Black Beauty

English author Anna Sewell's 1877 children's book is more-or-less faithfully brought to the screen in this handsome 1971 adaptation starring Mark Lester, a hot property at the time following the success of "Oliver!" Awestruck youngster is incredibly attached to a male colt he names Black Beauty, but when his widower-father's farm is sold, the horse is inexplicably included in the deal (a detail which remains perplexing). Beginning with the tender birthing of a foal, director James Hill takes us to a frenzied hunt in the countryside wherein one rider (a glowering horse-hater) blames his horse for falling over on him and has the animal shot. This episode is followed by another in a similar vein, with the same hot-headed villain smacking Black Beauty for crossing his path on a private road. When the boy's farm is eventually sold, guess who the buyer is? One can easily become exasperated by the rote, formulaic storytelling, populated by too few genuine characters, though perhaps horse-lovers and kids won't mind as much. The cinematography by Chris Menges feasts on footage of stallions leaping, jumping, diving--sometimes in slow motion. It certainly looks good, even if the tale is just junior-league soap opera. ** from ****

Back when there were no computers, long hours when there was often "nothing on" television worth watching (still true, by the way) made you search the library to look for some interesting books to read. My mother had Anna Sewell's "Black Beauty" on the shelf, but it didn't appeal to someone more interested in Tolkien and Twain. Horses were fun to ride, but could you do that in a book? Teenage boredom finally forced open the pages of "Black Beauty", and the horse was out of the barn. The story was immediately captivating because Ms. Sewell creates a wonderful animal character, and tells the story from the horse's point-of-view. And, you believed it. Now, you don't. In this adaptation, the all-important personality of the horse "Black Beauty" is almost non-existent, and the story is altered extensively - it really only vaguely resembles the original novel. Paramount filmmakers might have tried a "narration" to evoke some of the original's "first person" narrative, but they didn't. The animal's personality could still come through (as it does with "Lassie" and other animals), but it doesn't. So, we are left with a human protagonist, cute Mark Lester (as Joe Evans), who doesn't seem all that engaged in the role, and doesn't horse around for long. Chris Menges' photography is quite nice, though. ***** Black Beauty (4/71) James Hill ~ Mark Lester, Patrick Mower, Uschi Glas, Peter Lee Lawrence

This is a movie that can be looked at one of two ways. You can look at it as an adaptation of Anna Sewell's classic novel, or you can look at it as a story about a bunch of people who all happen to own the same horse. I'll do both. As an adaptation of the novel this movie disappoints terribly. The plot bears almost no relation to the original story. Classic characters like John Manly, Reuben Smith, and Jerry Barker are cut out completely. New characters are often shallow and one-dimensional. Ginger, one of the most important horses in the story, acting as a foil for Black Beauty and with her own heart-wrenching story is turned into a gelding, given about three seconds of screen time and has no involvement in the actual story. The plot, particularly the ways in which Beauty passes from owner to owner, often seems contrived. On more than one occasion Beauty is simply standing around in the middle of nowhere and someone comes along and finds him. Other times he performs some heroic deed which would merit his owners deciding to keep him forever and the next thing we know he's being sold again. While the novel deeply explores the society of the time and the effects of that society (for better or for worse) on both the humans and the animals this movie disregards that aspect entirely. It portrays some rather stereotypical views. Worse, some of the bad guys are just that: bad guys with no depth or personality. Take for instance the young squire who is cruel for no reason and loves to hurt horses just for the fun of it. As a movie with complete disregard to the book it isn't half bad. The story as it is presented here is not about the horse; it is about all the different people who own the horse. Beauty isn't a character so much as he is a plot device. If you don't mind the focus shifting from animal to human it is an enjoyable sequence of stories. I stand by what I said earlier about many of the characters being one-dimensional, but when the entire cast is reviewed as a whole it displays a wide range of personalities and backgrounds. There is a good balance between kind and cruel owners. Pacing was fairly good. The movie had a nice balance with enough action but not too much. Cinematography was very nice. Many of the shots of the countryside were beautifully done (if occasionally somewhat overdone). Most of the stories were fairly standard plots (a decent farmer at the mercy of a heartless bank, young lovers forbidden from meeting) but some, such as the circus family were rather creative and even the recycled plots were well done. Acting was good overall. My conclusion: A good animal and people story, but if you want something closer to the source watch the 1994 version.

This internationally-produced version of the oft-filmed Anna Sewell classic about the adventures and misadventures of a horse that is seperated from its original owners is the best of several films based on the timeless tale. Mark Lester stars as the young boy who longs to be reunited with his beloved horse. The film rarely strays from its source, and I believe this is superior to the 1994 remake.

This film is a gorgeous little gem from a more innocent age, the landscapes, the characters, and the horse itself, all blend to make an extremely watchable, and yet short film. Many user reviews have been dismissive of this film due to the differences between it and the original novel. But I say, who cares! I have never read the book, but I have seen a 1990's film version which is more faithful, with the inclusion of the Ginger story line, so go and watch that and stop moaning! I found this an incredibly moving story and I thoroughly enjoyed Black Beauty's journey, which goes full circle in a sad but slightly rewarding way, which is enough to leave you with a sense of satisfaction, albeit with a tear in your eye. This movie crams a lot into its 90 minutes, and the pace is fast, but somehow gives the viewer time to soak up the emotional road our equestrian hero is thrust along, including all the ups and downs he has to endure. Highlights for me are when Beauty ends up on the Continent after being sold to a travelling circus, and thereafter gifted to a humiliated hussar by his estranged lover, becoming in the process a war hero, after the horse charges with its mortally wounded master into the enemy cannon. More sad times follow as Beauty is brought and sold, finally almost expiring due to his ill treatment, but just as the old horse drags heavy coals up a steep road, and the tired animal is close to death, redemption comes at last. The final words are very sad, as it gives you the feeling that so much of the horse's life has been used without any real joy, and yet we see the old warrior sent to pasture in a field where horses live out their final days. I wish more films were made like this today, the music is very good and invokes the broad hills and mountains that feature so prominently (Ireland and Spain were used as the filming locations)

The beauty of Black beauty was the simplicity. This movie has only about two scenes in it that actually were in the book. I deliberately recorded this and waited to watch it for my birthday, because the book had been a gift for me as a child. I knew every line of it. It led to a career and lifetime of horses for me. There is very little of the original story left in this movie. I think that as a standalone movie, it was okay. I won't watch it again.

This movie starts out well and moves along well, until Black Beauty meets the circus. After that the movie takes on a silly tone that does not make sense to it's early pace. After Black Beauty joins the circus, it was one travesty event after another with bad accents, bad fighting. Corny music. It's not even worth the cheap price I paid for the DVD. Very disappointed, if this was supposed to be an adaptation of someones novel they would be screaming about it. It is unfortunate I can not return open DVDs to the store, even at $2.00(US) it's bad enough to return.

1st watched 11/26/2004 - 2 out of 10(Dir-James Hill): Lazy telling of celebrated novel about the adventures of an almost completely black horse. The adventures are huge, but they are played out very un-magnificently with some scenes being so bad that the movie's almost worthy of turkey status especially during a couple silly love scenes. It all works out in the end with the horse coming back to his starting location with his grown-up original owner but the only good thing this movie does is make you feel bad for the horse. The problem is that at points in this movie even he looks bewildered and fatigued at being a part of this slow-moving fiasco.

A truly sensitive and quite a beautiful lost epic, The film is a biopic of Black Beauty's life, original in the sense that the tale is told of the horse's life seen through his own sad, profound and wizened eyes. Forget about "If walls could talk..." this film makes you wonder "If animals could talk..." and there is no need to wonder here since Black Beauty's story is told with empathy and is a real adventure through many terrains. From Black Beauty being a circus performer to a war hero to a whipped and maltreated work horse...the film shows a rather fateful and often disturbing life of this beautiful and sensitive horse... the cinematography is wonderful, It really does try to present some rugged images of the English countryside, I think that the hunting scenes evoke a sense of cruelty and violence in a subtle manner since the film shows the squire and landowners in an unflattering light. I would have liked to see some scenes played out a little longer but there is a lot to fit in this film and ultimately the film is about Black Beauty's life and not so much the people he is thrown with by fate.

source: Black Beauty