Brighty of the Grand Canyon

Brighty Of The Grand Canyon has one of the best sets for a film ever, the fabulous Grand Canyon. Shot entirely on location in Arizona, Brighty Of The Grand Canyon would have been impossible to mess up scenically even if it had been shot with a brownie camera.

Brighty is a little scrub burro the kind that inhabits the canyon and knows some of the many trails in and out of it. As such he's a valuable animal. Valuable to old timer prospector Dick Foran and valuable to fugitive Pat Conway who fled into the canyon and who murders Foran to get the gold he's scratched out of the place.

But Conway reckons without young Dandy Curran whose parents have a trading post and with Joseph Cotten who is a licensed hunter by the government to kill mountain lions who prey on some of the other endangered species. This is definitely in keeping with who was president at the time.

In fact there's a portion of the film that has Cotten and Curran accompanying President Theodore Roosevelt on a hunting trip for mountain lion in the Grand Canyon. Karl Swenson plays our 26th president in appropriate bully style, but for the life of me I can't figure where all the Secret Service was at the time. It was after William McKinley was assassinated and Roosevelt became president that the Secret Service was assigned presidential protection. Here we see Swenson just with Cotten and Curran and with Cotten carrying a weapon at that.

Brighty is a tough critter, he survives quite a bit in this film, including a cougar attack and a fall in the Colorado River. This is the only animal film I know with a burro as the lead. It's a pleasant 90 minutes for the whole family.

A large number of different views of the Grand Canyon, some unexpected animal stunts, a variety of wildlife make this a pleasant movie. The cinematography is one of the best features of "Brighty of the Grand Canyon". The donkey really is the central character! Veteran actors Joseph Cotton & Dick Foran are convincing as residents of the back country. Jiggs, the actor donkey, has acting chops right up there with the veterans. You remember Joseph Cotton was in what many consider the best picture of all time, Citizen Kane. The movie is set in 1906 with Teddy Roosevelt as an interesting but minor character. The biggest surprises are the animal stunts. Most major plots points are telegraphed. Probably the age range for this is 6-10 years (some not too graphic violence) and older adults. if you are of teen age through age fifty you are certain to be bored by the slow pace, unless you just came from seeing the Grand Canyon, and enjoy a travelogue. This viewer is older, enjoyed seeing Cotton and Foran, the scenery, the animals and just liked the whole thing. I'm glad I saw it.

I was a young child when I saw this movie and I loved it. Back when a family could watch a movie together and it not be spoiled with sex, violence and obscenities. I seems that now even movies directed for children and families are way out there and leaves you wondering "what kind of film was that?" The book was very good also. I remember this movie and also "Pablo and the Dancing Chuchuahua" as two of my fondest childhood movies. I have a daughter that I would love to see this movie. I'm sure she would love it as much as I did. Also I would like to see it again also. Does anyone know how these movies could be obtained? Or even if any channels can show them on TV?

A western flavored adventure film that takes place in the Grand Canyon around the turn of the century.

A nice Disney type movie about a a boy and his beloved burro Brighty. A movie that the whole family could watch together.

After renting this film we then took our family vacation at the Grand Canyon to see it for ourselves. The kids fell in love with Brighty and of course we had to see all the "burros" during our canyon trip. Found out that the movie was based on a true story of a burro called "Bright Angel" or Brighty for short.

Just bought the DVD version of the movie...great sound and such canyon scenes!

I find many films aimed at kids to be very annoying. Especially during repeated viewings. Brighty of the Grand Canyon goes down easy. This old-school classic is easy on adult nerves and holds the interest of younger children. Brighty the donkey is cute and well defined keeping the kids engaged. Joseph Cotten and the cast deliver professional performances. I grew up in Henderson Nevada. Schools in this area had access to a 16mm copy of Brighty and showed it frequently. I watched it 6 or 8 times growing up. A great family film!