United Artists
Directed by Carroll Ballard
My rating: 3 stars out of 4
IMDb
(DVD, MGM)
Story of a boy and his wild Arabian horse is wonderfully photographed by Caleb Deschanel. The film can be neatly divided into two halves: the ocean liner and subsequent shipwreck in which boy and horse get to know each other, then the days back home where boy trains horse for racing with mentor Mickey Rooney. The first half is the most engaging, containing sparse dialogue and memorable imagery. I was a bit worried that the horse was being mistreated during the shipwreck, it was a little too realistic at times. The second half becomes a more predictable horse racing drama, but it does contain some fine period flavor. Rooney is relatively subdued in his role as the old trainer tempted out of retirement by the prospect of an undiscovered winner.
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