The Black Stallion
In the summer of 1946, Alec Ramsey (Kelly Reno) is travelling by steamer off the coast of North Africa. Alec is also a lonely boy. Onboard the streamer, he sees a wild colored stallion (Cass-Ole) being forced into a makeshift stable and heavily restrained by ropes leading to his halter. The stallion resists fiercely to protect its freedom, but eventually submits to the trauma of the whiplashes. Captivated by the horse, Alec later sneaks to the horse to feed him some sugar cubes. The stallion eats the cubes, but still would not allow any human to get close to him. Alec is caught by the horse's owner, who tells him in Arabic to stay away from Shetan and shoves the boy away. Later in his bunk, Alec's father (Hoyt Axton) shows Alec his winnings from a card game and gives him a pocketknife and a small statue of Bucephalus and tells the story of how Alexander the Great became Bucephalus' master. Bucephalus was a magic horse, so wild that King Phillip couldn't tame him. So, he decided to kill it publicly in a huge arena. In the arena, a young boy claims he can ride that horse and does so. King Phillip gives him the horse for keeps. The boy was young Alexander. Later that night, the carving is illuminated with a bright orange light. The ship pitches violently and Alec is thrown from his bunk onto the cabin floor. Grabbing the carving & his pocketknife, Alec gets to his feet and his dad throws a life jacket over him. Alec's dad sees water pouring in through a door, and they make their way onto the deck. As Alec looks up he sees the superstructure of the ship blazing with fire. The ship had caught fire and begun to sink. In the chaos, Alec grabs his knife and makes his way to the stallion and manages to free him. Alec is attacked again by the horse's owner who cuts the life jacket from Alec's body with a knife for his own use. Seeing this, Alec's dad leaps onto the man from the upper deck & throws him against the rail. The stallion then jumps into the sea. Alec himself is thrown overboard by the waves. In the water, he swims toward the stallion. The Stallion had its head above the water, and its ropes caught in the propeller. Alec swims over & cuts the rope, freeing the stallion Alec manages to grab hold of the ropes of the stallion's restraints just as the ship explodes, rendering him unconscious. Only Alec and the Stallion survived. Alec wakes on the shore of a deserted island (with his Bucephalus figurine and the pocketknife) and starts to explore. Finding a cave, he makes a fire and starts catching fish. He eventually discovers he is not alone as the horse had also survived and was trapped with its ropes caught on some rocks. At first the frightened animal is wary of Alec, but he gets close enough to cut the ropes and free the horse, which shakes off the ropes & flees. Alec follows the horse's tracks, but they vanish in the sand. For a time, the two keep their distance. Alec discovers means to survive by catching fish (with his hunting knife, fashioned into a spear) and seaweed. As Alec suddenly faces a cobra eye to eye. Alec, frozen with fear, tries to back away, but the snake hisses more aggressively. The stallion comes to the rescue and kills the snake with its hooves, 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. Together, they enjoy the pristine beauty of the island. 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 (the sailors take Alec forcibly and the horse follows him through the water). Alec refuses to leave without his beloved animal, and the horse refuses to let Alec go. The men on the rescue boat tether the horse and help the animal to a larger ship, and Alec & the horse are on their way home to America. Back home in America, Alec is given a hero's welcome. Alec's mother is enormously relieved her son is alive but also grieving the loss of her husband and expresses her thanks to the stallion for saving his life. The stallion has a temporary home in Alec's back yard. A garbage man not knowing that there is a wild horse in the back yard is chased by the stallion (who was scared looking at the hat on the head of the garbage man, which looked very much alike to the headgear worn by the stallion Arab master), 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 (Clarence Muse) (and his horse Napoleon) who tell him where the stallion is. Alec finds the stallion in the barn of Henry Dailey (Mickey Rooney), a retired racehorse jockey, who apparently spent all night catching the stallion. Alec arranges for the stallion to stay at the barn in exchange for cleaning his stables. One day Alec finds all of Henry's trophies and convinces him to train the stallion and him. Henry is not entirely on-board as the stallion is a desert horse and has no US papers. The two of them, along with the stallion, undergo frequent, rigorous training in riding and saddling a horse. At first the stallion is reluctant to allow a saddle but eventually becomes used to it, and soon Alec & the stallion are making runs on a racetrack. When Alec wonders how fast the stallion is, Alec and Henry decide to train the stallion for the racetrack, while Henry teaches Alec how to be a jockey. The stallion surprises Henry with his speed. Henry maintains complete secrecy around the stallion even when on training runs around the racetrack. Henry immediately starts plotting a plan to get the stallion into the match race between the country's current two champions, which is set on a few months out. To do that, he sets up a secret demonstration at night where the press led by Jim Neville (Michael Higgins) can witness his speed (it was pelting down and with a strong headwind), keeping the identity of Alec and the stallion secret. Soon, promotions about the upcoming challenge are sprouting up everywhere, and even Alec's mother takes notice. The news spreads about the mystery horse and the stallion is entered into the race. However, Alec's mother (Teri Garr) disapproves of this, fearing that her son would be taking a huge risk as a jockey. She fears the worst after losing her husband. After talking with Henry and Alec again, though, Alec reveals the carving of Bucephalus and how he got it - and when. His mother relents & allows Alec to ride the stallion in the challenge. The race is the most anticipated horse-racing event of the year. Before the two champions and the stallion enter the starting gate, the stallion 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 stallion won't stop. When Alec regains his balance, the stallion is well on his way to catch up with his opponents. Alec now encourages the stallion to run as fast as he can, remembering the wild rides on the island, as they catch up. The stallion eventually wins by two lengths.
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