Black Beauty (1971 film)
Black Beauty | |
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Theatrical release poster
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Directed by | James Hill |
Produced by | Peter L. Andrews Artur Brauner Malcolm B. Heyworth Executive producer: Peter Hahne Tony Tenser Harry Alan Towers (uncredited) |
Written by | Anna Sewell (novel) Wolf Mankowitz (screenplay) James Hill (additional dialogue) |
Starring | Walter Slezak Mark Lester Patrick Mower John Nettleton |
Music by | Lionel Bart John Cameron |
Cinematography | Chris Menges |
Edited by | Ann Chegwidden Pablo González del Amo |
Distributed by | Tigon British Film Productions (UK Release) Paramount Pictures (USA Release) |
Release dates
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April 1971 |
Running time
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106 minutes |
Country | United Kingdom |
Language | English |
Black Beauty is a 1971 British drama film, based on the Anna Sewell novel of the same name. This movie is the fourth feature film adaptation of Anna Sewell's story. The movie was directed by James Hill. Lionel Bart provided the rousing score.
The film's cast includes Walter Slezak, Mark Lester, Uschi Glas, Patrick Mower and John Nettleton.
Plot
Black Beauty is a stallion who, as a foal in England c 1856, is befriended by a boy named Joe (the film was actually made in Ireland). After being stolen by a brutal squire who also takes over Joe's family farm, is later killed, he is acquired by gypsies, who then sell him to a Spanish circus.
In the circus, he learns many tricks before being given to Sir William, an arrogant British military man, then passed to Sir William's daughter and her fiance, Gervais, whom Sir William accuses of being a coward and unworthy of his daughter's hand.
Black Beauty then travels to India (scenes were shot in Spain) with Gervais to fight for Britain. Gervais wants to prove his worth to his future father in law. Gervais is killed in a rather confusing and unexplained battle (possibly based on the Russian presence in India and Afghanistan c1860), and the horse becomes known as a war horse through his bravery and willingness to charge.
Because of his bravery he is shipped back to England, but is then sold by a penniless army officer. The horse is used for hauling coal by another heartless owner, but acquires pneumonia. At his most sick, he is rescued by a friendly old woman who runs a farm for retired horses and her employee, some time after 1870. The employee turns out to be the boy named Joe whom Black Beauty knew when he was a foal, while the woman was Anna Sewell (author of the original Black Beauty book).
Filming
It was shot on location in Ireland and Spain.[1]
Cast
- Mark Lester as Joe Evans
- Walter Slezak as Hackenschmidt
- Uschi Glas as Marie Hackenschmidt (credited as "Ursula Glas")
- Peter Lee Lawrence as Gervaise
- Patrick Mower as Sam Greener
- John Nettleton as Sir William
- Maria Rohm as Lady Anne Piggott
- Eddie Golden as Evans, Joe's Father
- Clive Geraghty as Roger
- John Hoey as Muldoon
- Patrick Gardiner as O'Flaherty
- Brian McGrath as Mark Beauchamp
- Ronan Smith as Farmboy
- John Franklyn as Coalman
- Margaret Lacey as Anna Sewell
Reception
Roger Ebert was overall complimentary of the film, and believed the re-telling of the book remained true to the original aims of the author, although changing the actual biography of the horse. According to Ebert, James Hill's version of Black Beauty is "more than just an animal movie". Ebert was also generally complimentary of the human actors in the movie, although he panned the performance of Mark Lester as Joe. He gave the film three out of four stars.[1] A review in the New York Times also commented on the major plot changes, but called the movie "uncommonly interesting, handsome and sometimes quite marvelously inventive". The review praised the atmosphere of the movie and the performances of several actors in secondary roles, but called the performances of Mark Lester and Walter Slezak "utterly pedestrian".[2]
See also
- Black Beauty (1921 film)
- Black Beauty (1946 film)
- Black Beauty (1978 film)
- Black Beauty (1987 film)
- Black Beauty (1994 film)
References
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External links
- Pages with reference errors
- Use British English from May 2016
- Use dmy dates from May 2016
- English-language films
- 1971 films
- 1970s drama films
- British films
- British children's films
- Films based on children's books
- Films based on British novels
- Films about horses
- Films directed by James Hill (British director)
- Paramount Pictures films
- Films shot in Spain
- Black Beauty