Hollywood Hoofbeats

by Petrine Day Mitchum

  The year 1971 saw yet another remake of Black Beauty, a British production starring Mark Lester. The most recent version of Black Beauty is the 1994 Warner Brothers film directed by horse lover Caroline Thompson. Creating a heartwarming film that is true to Sewell’s original tale, writer-director Thompson decided to use a narrator (Alan Cumming) to speak for Beauty. For the first time, the story was told from the horse’s point of view. This clever device enables children especially to understand that horses have emotions similar to those of humans.

  Caroline Thompson cast six-year-old black Quarter Horse stallion Doc’s Keepin Time in the title role and made sure he received star billing. Owned by trainer Rex Peterson, Doc’s Keepin Time came from a family of champion racing Quarter Horses. Despite his bloodlines, Doc’s Keepin Time didn’t shine on the racetrack, but Peterson saw his potential as a movie star. It began when he was searching for the star of the Family Channel’s The Black Stallion television series. Peterson found Doc’s Keepin Time just two weeks before production began. Cast as the title character, the stallion became known as Justin because Peterson found him for the series “just in time.” The series ran from 1990 to 1993 and proved Justin’s talent as a movie horse.

  According to director Caroline Thompson, “Justin knew he was the star of Black Beauty.” He could also be a prima donna and would sometimes pin his ears and bare his teeth at Thompson. Still, she loved working with Justin and Peterson. “Rex Peterson is my hero,” said Thompson. “I couldn’t have done Black Beauty without Rex. Rex Peterson is capable of looking at the world through the eyes of a horse, pure and simple.”

  Peterson used his wits to help create a realistic birthing scene for baby Beauty. Thompson was determined to capture the birth on film, so thirty pregnant mares were housed in foaling stalls on the English location. One of the mares finally gave birth to a black foal, but he was coming out crooked. When Peterson stepped in to turn the foal so he could be born normally, he noticed he did not have a white star like Beauty. Peterson quickly dabbed some white clown make up on the infant’s forehead as he repositioned him, and baby Beauty was born with a star.

  Justin’s leading lady in Black Beauty was a chestnut Russian Thoroughbred mare named Rat, who played the part of Ginger. She was doubled in some scenes by Justin’s stablemate, Hightower, a gelding who had to be strategically filmed to pass as a mare. A dappled gray crossbred Shetland/Welsh pony aptly named Legs was imported from the States to play Merrylegs. In one of the film’s more whimsical sequences, the clever pony uses his teeth to open all the stall doors to let his stablemates frolic at liberty.

  After his star turn in Black Beauty, Justin received the American Quarter Horse Association’s Silver Spur Award, an honor given to horses who exemplify the best of the breed. He went on to perform in commercials, music videos, and television, as well as in other films, including The Horse Whisperer. He played Gulliver, the horse who is killed early in the film. He also appeared in a music video for the British pop group Procol Harum (song: “Won’t Fade Away”), in which he was completely buried and burst up out of the ground. Peterson consulted his mentor, Glenn Randall, for help with the next-to-impossible trick, but before Randall could respond, Peterson had figured out a way to train the stallion to accept being totally buried. He will never reveal how he accomplished this amazing feat, but it would not have been possible without the incredible bond of trust between Justin and his trainer—the kind of bond kids dream about when they imagine having a horse as a friend.

  In a 1994 remake, Justin, Legs, and Hightower play Beauty, Merrylegs, and Ginger. For his role as the mare, Hightower’s star had been extended into a stripe with makeup.

  Gypsy Colt

  A sentimental film about the bond between a horse and a little girl was 1954’s Gypsy Colt, starring child actor Donna Corcoran and the then eleven-year-old Highland Dale (playing a four-year-old) in the title role. Gypsy is a child’s beloved pet who must be sold. The heartbroken horse escapes his new owners and travels 500 miles to return to his friend.

  When he first read the script, trainer Ralph McCutcheon was concerned by the number of tricks demanded of Highland Dale. THe horse knew some of the tricks but needed to learn many more. Not only did the stallion have to perform largely at liberty, but he also had to feign near-death and stumble into a comatose state in the desert. At one point, four motorcyclists chase him through rocky terrain in a harrowing sequence that would terrify most horses. McCutcheon took three months to prepare Highland Dale for the film. Their hard work was recognized by the American Humane when Highland Dale won the first PATSY Award for his role.

  Like many movie stars, Highland Dale continued to work for the film after shooting finished. He and Ralph McCutcheon went on a national publicity tour as Gypsy Colt premiered across America.

  Gypsy (Highland Dale) is determined to wake up his mistress Meg MacWade (Donna Corcoran) in one of the most charming scenes of 1954’s Gypsy Colt.

  Fury

  Beginning in October 1955, NBC drew children to the family television set on Saturday mornings to watch Fury, a show about a fiery black stallion and the boy who loved him. Fresh from his award-winning performance in Gypsy Colt, Highland Dale starred as Fury. His human costars were Bobby Diamond as Joey and Peter Graves as Joey’s father. Set in the new West, the show ran from 1955 to 1960 and was later syndicated as Brave Stallion.

  The series made Highland Dale a superstar, and he received volumes of fan mail, mostly from girls ages ten and eleven asking for a photo of “Fury,” as he was forever after known to his public. His owner-trainer Ralph McCutcheon and insiders who worked with the horse continued to call him Beaut.

  As Fury, Highland Dale commanded a then-whopping $1,500 per episode, out-earning seasoned actor Peter Graves, who gratefully acknowledged that “without that horse, I wouldn’t have made the money I made.” Working only four months a year, Highland Dale earned McCutcheon $500,000 in eight years.

  In 1960 and 1961, Highland Dale added two more PATSY Awards to his collection for his work as Fury. In addition to his award for Gypsy Colt, he had also been given an Award of Excellence for Outlaw Stallion (1955). During a hiatus from the series in 1956, he had made his award-winning cameo in Giant. Highland Dale was to the movie-horse world as famous and celebrated as some of his human costars, such as Joan Crawford (who rode him in 1954’s Johnny Guitar), Elizabeth Taylor, and Clark Gable.

  Highland Dale retired in the late 1960s at Ralph McCutcheon’s ranch in Sand Canyon, north of Los Angeles. Although a stallion, he was never bred and lived to the ripe old age of twenty-nine.

  The superstar Highland Dale as the wild stallion Fury.

  Gallant Bess

  The 1947 family film Gallant Bess told the story of an orphaned farmboy named Tex Barton (Marshall Thompson) on the cusp of manhood. Bonded to his mare Bess, with whom he hopes to build a horse ranch, Tex is forced to put his dreams on hold when America gets involved in World War II. Tex joins the United States Navy, but before he ships out to the South Pacific, he returns home to find Bess dying. After burying his beloved mare, Tex is stationed on an island where he finds a wounded mare in the jungle. The horse looks amazingly like Bess. Tex nurses this new Bess back to health, and she becomes the mascot of his navy unit. After returning the favor and saving Tex’s life, Bess becomes despondent when he is shipped out for home without her. She breaks out of her corral and swims for the departing ship. The commanding officer’s heart melts when he sees the mare’s determination. He orders the ship’s hold opened, and Bess manages to scramble aboard.

  Although the horse gets billing as simply “Bess,” the double role of the title character was actually played by a chestnut gelding named Silvernip. His white markings were altered slightly to distinguish the ranch Bess from the island Bess. Trained by Joe Atkinson, Silvernip displays some wonderful trick work in an early sequence in which Tex and the ranch Bess are camped out by a stream. While Tex sleeps, a parade of forest animals interacts with Bess, who r
eacts with amusing behaviors, such as turning “her” nose up at a skunk. Throughout the film, Silvernip works extensively at liberty and performs many standard tricks. While all of his work is outstanding, his final swimming scene is truly astonishing. Amazing as well is the revelation that according to the film’s credits, the movie was based, at least in part, on a true story.

  Female impersonator Silvernip in the title role of Gallant Bess (1947) checks out the atmosphere with actor Marshall Thompson.

  Gallant Bess star Silvernip checks out his picture on the cover of Modern Screen while perusing a Hollywood newsstand.

  The Red Pony

  A less fanciful story was forged by author John Steinbeck from three of his classic short stories. The compelling 1949 family film The Red Pony concerns a young rancher’s son, Tom Tiflin (Peter Miles), who learns about life’s harsh realities. Alienated by his stern parents and tormented by his schoolmates, Tom bonds with his family’s affable ranch hand, Billy Buck (Robert Mitchum). Trying to connect with his son, Tom’s father gives him a beautiful dark chestnut pony to raise, but this only furthers the boy’s dependence on Billy Buck. The clever pony, named Galiban after a mountain range, lets himself out of the barn one stormy night and contracts a deadly equine illness called strangles. In reality, there is no medical correlation between getting wet and getting strangles; but in the film it provides a pivotal plot point. Tom blames Billy for not keeping a closer eye on Galiban. Despite the ranch hand’s best efforts to save him, the pony runs away to die. In a horrific scene, Tom discovers his beloved pet being devoured by buzzards. The realism of this gruesome scene was accomplished with raw meat attached to the pony’s sides. Trained to lie down, the pony amazingly tolerated trained buzzards picking at the meat.

  Glenn Randall trained the flashy star pony, whose white blaze and flaxen mane and tail made him look like a miniature version of cowboy star Rex Allen’s famous horse, Koko. In a wonderful fantasy sequence early in the film, Tom daydreams about being a circus ringmaster, and the flock of chickens he is feeding turns into a liberty act of eight white horses. These horses belonged to trainer Mark Smith, a friend of Randall. Another fantasy sequence depicts Tom and Billy Buck as medieval knights leading a phalanx of mounted soldiers. Republic Pictures contracted all these horses and others incidental to the film from the Hudkins Brothers Stables.

  The character of Billy Buck might very well have been patterned on Glenn Randall, as he possesses uncanny horse savvy. Raised in part on mare’s milk, Billy tells Tom, “I’m half horse and horses know it.” Ultimately, Tom realizes that the ranch hand had nothing to do with Galiban’s death. In a gesture of sympathy, Billy softens the blow by giving the valuable foal of his champion mare Rosie to Tom.

  The cast of 1949’s The Red Pony, from left: Shepperd Strudwick, Myrna Loy, young Peter Miles, Robert Mitchum, the pony Galiban and Louis Calhern.

  The Flicka Flicks

  Mary O’Hara authored a trilogy of horse-themed books. The first, My Friend Flicka, was brought to the screen in 1943. Marketed as representing the American family values being fought for in World War II, the movie ironically starred a young British actor, Roddy McDowall, as Ken McLaughlin, the directionless son of a horse breeder. Ken dreams of bonding with a horse and comes into his own when he takes responsibility for a filly named Flicka.

  Country Delight with Roddy McDowAll and Rita Johnson in My Friend Flicka (1943).

  Twentieth Century Fox originally attempted to economize by making the movie without specially trained horses. The studio paid dearly for this decision, as the inexperienced horses caused costly delays in addition to close calls with stunt people. The studio then brought Jack “Swede” Lindell on to the film as equine supervisor, and the production took a two-week hiatus while he prepped experienced horses. Fox was so pleased with Lindell’s work on My Friend Flicka that the studio created a special facility for him to train horses for its future films.

  Country Delight, a seven-month-old sorrel American Saddlebred filly owned by Thomas H. Wright of Los Angeles, was cast as Flicka. Since Country Delight was not an experienced “actress,” Lindell had to quickly put the necessary cues on the filly. She performed beautifully in the challenging role. Although it is always Country Delight in scenes in which the filly’s sweet face with white star can be seen, she had several doubles for the stunts, such as one in which Flicka becomes tangled in barbed wire and badly injured. The scene was so realistic that viewers responded with letters of outrage. In fact, the scene was an exquisitely staged piece of movie magic, using rubber bands with cork barbs for the wire and a skilled makeup artist to create Flicka’s wounds.

  Fat Jones’s veteran horse Misty made a cameo appearance as Banner, Flicka’s sire, in a scene in which he saves his herd from stampeding off a cliff. The Jones barn also supplied the myriad of other horses that populate the McLaughlins’ Goose Bar Ranch.

  My Friend Flicka was followed by a sequel, Thunderhead, Son of Flicka, released in 1945. The film featured the same major cast members as its predecessor. Swede Lindell was contracted as equine supervisor from the beginning, and the studio again rented horses from the Fat Jones Stable. The story begins with the birth of Thunderhead, supposedly a throwback to his “loco” great-grandsire, the Albino, who sired Flicka’s crazy dam, Rocket. Faced with the challenge of finding a white colt to play Flicka’s new baby, the studio gave contracts to dozens of mares likely to deliver such a foal. Shooting commenced when the perfect white colt was born. Ironically, according to genetic experts, it is highly unlikely that Thunderhead, whose movie dam and sire were both solid colors, would have been white.

  One scene in the movie provoked audience concern even twenty years after the movie was filmed and shown on television. During a heavy rainstorm, young Thunderhead is trapped in a gully and struggles desperately as the water rises around him. Although the colt is eventually rescued in the film, the scenes of him panicking are extremely realistic. Actually, the entire sequence was filmed on a soundstage under very controlled—and safe—conditions.

  The older Thunderhead in the movie was played by Blanco and nine other white horses from the Fat Jones Stable. Misty’s character of Banner is killed off in the film, by the old Albino stallion, but Thunderhead exacts revenge in a thrilling fight to the death with his great-grandsire. Now “King of the Herd,” Thunderhead is released into the wilds by young Ken. Of course, the stallion’s release symbolizes Ken’s own rite of passage into young adulthood.

  The television series My Friend Flicka debuted in 1956. It ran until 1957 on CBS and then moved to NBC for another year. A chestnut Arabian mare named Wahama played Flicka in the close work with the actors. Her double was Goldie, a chestnut Thoroughbred gelding featured in the action sequences. Because Goldie was such a handful, the young series star, Johnny Washbrook, an inexperienced equestrian, was not allowed on his back. A more accomplished rider, a ten-year-old girl, doubled Washbrook in the scenes with Goldie.

  Sixty-three years after the first Flicka flick, the same family values that were championed by the original My Friend Flicka form the moral center of a remake directed by Michael Mayer, called simply Flicka. As in the original movie, wild mustangs symbolize the value that Americans hold most dear: freedom.

  In Fox’s 2006 version of O’Hara’s classic tale, Ken has become Katy (Alison Lohman), a dreamy teenager who returns home from boarding school to her family’s Montana ranch. When her father, Quarter Horse breeder Rob (country-music star Tim McGraw), receives her dismal report card, he attempts to discipline Katy who is more interested in riding horses than writing an essay that will keep her from repeating a grade. She finds inspiration in a two-year-old wild mustang mare she names Flicka, after a ranch hand translates the meaning from Swedish as “an innocent young beauty.” Katy identifies with Flicka and the mustang breed, writing in her essay, “I see in them my own restless spirit.”

  Encouraged by her mother, Nell (Maria Bello), Katy finds purpose in secretly training Flicka, even though
it means defying her father. When Rob discovers Katy’s obsession, he sells the filly to a rodeo man who enters her in a wild-horse race. Katy schemes with her older brother, Howard (Ryan Kwanten), to win back Flicka by catching and riding her in the rodeo event. In witnessing his daughter’s intrepid determination, Rob realizes Katy’s spirit is her strength and that they are more alike than not. It is Katy, not her city-bound brother Howard, who will eventually inherit the family’s Goose Bar Ranch.

  For Flicka’s title character, head wrangler Rusty Hendrickson attempted to replicate Country Delight’s coloring and originally prepped a sorrel gelding. Hendrickson favors geldings for film work, as they are generally more predictable than mares. When portraying females, however, they do provide the cinematographers with the challenge of not revealing the horses’ male anatomy.

  When director Mayer came to the California ranch where Rusty was preparing the film’s horses, he spotted a charismatic six-year-old black gelding named Ribbon in Hendrickson’s herd. A star was born as Mayer chose Ribbon as Flicka instead of the sorrel.

  Ribbon’s rise to stardom began humbly in a Montana sale pen where Hendrickson first spotted the black of possible Morgan blood. Recognizing a diamond in the rough, he bought the untrained young horse, saving him from a trip to the slaughterhouse. Rusty began working his magic on the horse he named Ribbon, breaking him to ride and teaching him to work at liberty, rear, and lie down. He displays all his talents in Flicka but was doubled by the heftier Cimarron in some running and rearing scenes to spare his energy. Distinguished by a long mane and forelock and an expressive face, Ribbon was perfect for close-ups where the bond between Katy and Flicka is revealed.

  According to Hendrickson, “The nature of the story is that the horse is supposed to have some life, and this horse is larger than life.” At first Ribbon had a bit too much life for Lohman, who was just learning to ride for the film. She took a spill early on but fortunately was not injured and, under Hendrickson’s tutelage, soon found her seat. She rode Ribbon, his double, Pablo, and the sorrel Benny in the film. Benny, another seasoned equine thespian who also appears in Dreamer, is the horse Katy rides until she finds Flicka. Since most of her riding in the film is bareback at a canter, Lohman especially appreciated Benny’s comfortable Quarter Horse back.