"The Black Stallion" - a Forgotten Classic Children's Film

When people are asked to name their all-time favorite children's movies, "The Wizard Of Oz" is almost inevitably the movie first named. Also mentioned is any number of the Walt Disney classics or "Willy Wonka And The Chocolate Factory." These days you might be inclined to include several of the films produced through Pixar including the "Toy Story" movies or "The Incredibles." One film that is never mentioned and is hardly remembered today is Carroll Ballard's 1979 film "The Black Stallion," based on a popular novel by Walter Farley. It is a film of utter beauty and the pure definition of what a family film is all about. It is understandable to even younger children without looking down on them while being very entertaining for adults.

The film is told in four sections with the bare minimum of dialogue. It doesn't occur to you until much later that the second section on the island is a full 30 minutes without a single word of dialogue spoken.

The film takes place in 1946 and opens on a ship off the coast of North Africa. Among those on board is a young boy named Alec (Kelly Reno) and his father (Hoyt Axton). One day Alec sees a beautiful black stallion and is shooed away by his villainous trainer when he goes in for a closer look. Alec runs to his father who happens to be smack dab in the middle of a high stakes poker game. Alec's father rubs Alec's stomach for luck and later that night, when the luck obviously paid off, Alec and his father sift through his bag of winnings which include a gold watch, a diamond and two things dad gives to his son. The first is a pocketknife (which will come in quite handy later) and the second is a small metal knick-knack shaped like a horse. Dad then tells Alec the story of how that horse was tamed and won by Alexander the Great.

Later that night there is a shipwreck (a spectacular scene that still ranks among the best ever filmed) in which Alec falls overboard and is rescued by the stallion. It is clearly evident that everyone else aboard has been killed.

Actor Kelly Reno and co-star Cass-ole in "The Black Stallion."

Credit: United Artists

Copyright: MGM/UA