O Potro Negro

A serviceable adaptation of the Anna Sewell novel, although it loses something in the translation; the horse becomes more of a supporting than central character here. Unusually, this was produced by Harry Alan Towers for Tigon, and it's far less sleazy than most of his work (although familiar faces like Maria Rohm turn up). Mark Lester is still riding high from OLIVER!, the actors are invested in their roles, the scenery beautiful and the story involved and fast-moving.

I don't think a horse has seen so much violence.

Black Beauty, the name of the horse and the movie, is a horse that lived a very full life. He (I believe it's a he) was passed from owner to owner where he was witness to man's worse behavior. He suffered abuse and witnessed about three battles of varying sizes. Fortunately, at times, he was treated to some tender care.

The movie is really a series of mini-movies compiled into one feature length film with the horse as the only constant. Each time Black Beauty moves on we're privy to a new plot, new climax, and new resolution. I think the mini-episodes were simply OK on average. Truly, the only thing going for this movie would be the beautiful horse. Besides, t's not like the horse had any say in the script. Shoot! He didn't even have any say on whether or not he wanted to be in a movie!

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

Most of the reviewers giving this movie a low rating do so because they don't think it followed the original book. I didn't read the book, but watched the movie. It was fine, with action, adventure, some violence, humor and sadness. Even a touch of romance. So anyone reading this who has not read the book or seen the movie yet, it's good entertainment, but probably not for real young children. For those who have read the book, don't judge the movie on your misguided thinking that movies have to mimic the book. They can be different and both be good.

In case you are wondering, I have not (yet) read the famed Anna Sewell novel that this movie is based on, though I know a little about it, that being that it was written with the horse's point of view as well as carrying a message that humans should be kind to horses. However, this movie does not manage to do any of those two things, and I think that's the problem with the movie. Despite being titled "Black Beauty", the movie's primary focus is on the human characters in the movie instead of the horse. In fact, the horse is often an afterthought, and we certainly never get a feeling of what the horse is feeling or thinking. While the movie has these major flaws, the movie isn't awful - it looks nice, the human drama is sometimes interesting, and there are no slow spots. But viewers who think they are going to get a story about a horse will likely be somewhat disappointed. By the way, while the movie got a "G" rating back in 1971, some mild language, violence, and some mature themes would earn the movie a "PG" rating today.