Black Beauty (1946)

Set in 1880s England, a widowed country squire (Charles Evans) gives his high spirited daughter (Mona Freeman) the gift of a colt that she names Black Beauty. Her attachment to the horse is the basis of the film's story. Based on the beloved classic novel by Anna Sewell and directed by Max Nosseck (1945's DILLINGER). Freely adapted from Sewell's novel, so much so that there's very little of the actual book in the film. The novel is narrated by Black Beauty as he describes his life from his carefree days on a farm to his hard life as cab horse in London and finally, his contented retirement in the English countryside. The book accented animal welfare and the mistreatment of horses. The film focuses on the adolescent girl (not a character in the novel) as she grows from adolescence into a young woman and her romantic fixation on an American visitor (Richard Denning) takes as much precedence in her life as her horse. It's a wan excuse of a movie. Horses are among the most photographic of beasts so whenever they're on screen, one can't help but be engaged. The human drama as played out is trite. The underwhelming score is by Dimitri Tiomkin. With Evelyn Ankers, Moyna Macgill and J.M. Kerrigan.