. This has to be one of the most beautifully photographed family movies ever. Kelly Reno plays a shipwrecked boy who becomes friends with a magnificent horse. After their rescue, their adventures culminate in a breath-holding championship race. In a shrewd bit of casting, Rooney appears as a horse trainer, a perfect reference to "National Velvet." In the era of Ninja Turtles, this remains a children's picture of the highest quality.
An under-appreciated horse picture is Martin Ritt's "Casey's Shadow." Walter Matthau plays a down-at-the-heels horse trainer raising three sons on his own. The youngest immediately attaches himself to a newly acquired horse that may be the answer to the family's financial woes. Young Casey and his beloved horse weather several heart-tugging plot turns. Ritt is particularly adept at providing his movies with authentic, down-home atmosphere, and he's in top form here.
Without a doubt, "The Reivers" is one of the most enjoyable movies involving a boy, a horse and a race. Adapted from a William Faulkner novel, this prime slice of Americana takes place in Mississippi in 1905. In this 1978 Mark Rydell picture, Mitch Vogel plays a wealthy lad persuaded by two rascals to take his family's new car on an adventure. The mishaps are plentiful as they build to a horse race that puts the youngster astride a steed that reacts peculiarly to anchovies. Steve McQueen and Rupert Crosse are fine as the engaging rascals. But Will Geer is nothing less than wonderful as the boy's wise and understanding grandfather.
Like most genres, the horse movie has had its share of losers - "Hot to Trot" for instance. But the four movies described above are all thoroughbreds.
by CNB