Mi amiga Flicka

From some of the comments about the first version of My Friend Flicka, you'd think the movie was 89 minutes of pure schmaltz, but I enjoyed it. It had a nice, simple feel to it and you can just see how comforting this movie might have been to the nerve-jangled America of 1943.

If you can get past the occasional side trip into the corn field, there's a lot of straightforward emotion and values in MFF. Also, notice how good the color looks, how crisp the images are, and check out some very mobile camera work out on the north forty. Flicka stands out because most of the exteriors are shot in outdoors instead of in a large sound stage. It sounds silly, but it makes the movie work.

Probably the only faults in the movie are in the star Roddy McDowell and his little friend, Patti Hale. Hale is so cutesy in her attempt to do a Shirley Temple impression through the movie that you want her shipped out to whatever passed for kindergarten back then. McDowell holds his own on screen with the older professionals, but it's that suppressed accent and his wimpiness that put the greatest strain on the movie. I never believed him; I kept thinking that this guy would grow up to play one effeminate killer after another on the NBC Mystery Movie.

But that's just me.

I'm recommending My Friend Flicka for you and your family. 89 minutes of pleasant schmaltz beats a Cheaper by the Dozen or a Happy Feet any day.

This is a mediocre movie from a brilliant book. The script writers did everything they could to slaughter it, making it into a cutesy children's movie. Not to be outdone, the casting department then finished pulling everything apart, leaving it to the actors to attempt a salvage. Roddy McDowall turned in a good performance as always; there was just something about his English accent that seemed out of place on the Wyoming plane.I voted a six, because it's a fair movie if you forget that it's supposed to be from the book, which apparently nobody in the crew read.

I was about that, in a much quieter age, when I first saw Flicka. I was enthralled by the brave young hero and it left a very strong mark on me. Being young, and unsophisticated, I didn't have LOTR or Star Wars or any of today's high tech films to compare it to. I had Hoppalong Cassidy, the Cisco Kid and Roy Rogers, amongst other cowboy heroes. And then along comes this kid whose not a lot older than I was at the time being brave and honorable and fighting for what's right. I haven't seen it again since, and I'm not sure what my adult reaction to it would be. I'm sure the kids of today would be too sophisticated for the pleasures that I drew from it. So it goes....

I was 8 when I saw the film. As an earlier writer said, it was before TV and during simpler times. I loved it. I haven't seen it for 6o years but some scenes still remain in my memory. Today I took my grandchildren to see Flicka. I was disappointed to find that Ken had been replaced by a nubile teenage girl and the script has been changed dramatically. I wonder what kind of film would have resulted from remaining true to the wonderful novel. It seems that stories for children can't be written now without either animation or high drama or an element of sexuality as shown in the relationship between brother Ryan and Miranda.

"In this touching family film based on the celebrated novel by Mary O'Hara, ten-year-old Kenny McLaughlin (Roddy McDowall), a rancher's son, desperately wants a horse of his own. When his father (Preston Foster) finally agrees to let him choose a foal, Ken picks Flicka, a beautiful but high-spirited filly who comes from a bloodline considers hopelessly wild. It is up to Ken to prove Flicka is tamable or risk losing her. Along the way, Ken and his family learn some important lessons in the poignant tale of love, patience, faith, and hope beyond hope," according to the DVD synopsis.

The most obvious outstanding feature of this excellent family drama is the stunningly beautiful Technicolor photography by Dewey Wrigley, with Natalie Kalmus and Henri Jaffa assisting. Both the Utah location and 20th Century-Fox lots are spectacular, often with a gentle breeze highlighting the scenery. The studio could have easily pushed for an "Academy Award" (to compete with MGM's "Lassie Come Home") in the "Best Color Cinematography" category.

According to my Svenska grandfather, "Flicka" means just "girl" in Swedish, not as the film states, "little girl." The story trims the book to make "My Friend Flicka" seem more about the curiously cold relationship father Foster has with his son. By the film's end, you expect the distant dad will be closer to young McDowall. He and "Flicka" are tremendously appealing, and charmed viewers through sequels, a TV series, and numerous repeats through the 1950s.

******** My Friend Flicka (5/26/43) Harold Schuster ~ Roddy McDowall, Preston Foster, Rita Johnson, James Bell