Smoky, König der Prärie

"Smoky" is quintessential family fare, with no surprises or plot twists; As a reader remarked, "man finds horse, man loses horse, man finds horse". Is it my imagination or are many horse stories similar? "War Horse" and "Black Beauty" had much the same theme as "Smoky".

In this one, Fred MacMurray arrives at a ranch under a cloud of suspicion. His cowboy credentials are impeccable, but some ranch hands have heard stories. All goes well until Bruce Cabot shows up and pleads with Our Hero to get him a job. But it turns out that Cabot is his ne'er-do-well brother, and Fred took the rap for him in another state. Fred has, meanwhile, found and broken a wild horse that is the envy of the local horsemen. Cabot finds the horse 'ornery' and despises it. Naturally, things happen, Fred and the horse are separated, and the horse ends up with - you guessed it, Cabot. From here you can fill in the blanks.

The movie, filmed in and around Utah's Zion National Park, is gorgeous to look at while the movie itself has a very pedestrian feel. No new ground is broken in the story and co-star Anne Baxter has very little to do despite being the manager of the ranch. Burl Ives gets to sing some songs in the bunkhouse. Kids will like this picture more than adults will, and it is a pleasant way to spend 90 minutes.

I can still remember walking home in silence beside my mother after having seen Smokey at our local Loew's theater in Yonkers, New York. I was so moved by this film, that I have never forgotten it. That was over 50 years ago and I only wish that a VHS or DVD copy was available so that I would be able to share this movie with my children and grandchildren. I enjoyed Smokey far better than National Velvet or Black Beauty. Fred MacMurray is excellent as the lead who has to deal with the emotional upheaval of losing his beloved horse. What happens to this fine animal will cause you to get a few lumps in your throat before the finale. A keeper if we could manage to find a copy!

Yes, the original Smokey is a classic, now almost a period piece. I'm almost 70 (February 1939), and believe I saw this movie on the week it was released. I think it was my first movie.

Yes, it's a beautiful, memorable, and sad story, especially when you're that young. I cried like I did with Bambi, but for this and a number of other reasons -- not the least of which are Fred McMurray's strong lead, Burl Ive's great renditions of what I believe are some of our most authentic American folk songs (e.g., "The Blue Tail Fly"), and Smokey a beautiful horse for a lasting concept of character that bonds independent loving humans to independent loving animals -- it compels me to ask who, having seen it, could ever forget it?

Does 20 Century Fox keep masters even when they're succeeded by remakes? If so, I'd sure like to get my hands on a copy of the original. Having Googled and Cuiled for this information without any success on and off over the past year and a half, I was beginning to wonder if there might not be other intentional reasons for this film's disappearance.

Conceivably, as it was produced in the '40s, the original Smokey may have contained language or stereotypes now recognized, rightly or wrongly, as politically incorrect. I may have been too young to recognize anything of this kind. More likely, Burl Ive's, like so many folk collectors, scholars and performers, was once blacklisted by Congress, the movie industry, and other witch hunting institutions because of alleged associations with "communists." Is the movie industry trying to protect us from our/their past? On the other hand, if the film's disappearance is, in fact, a casualty of such black listing or attempts at social engineering, it deprives us from seeing, and remembering, ourselves as we once were. In this case, the original Smokey needs to be re-released for its historical import at least. It is an American original.

Like "Lassie come home", if there is a movie i'll always remember, it is indeed the lovable "Smoky" and his loyal master McMurray.Fifty years ago, alone in a theater watching the film, having a hard time to see the screen because the tears in my eyes blurred the only scene i could never forget. I think it's near the end, when the true love of McMurray for his animal and Smoky's attachment for his real friend, burst you out of emotions. Glad i was alone, no one could laugh at me. The day after, when i narrated to my young friend, between the double features I have seen: "Going my way" with Bing Crosby as a priest, and "Smoky", i preferred and enjoyed by 200 yards, the latter, he did not understand why... Since many years, i searched as hard as Fred for his horse, without any luck to find the DVD or VHS. May be he did not pass my way yet! Or i have not cross their path. But one thing i am sure: no other horse did or never will surpass him on any screen.

It's a funny, romantic, suspenseful, tearjerker all rolled up into one movie. I have been looking for a copy of this movie for a very long time. the one time that I found copies of it I did not have a credit card, so unfortunately i missed out. I would love to have this movie for my kids to watch.