A Sorte Tem Quatro Patas

The whole set-up of this contrived Disney family film (ad-exec gets his teenage daughter a horse because she "wants one more than anything else in the world") is just an excuse to film the big climactic horse-show at the end. All the other ingredients (the ad campaign for the stomach pill, Kurt Russell as a potential boyfriend for the youngster, Lloyd Bochner as a potential rival for Dean Jones over the affections of Diane Baker) are shelved near the end simply to showcase the horse. Over half the picture is padding, and worse: it is whiny and obnoxious. The kid is the ninny-sort who cries on the couch with a dog in her arms, and as usual she gets her way. * from ****

Dean Jones is one of the most underrated actors in Hollywood; every part he plays is imbued with his own brand of sincerity. Catch him in this film; he never makes a false step. Diane Baker plays the riding instructor and Dean's love interest, and she's also fantastic. This is a quiet, well-made film, typical of Disney and the quality stuff he put out. I still enjoy watching this movie, and it's a great family film.

I saw this film from the library. I loved it. This is a Dean Jones and "Herbie" flick. But this Herbie which I am talking about is his dog, not his car. Ellen Janov portrayed the teenage daughter, Helen Bolton. Kurt Russell did a really good part as Ronnie Gardner, Helen Bolton's boyfriend. Dean Jones is really fun to watch. He portrays Fred Bolton, who works for a pharmaceutical company. Aspercel is the name of the horse. I love the setting of this film. Like all Disney Classic live movies, I find this one enjoyable. I've always loved Dean Jones and Kurt Russell. Suzy Clemens, portrayed by Diane Baker is the equestrian instructor. She teaches how to ride a horse. If you see this movie, you'll be entertained.

While The Horse in the Gray Flannel Suit is not great cinema by any means, it will appeal to horse lovers. I enjoyed it, and if I had seen it as a kid I bet I would have loved it. The horse that plays Aspercel is gorgeous, and there is lots of handsome horseflesh around in general. I miss how movies used to feature horses that looked like what they were meant to be (this movie, the Black Stallion) instead of using another breed or different type and assuming the public wouldn't notice if it didn't look or perform like it ought (Black Beauty, Seabiscuit). Also, the riding looks reasonably realistic and the action is fairly accurate to what hunters and jumpers do (and did then).

The human performances are okay--all about what you'd expect from a 1960s Disney movie with such a goofy premise. Young Kurt Russell is cute as a button and just as likable as he is today.

Making a play on the Gregory Peck/Jennifer Jones film of the Fifties, The Horse With The Grey Flannel Suit is about an advertising man who thinks of a brilliant idea to help his daughter with her horseback riding hobby. A most expensive proposition if one owns one's own horse as Ellen Janov's riding instructor Diane Baker suggests.

The suit is Dean Jones and no one tries to put the horse in a suit. His idea which he pitches to the owner of the advertising firm is to buy a horse and train it as a show horse and have it win the junior riding championship in Washington, DC. Along the way and quite by accident with Dean Jones discovering it rather uncomfortably, they find out that the horse is a jumper which opens all kinds of new possibilities.

Jones and Baker are a nice fit in the leads and Ellen Janov is good as the daughter who does come over like a real kid. Maybe she was just a kid and it wasn't acting. Her career was over shortly and I read with sadness that she died in a fire in the next decade.

This film was also the farewell big screen appearance of Fred Clark who mastered the slow burn as if he understudied Edgar Kennedy. Clark plays Jones's boss who is inpatient to see results in the form of publicity. The horse's name is Aspercel which is a generic tummy pain medication they're trying to sell. I wish the film had more of Morey Amsterdam who plays a rather madcap ad man.

The Horse In The Grey Flannel Suit may yet see a remake from The Magic Kingdom. I can see Jim Carrey for instance in the Dean Jones role. Until then, this will do nicely.