The Black Stallion (movie)

The Black Stallion
Directed by	Carroll Ballard
Screenplay by	Melissa Mathison Jeanne Rosenberg William D. Wittliff
Based on	The Black Stallion by Walter Farley
Produced by	Fred Roos Francis Ford Coppola Tom Sternberg
Starring	Kelly Reno Teri Garr Clarence Muse Hoyt Axton Michael Higgins Mickey Rooney
Cinematography	Caleb Deschanel
Edited by	Robert Dalva
Music by	Carmine Coppola
Color process	Technicolor
Production company	American Zoetrope
Distributed by	United Artists
Release date	October 17, 1979 (1979-10-17)
Running time	118 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$2.7 million
Box office	$37.8 million

The Black Stallion is a 1979 adventure movie directed by Carroll Ballard. It is based on the children's book The Black Stallion by Walter Farley. It is about the friendship of the boy Alec Ramsey and an Arabian horse. The movie stars Kelly Reno, Teri Garr, Hoyt Axton, Mickey Rooney and the Arabian horse Cass Ole. Francis Ford Coppola was one of the producers and his father, Carmine Coppola composed the music.

Plot

It is the summer of the year 1946. Alec Ramsey is on a ship with his father off the coast of North Africa. Alec discovers a black stallion on the ship. It is tied to ropes and upset. Alec feeds the hourse sugar. The owner rebukes him. Later Alec's father shows him the things he won from a card game. Two items are a pocket kife and a small statue of Bucephalus. Bucephalus was the horse of Alexander the Great.

The ship catches fire and begins to sink. Alec cuts the horse loose and falls into the water. The horse rescues Alec from drowning. The two are the only ones to survive. They get lost on a desert island. The horse saves Alec from a snake. The two slowly get closer together. Eventually, the boy rides the horse. A fishing ship rescues the two.

Alec is back home, and there is a ceremony for him. His horse stays in the backyard until it runs away. Alec looks for the horse everywhere and meets Snoe (and Napoleon). Snoe tells him where Black might be. This leads Alec to the barn of Henry Dailey. Henry found the horse and is a retired racehorse jockey. Henry and Alec become friends and decide to have the horse race. One night, Henry secretly has someone from the racing industry watch the horse run. The news spreads about how fast this new mystery horse is. Alec wants to race. His mother gives in after protesting. Alec joins a race against the top two jockeys in the country. He is behind in the beginning, but catches up and wins. He has memories of riding on the island.

Reception

The movie had good reviews from critics. It has a 90% on Rotten Tomatoes. The movie was nominated two Academy Awards in Best Actor in a Supporting Role and Best Film Editing. At the Golden Globe Awards, Carmine Coppola was nominated for Best Original Score. The movie was ranked #64 on the American Film Institute list Cheers. The film is part of the National Film Registry, because it is considered culturally significant.

Awards and honors

Academy Award

• Mickey Rooney was nominated for Best Actor in Supporting Role
• Robert Dalva was nominated for Best Film Editing

Other websites

• The Black Stallion on IMDb
• The Black Stallion at AllMovie
• The Black Stallion at the TCM Movie Database
• The Black Stallion at the American Film Institute Catalog
• The Black Stallion at Rotten Tomatoes