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uck, disasters, people who became household names and one of the most famous horse novels on the planet came together when “The Black Stallion” film debuted in theaters 40 years ago.

For all the dramatic, heart-warming scenes of Walter Farley’s 1941 novel, this masterpiece of Hollywood magic clearly came about through a series of events that might double as fiction

if published. From a typhoon in the Philippines, to the power and clout of a single person in reaching the silver screen, to the chance mention of a favorite childhood book from a

girlfriend to a film producer, the story of the making the timeless film brings a backstage element hard to imagine by even horse-savvy viewers. More Than In a rare interview at his hilltop home in Northern California amongst a vineyard surrounded by 35,000 Hollywood Magic Made Bordeaux-blend grapes, director Carroll Ballard shared still vivid memories of the trials and tribulations of a movie that became as much of a journey to bring to the world as the story it told. Starring a two-time By Elizabeth Kaye McCall The Black Stallion 26 arabian horse life Issue 2. 2019

As timeless today as then. While American movie posters depicted an iconic Black American Horse Show Association desire to have a Stallion illustration (left), billboards all over Paris featured a sunset shot of Kelly Reno Horse of the Year, a 1969 Arabian powerful friend and Cass Ole when the film was released stallion named Cass Ole+ (Al-Marah who can do in France. Casanova++ x LaBahia++), the movie things and who

also included a host of doubles, in- will make him cluding the black Arabian stallion powerful, too. That’s what’s in this Fae-Jur (Fadjur x La Fana) and grey film, and it’s mythic and in the form geldings from the Carmague in France, of a black horse. That’s the element. dyed black for the role. “By dwelling on that concept of

Ballard began with surprising the myth, Debbie Fine, who worked words. “To me it was always kind for Frances (Ford Coppala) found the of a mystery how the film became story of Alexander the Great and successful. When I was making it, I Bucephalus, which isn’t in the book. felt it was completely out of control,

and I wasn’t going to be able to fix it. In the Beginning But there was enough continuum How did this movie come to that kept everything in balance while Ballard in the first place? “I went to it was underway.” school with Frances Ford Coppola, Ballard confesses, “I didn’t like and I’d done a few other jobs for him,”

the book when it was first presented he remembered. “Frances called me to me. I thought, ‘Oh, come on, what one night. It’s two in the morning, and is this?’ I wanted to make War and it’s Frances calling me from Sicily Peace! I wondered for a long time how where he’s filming ‘Godfather 2.’ is it that this book became such a big He thought he would give me a

hit because I was dwelling on the old try to make this movie. It took us a trainer and the kid talking. Stuff I long time. We tried to write the script Walter Farley with his mare Al-Marah Athena, thought was totally predictable.” for years. First we tried to combine whose namesake appears in the author’s 1965 Ballard continued, “But there is the two books (‘The Black Stallion’ novel “The Horse That Swam Away.” this ‘thing,’ and I really didn’t see it and ‘The Black Stallion Returns’), but for a long time. There is a mythic it turned out to be too big of a story element in the book. It is every child’s so we narrowed it down to one book.

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RIGHT Kelly Reno with director Carroll Ballard from the Frances was shooting ‘Apocalypse scene when Alec was dragged ashore by The Black. Now.’ It wiped out all their sets. It

BELOW was a catastrophe. They had to cancel Director of Photography (left) the whole production, and they all and director Carroll Ballard (center) on the water came back here. He didn’t have any with Kelly Reno, who learned how to swim for money to finish the movie. A way out his role as Alec Ramsey. for him was to sell the script of ‘The

Black Stallion’ to United Artists. So, he made a deal. Frances was a pretty powerful guy in the movie business. Nobody around had the clout that he did. So, he was the mover to move

the project. Walter (Murch) and I tried desper- ately to pull the script together, but nobody liked it. Then, there were other writers who were brought in

Finally, I just threw up my hands. ABOVE “I could never figure out how we A massive pane of were going to put the two parts of the glass, invisible to the camera, kept story together; he (Alec Ramsey) and Kelly Reno safe for Henry (played by Mickey Rooney) the the scene with Alec old trainer and his (Alec’s) time on and the snake. the island with the horse. I think it was touch and go all the way through RIGHT “The training was the movie whether we could pull the good, but both two halves of the story together.” horses were really “We agreed to try to work the thing good. Kelly figured out. I essentially agreed to make a out how to play with movie, but it was three years later them. They hung out,” recalls director when we finally got the go ahead,” Carroll Ballard. Ballard said. “I don’t know that we would have if it hadn’t been for this huge typhoon in the Philippines while

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including Bill Whittliff from Texas. Mickey Rooney (center) going over the script with We were dead in the water when director Carroll Ballard Frances made the deal with United (right) on set in Canada. Artists. He had so much power in the business. It would never have seen

the light of day without him. “United Artists green-lighted the movie. There we were with a script nobody was too interested in, and I did not know what this movie was

going to be about. I had a few little ideas, and then we’re out there — 150 people and horses and stuff. What do we do now?” recalled Ballard. In the end, they shot an eight hour

movie. “That’s why it took us a year and a half to edit it,” he said. “There was so much stuff, and we tried to somehow make sense of it.”

Walter Farley on Set One of the most important people involved in the film was the original where Alex and The Black galloped noted Ballard, citing a signature author, Walter Farley. About him, along the beach. “We just wanted a scene in the movie. It was the sea- Ballard remarked, “He truly was a shot of him riding the horse along the weed scene and dance of getting to horse lover. He really was into horses, beach. It was Cass Ole,” explained know one another that Alec and although he and I were not entirely Ballard about a pick-up shot filmed at The Black display. on the same page. Fae-Jur was not his Cannon Beach, Ore. “It was long after “There’s a scene where Kelly’s idea of what the Black Stallion should we did most the filming. We were going to give him the little piece of be. He was small and very feisty, but just doing pickup shots. I was really seaweed, and they kind of walk back he was a fantastic mover, and I felt worried about the hardness of the and forth. Nobody said anything that was the magic horse. You could sand. I was so worried Kelly might fall. about that. We were just shooting on believe he was a spirit of some kind. (Ballard shifted into a good rendition the beach and said, ‘Maybe we’d do Cass was a gorgeous horse and was of horse trainer Corky Randall’s something here with Kelly and the big. He was very magisterial.” voice.) ‘Carroll, that little horse can’t leaf and a close-up. Maybe we can “Both horses were really good,” outrun a flea.’ So we decided to do get him going back and forth. Corky he continued. “Kelly figured out how the run. We’re shooting along. It was picked up on it and said, ‘OK, Carroll, to play with them, and that’s what going great, and all the sudden Cass where’s the frame line?’ we filmed.” took off. That horse took off down the “Corky’s there right out of frame beach and disappeared into the fog. when the horse is backing up and Behind the Scenes It was terrifying. All Kelly had was rearing and coming forward. The There are some wonderful, now that little wire bridle. It ended up whole thing was done in one shot, famous scenes from the movie that being the footage we used.” and Corky did it all.” had fascinating stories behind them. “Corky picked up that this wasn’t One pick-up scene was where “To me, the hardest, most crucial scene going to be the kind of movie where The Black comes to the boy’s rescue in the whole movie was the scene the horse is going to walk in here and and stomps the cobra about to strike with Alex’s mom where he tells her do this and that. That’s how a lot of Alec. Ballard mentions the real- about the shipwreck and so forth. movies are shot. This wasn’t (done) life scenario that vies with the Kelly (actor Kelly Reno who was 11 that way. Often times, Caleb (Deschanel, fictional tale. at the time and had no prior acting cinematographer) and I would just “We’re back in Sardinia, and we experience) understood that was an see something and say, ‘Wouldn’t it have to do some pick-ups with the important scene, and he had to express be great if that happened?’ and we snake scene because of the problems all the things to Teri (actress Teri Garr would do it right there on the spot. we had with the snake. We’d made a who played Alex’s mother). He pulled Corky picked up on that, and he was deal with a movie snake guy to supply it off. He made it believable.” ready whenever some crazy idea the snakes. They promised me the Another infamous scene was would happen. He could improvise,” snakes (real cobras) had been defanged.

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Nature staged a dramatic backdrop for Cass Ole and Kelly Reno with the sudden approach of a storm and rainbow on Costa Smeralda in Sardinia.

The day we were going to shoot, these scene, the weather at the beach had two guys showed up in a little car, changed. “The wind is blowing like

and in the back seat they had these crazy. It’s so cold that the snakes can two big baskets. They wanted to show hardly move,” Ballard recalled. “So, me the snakes. I said, ‘OK’ and out of how are we going to shoot this scene? the basket came this snake. It was the We’ve got to warm up the snakes. OK, scariest thing you’ve ever seen. I said, how are we going to do that?” Ballard

‘Gee, that’s really scary. I’m glad recounts the impromptu solution. they’re defanged.’ Well, the guy said, “We’ve got to warm up the snakes. ‘They’re not defanged! We don’t do Kelly Reno aboard Cass Ole at Woodbine Let’s dig a hole in the sand and put it that way. The way we do it is this,’ Racetrack in Toronto, Canada, where the scene of some heaters down there so they heat and he reached over and had this little Alec riding The Black in a rainstorm was shot. up the sand, and we’ll put boards on refrigerator with a hypodermic needle. top and put sand on that. Meanwhile, He said, ‘If the boy gets bitten by the the wind is blowing like crazy, the cobra, we just inject him with this.’” sheet of glass is moving around, and Ballard knew there had to be a the sand keeps blowing against the safer solution and recounted what glass and it’s sticking. What we were followed as if it were yesterday. “A trying to do was get a shot of the couple hours later, two grips come snake being scary, and we had this walking down the beach carrying this huge contraption and all the heaters gigantic pane of glass. They put the going and the snake trying to warm glass on the sand and strapped it up. up. This whole deal for trying to get The cobra is on one side of the glass one ridiculous shot of the snake. We and the boy (Kelly Reno) is on the finally got a few shots.” other. We filmed some, but we weren’t Corky Randall made his name as a Hollywood horse trainer on “The Black Stallion,” (his dad, able to get enough angles on the snakes.” Glenn Randall, trained Roy Rogers’ horses). The Finished Product Three months later, when Ballard Pictured here in a sunset training session on Incredibly, when the film was returned to Sardinia to finish the the set in Sardinia. edited and completed, Ballard worried

30 arabian horse life Issue 2. 2019 FAR LEFT, TOP TO BOTTOM The Black’s big race against two champions was shot at Santa Anita Park in Arcadia, Calif. Unlike today’s film options, getting race footage then was difficult! No drones for these logistics.

LEFT Behind the scenes with the crew on set in Sardinia.

BELOW Legendary Hollywood horse trainer Corky Randall (right) with wrangler Gene Walker.

LEFT “The Black Stallion” took home the Author Walter Farley Special Achievement Award. At the (left) and director Los Angeles Film Critics Association Carroll Ballard in Awards. It won Best Cinematography Sardinia brainstorm- ing about a scene for Caleb Deschanel, Best Music for (Frances Ford where Kelly Reno conveyed Alec’s Coppola’s father) and the New Genera- emotions and loneli- tion Award for director Carroll Ballard. ness with no words, Now 40 years old, it is still a beautiful through visuals from film that captures the hearts of horse the boy’s perspective, lovers everywhere. as he seems to see faces in the rocks. An author, journalist and media con- it was a failure. “The studio guys less hit. Why? According to Ballard sultant based in Southern California, that came to see it thought it was not the reason was that “it hit a common Elizabeth Kaye McCall worked as the releasable. They said, ‘What is this? chord that a lot of people were feeling horse industry liaison for Cavalia on its Some kind of art movie for kids?’” at that point.” Named the best film of inaugural North American tour. A United Artists shelved it. It took the full the year by the late Roger Ebert, the contributor to diverse equine and clout of to see movie quickly became a box-office hit mainstream outlets, she authored “The that the film finally reached theaters. and earned two Oscar® nominations, Tao of Horses: Exploring How Horses Despite the studio’s impressions, including one for Mickey Rooney. Guide Us on Our Spiritual Path” and the movie did, in fact, become a time- At the 1980 Academy Awards, the young adult tale “RAJALIKA SPEAK.”

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