Set in 19th Century England , about the fates of horses , and the people who own and command them, are revealed as Black Beauty narrates the circle of his life and seen through its own carefree life . It deals with a horse's trials as it passes from an owner to owner . When farmer Evan's mare (Eddie Golden) has a good son called Joe , he promises the black stallion to his child Joe (top billed Mark Lester only worked three weeks) . The youngster enjoy growing up as playmates . Alas , once the good squire is buried , his nasty heir (Patrick Mower) , who abuses animals , turns the screws on till pa Evans is forced to leave and abandon even Black Beauty , but Joe is desperate to get him back . The unfortunate black stallion reminds his life through from his birth through his existence as a colt , and the many hardships , passing several owners both good and bad and suffering hardships after achieving maturity . As the beloved horse experiencing from benevolent guardianship to ignorant abuse by a mean aristocrat . An owner soon loses everything in a cards game , so the stallion ends up in the Hackenschmidt circus whose two proprietaries (Walter Slezak and his daughter Úrsula Glas) show brilliant spectacles and both of whom confronting another circus owner (José Nieto) .
Exciting life of a horse named Black Beauty is here expanded to include the adventures of the humans who surround the horse . Handsome take off of the Anna Sewell family novel but sometimes fails to capture qualities that make Sewell's book a classic . The animals in this film were in no way harmed or mistreated , and all scenes in which they appeared were under strict supervision with utmost concern for their handling . Developed quite energetically and starred by the marvelous horse , as the story is told of the horse's life and through its profound and wizened eyes . The impressive scenery , photography and music enhance the story of ¨Black Beauty¨ and its adventures , sufferings and adversities . The tale is treated in good sense and high sensibility ; environment , horses , landscapes combine to enhance the glories of nature , one of which, after all, is silence . Good cast full of fine British actors as Patrick Mower , the prodigy child Mark Lester , Germans : Peter Lee Lawrence , Maria Rohm who married to film producer Harry Alan Towers and a lot of Spanish secondaries such as Jose Nieto , Fernando Bilbao , Ricardo Palacios , Daniel Martin , Luis Induni , Jose Canalejas and Chris Huerta . Colorful and glamorous cinematography by Fernando Arribas and the Oscarized Chris Menges , being shot in La Pedriza , Manzanares Del Real , Colmenar Viejo , Madrid , Spain and Irreland and Ardmore Studios, Herbert Road, Bray, County Wicklow, Ireland . Furthermore , a sensitive as well as emotive soundtrack ; as Lionel Bart worked on the musical score , working again with Mark Lester as both were involved with Oliver . The motion picture was professionally directed by James Hill . He was an expert on children films and serials for showing at schoolboy cinema . Hill designed his acquaintance with amusements for the young generation and costume adventures blending with Lions (Born free , The lions are free , The lion at world's end) , Horses (Black Beauty) , Foxes (The Belstone Fox) , Elephants ( An Elephant called Slowly) and sea animals as Sharks and Squid like ¨Captain Nemo and underwater city¨. ¨Born Free¨ remains his triumph in which the way the protagonists romp with three lionesses who play Elsa at several stages of growth is near-miraculous . Forever in search of a similar movie to equal this hit , he never quite found it . James Hill best movie turned out to be ¨Studio in terror¨ a Sherlock versus Jack Ripper terror thriller with lurid killings .
Other films based on this classic novel written by Anna Sewell are the followings : First silent version , 1921 , titled ¨Black Beauty ; first sound rendition of 1933 by Phil Rosen ; ¨Black Beauty¨ 1946 by Noel Nossek with Mona Freeman and Richard Denning ; ¨Courage of Black Beauty ¨ by Harold Schuster with Johnny Crawford ; ¨Black Beauty¨ 1994 by Caroline Thompson with David Thewlis as Jerry Barker , Jim Carter as John Manly , Peter Davison as Squire Gordon , Alun Armstrong as Reuben Smith , John McEnery as Mr. York , Eleanor Bron as Lady Wexmire , the notorious Sean Bean , Peter Cook , James Cosmo and ¨Black Beauty¨ 2015 with Luke Perry , Bruce Davison , Sarah Schultz , Jennifer Mckenzie . In addition , various TV movies and TV-series . This equine melodrama for grown-up adolescents and children will appeal to horses lovers ; resulting to be one of the best filmization of the classic story to date.
