The Black Stallion

There are certain movies I saw as a kid that immediately connected with me and left an indelible remark. The Black Stallion was not one of those movies. I know I had seen it, but it just didn't connect with me at the time. Over the intervening years, I would catch bits and pieces of it here and there, always meaning to get around to giving it another try. It wasn't until I heard it was being released on a special edition Blu-Ray as part of the Criterion Collection that I made myself sit down and watch it again from start to finish. I have to say what I saw made my jaw drop in awe. At the risk of overselling it, this film is simply magical.  

Alec Ramsey (played by Kelly Reno), is traveling by steamer ship with his father (played by Hoyt Axton) off the coast of North Africa. While wandering the ship, he catches the sight of several men trying to deal with a temperamental, but beautiful Arabian stallion horse we will come to know as The Black (played by several horses, but primarily Cass Ole) on the deck of the ship. They are finally able to get the horse back in it's hold and Alec runs off to tell his Dad. Dad, however, is more interested in the poker game he's playing with what has to be an interesting assortment of shady characters, playing with whatever of value they have, including gold chains, assorted jewels, coins and paper money. Alec watches the game for a little while before grabbing some sugar cubes off a nearby table and returns to check out The Black. He watches the horse through an open port window and lines up the sugar cubes along the sill of the window to try and entice the horse over. It works as the horse comes over and devours the sugar cubes. Alec is excited until the horse's owner catches him and runs him off. Later, his Dad returns to the state room with his assorted poker winnings. Among those is a small statue of Bucephalus, the horse of Alexander the Great. His Dad tells him the story of Alexander and Bucephalus, setting up a nice parallel with Alec and The Black. 

Later that night, both Alec and his Dad are awoken suddenly by the severely rocking ship. The two struggle to get to the door, Alec only managing to grab his pocket knife and the small Bucephalus statue as they leave. When they emerge on the deck, they find parts of the ship are in flames and the ship is sinking. In the chaos, Alec and his Dad get separated. The Black manages to get free of his hold and leaps overboard. Pretty soon, Alec is knocked overboard as well and surfaces to watch in horror as the ship sinks, his father and the other passengers still on board. Alec is about to drown too when The Black swims by and Alec is able to grab ahold of him and keep himself afloat. The next morning, Alec awakes on a sandy beach of a deserted island, the horse nowhere in sight. After exploring the island a bit, he finds The Black stuck, the ropes that had tied him up on the ship still attached and snagged on a couple of rocks. Alec cuts the ropes and reins loose, freeing the horse. From there, a tentative friendship slowly builds between the two over the course of their time on the island until they are completely inseparable. This culminates in one of the best scenes in the movie when Alec coaxes The Black into the surf and then swims right onto the horses back in order to ride him. He falls off a couple times, but eventually gets the hang of it, riding bareback and holding on until he no longer needs to, throwing his arms out taking in the complete freedom they both feel on their own little island.

After a while on the island alone, Alec is rescued by some passing fishermen. He refuses to leave without The Black though and when they try to take Alec anyway, the horse literally swims after them. Having no choice, the fishermen take both of them and Alec eventually makes his way home, The Black in tow, to his mother (played by Teri Garr). Alec's mom isn't quite sure how to deal with this new development. She's overjoyed to have her son back, but isn't quite sure what to make of her son's new horse (although in a touching moment she thanks The Black for saving her son, but wishes he could've saved his father too).  However, the prospect of living out the remainder of his days in Alec's backyard doesn't much appeal to The Black so when the backyard gate is left open, he makes a bolt for it with Alec in hot pursuit. They wind up at a farm outside of town owned by Henry Dailey (played by Mickey Rooney). Henry is a former jockey and horse trainer. He offers Alec a stall in his barn to keep The Black in when it becomes clear the horse likes it there. After spending some time with Henry, Alec proposes the idea of training The Black as a racehorse. Henry isn't sure that would be possible as The Black is still too much of a wild desert horse without any papers to be able to run. Still, Henry takes Alec and The Black out to the local horse track and has them run it. Impressed by The Black's times, he uses his connections to fix a special climactic race between The Black and two of the reigning Champions. But the question is can they train The Black enough to be able to run the race? And how will they ever get Alec's Mom to agree to such a crazy scheme (although Teri Garr is pretty priceless when she finally finds out what Alec and Henry have been up to)?

The film is beautifully directed by Carroll Ballard from a script by Melissa Mathison, Jeanne Rosenberg, and William Wittliff based on the classic children's novel by Walter Farley. The thing about the film is that even though it's second half is leading up to the climactic horse race, it is far more concerned throughout the unconditional love and friendship between Alec and The Black and later between Alec and Henry as well. It is this focus on the relationships that make it the film one such a memorable one. It helps that they had a great cast to back it up. Mickey Rooney had played several jockeys over his career and that lifetime of knowledge is condensed down into his performance here, which is surprisingly understated and grounded for someone whose most famous performances were always big and theatrical. It's no wonder he was nominated for an Oscar for his performance here. The real find though was Kelly Reno as Alec. This was his first acting role and discovered in an open casting call. He didn't have much acting experience but he had grown up around horses his whole life and already an accomplished rider at that point, which no doubt made him a logical casting choice. But he also brought a unique tenderness and innocence to the role of Alec. There is a significant chunk of the movie that he carries alone with just him and the horse, largely without dialogue I might add, and it just works beautifully. The other element that needs to be singled out is Carmine Coppola's fantastic, if at times eclectic score. The bulk of the time island sequence is just his music and the images of Alec and The Black bonding and it ties everything together so perfectly that you probably wouldn't have noticed there was no dialogue if I hadn't pointed it out. 

Overall, The Black Stallion is a bonafide classic of a film, unique and beautiful (especially on the new Criterion Blu-Ray that spurned this review in the first place). I highly recommend it and it's well worth checking out.