The Black Stallion (film)

The Black Stallion is a 1979 American adventure film based on the 1941 classic children's novel of the same name by Walter Farley. The film starts in 1946, five years after the book was published. It tells the story of Alec Ramsey, who is shipwrecked on a deserted island with a wild Arabian stallion whom he befriends. After being rescued, they are set on entering a race challenging two champion horses.

The film is adapted by Melissa Mathison, Jeanne Rosenberg and William D. Wittliff. It is directed by Carroll Ballard. The movie stars Kelly Reno, Teri Garr, Hoyt Axton, Mickey Rooney, and the Arabian horse Cass Ole. The film features music by Carmine Coppola, the father of Hollywood producer Francis Ford Coppola, who was the executive producer of the film.

Plot
In 1946 Alec Ramsey is aboard the steamer Drake off the coast of North Africa, where he sees a wild black stallion being forced into a makeshift stable compartment and heavily restrained by ropes leading to his halter. Captivated by the horse, Alec later sneaks to the horse to feed him some sugar cubes, but he is caught by the horse's supposed owner, who tells him in Arabic to stay away from Shetan and shoves the boy away.

Later in their cabin, Alec's father shows Alec his winnings from a card game and gives him a pocket knife and a small statue of Bucephalus, and tells the story of how Alexander the Great became Bucephalus' master. Later that night, Alec is thrown out of his bunk; he grabs his knife and his Bucephalus statue and joins his father on the other side of the cabin. His father puts Alec into a life jacket and they struggle with the rest of the passengers to get on deck. The ship is in flames and has started to sink. Alec's father leaves him by the compartment holding The Black to go help the crew. In the chaos, Alec opens the compartment hatch but is attacked by Shetan's owner who cuts Alec's life jacket off him so he can take it for himself. Alec's father rescues Alec from his attacker but the life jacket is lost and father and son are separated. The black stallion breaks free from his compartment and then jumps into the sea. Alec himself is swept overboard by a gigantic wave. Once in the water, he swims toward the stallion and manages to grab hold of the ropes that were previously restraining the stallion.

Alec wakes on the shore of a deserted island and starts to explore. He finds the stallion caught in his restraints with the ropes stuck between the rocks. With his knife, Alec manages to free the stallion once again and the stallion runs away. For a time, the two keep their distance. Alec discovers means to survive by catching fish and seaweed. As Alec suddenly faces a cobra eye to eye, the Black comes to the rescue and kills the snake, only to run off again.

By now, Alec decides to try to get closer to the horse and offer him some seaweed. The hungry stallion finds himself unable to resist, but visibly struggles with his distrust for humans. Eventually, the hunger wins and he takes Alec's offer; their bond has been sealed and the two are now inseparable. Alec even manages to ride the unbroken horse, after many times falling off the horse. One day, a fishing ship arrives, rescuing both Alec and the stallion.

Back home in Flushing, NY, Alec is given a hero's welcome. The Black has a temporary home in Alec's backyard, but a garbage man not knowing that there is a wild horse in the backyard is chased by the Black, who races off down the street after being spooked by a passing car. Alec chases after him through every part of town, but loses track of him. The next day, Alec meets Snoe (and Napoleon) who tell him where the Black is. Alec finds the stallion in the barn of Henry Dailey, a retired jockey and racehorse trainer, who apparently spent all night catching the Black. Henry allows Alec to keep the Black in his barn.

When Alec wonders how fast the Black is, Alec and Henry decide to train the Black for the racetrack, while Henry teaches Alec how to be a jockey. The Black surprises Henry with his speed. Henry immediately starts plotting to get the Black into a match race between two of the country's current champions, to be held at Santa Anita, California. To do that, he sets up a secret demonstration at night where the press can witness his speed, keeping the identity of Alec and the Black secret. The news about the mystery horse is soon widespread and the Black is entered into the race.

The race is the most anticipated horse-racing event of the year. Before the two champions and the Black enter the starting gate, the Black gets into a fight with one of his opponents, wounding his leg. Alec does not see the wound until he is in the gate. As he dismounts, the bell rings and the horses take off. Alec desperately tries to stay on his horse and trying to stop him. He falls behind, but the Black won't stop. When Alec regains his balance, the Black is well on his way to catch up with his opponents. Alec now encourages the Black to run as fast as he can, remembering the wild rides on the island, as they catch up. The Black eventually wins by two lengths.

Cast

 * Kelly Reno as Alec Ramsay
 * Mickey Rooney as Henry Dailey
 * Teri Garr as Mrs. Ramsay, Alec's mother
 * Hoyt Axton as Mr. Ramsay, Alec's father
 * Clarence Muse as Snoe
 * Michael Higgins as Jim Neville
 * Ed McNamara as Jake
 * Doghmi Larbi as Arab
 * John Burton as Jockey No. 1
 * John Buchanan as Jockey No. 2
 * Kristen Vigard as Becky
 * Fausto Tozzi as Rescue Captain
 * John Karlsen as Archeologist
 * Leopoldo Trieste as Priest
 * Frank Cousins as African Chieftain
 * Don Hudson as Zaurog
 * Marne Maitland as Drake Captain
 * Tom Dahlgren as Veterinarian

Horses
Cass Ole, a champion Arabian stallion, was featured in most of the movie's scenes, with Fae Jur, another black Arabian stallion, being his main double. Fae Jur's main scene is the one where Alec is trying to gain the trust of the Black on the beach. Two other stunt doubles were used for running, fighting and swimming scenes.

El Mokhtar, an Egyptian Arabian racehorse, was the producers' first choice to portray the Black, but they were unable to secure his services for the film from his owners, who declined any offers. He does appear in The Black Stallion Returns, alongside Cass Ole, by which time the studio bought out the syndicate of owners in order to secure El Mokhtar's services.

Napoleon was portrayed by Junior, who previously appeared in National Lampoon's Animal House as Trooper, Niedermeyer's horse.

Academy Awards
The film received two nominations for the Academy Awards: In addition, Alan Splet was awarded with a Special Achievement Award for sound editing.
 * Mickey Rooney was nominated for Best Actor in a Supporting Role.
 * Robert Dalva was nominated for Best Film Editing.

Golden Globe Awards
Carmine Coppola was nominated for Best Original Score at the Golden Globe Awards. He later won the award in this category for his score of Apocalypse Now.

British Academy Awards
Caleb Deschanel was nominated for Best Cinematography by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts Awards.

LA Film Critics Awards
The film received two awards from the Los Angeles Film Critics Association Awards for Best Cinematography (Caleb Deschanel) and Best Music (Carmine Coppola).

Others
The film also won the 1979 National Society of Film Critics award for Best Cinematography.

In 2002, it was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant".

Also, the film is recognized by American Film Institute:
 * 2006: AFI's 100 Years...100 Cheers – #64

Sequel, prequel and television series
The film was followed in 1983 by a sequel, The Black Stallion Returns, which also starred Reno. There was also a television series called The Adventures of the Black Stallion which aired from 1990 to 1993 and starred Mickey Rooney and Richard Ian Cox. In 2003, a 50-minute prequel called The Young Black Stallion, was shot and released for IMAX theaters.