Black Beauty

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

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'm slightly shocked at a few reviews who imply that this film remains in any way faithful to Anna Sewell's excellent book. It absolutely does NOT. Nothing remains of the book but a few character names and the fact that Beauty is black with a white blaze on his forehead. It's misleading to even associate Sewell's name with this movie. It's quite obvious that several reviewers have either forgotten everything they ever knew about the book, or (more likely) never read it at all. If you are looking for a movie version of the book to watch, look elsewhere.

So, it's just a film about the life of a horse, and as such, it is so-so. The beginning of the movie does have some beautiful shots, set as it is in the British countryside somewhere. But it pretty much goes downhill after that, becoming a series of vignettes about Black Beauty's various owners, with little in the way of real depth, and even less focus on the horse himself.

It's reasonably entertaining for a rainy day. Older children would likely enjoy it most. I am personally unlikely to watch it again, and will be checking out the other versions in the hopes of finding something resembling a reasonably faithful adaptation.

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.

This internationally-produced version of the oft-filmed Anna Sewell classic about the adventures and misadventures of a horse that is seperated from its original owners is the best of several films based on the timeless tale. Mark Lester stars as the young boy who longs to be reunited with his beloved horse. The film rarely strays from its source, and I believe this is superior to the 1994 remake.