n e ag t ri L he Photos Courtesy of Tim Farley 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. Issue 2. 2019 arabian horse life 27 n 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 Caleb Deschanel (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 28 arabian horse life Issue 2. 2019 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.