The Next Reel Film Podcast The Black Stallion • The Next Reel
"We’re gonna show everybody that he’s the fastest horse in the world."
Francis Ford Coppola’s successes in the 70s put him in a place where he was able to help a good number of people get projects off the ground. One of those people was his friend from college, Carroll Ballard. Nearly broke, Coppola’s call came just in time and Ballard found himself on board to direct The Black Stallion. Another person was Melissa Mathison, a friend who started working as an assistant on The Godfather, Part II. Coppola suggested to her that she start writing and asked her to help with the script for The Black Stallion. Next thing you know, she and Ballard are working on it together. Join us – Pete Wright and Andy Nelson – as we kick off our Melissa Mathison series with 1979’s The Black Stallion.
We talk about why this film is called an art film for kids and why all of these elements work so well for us. We chat about Mathison, how she got her start here and how she really became a go-to writer for stories with child protagonists who connected to something unique or magical in the world. We discuss the cast, headlined by Kelly Reno as Alec the boy, and Cass-Olé the beautiful Arabian horse. We touch on the cinematography, the sound, the editing and the music, enjoying what everyone’s bringing to the table. And we touch on the locations around the world where the film was shot.
It’s a gorgeous film that isn’t just something made for kids – it’s really for everyone. We have a great conversation about it. Tune in!
Film Sundries
- Watch this film: iTunes • Amazon
- Script Transcript
- Original theatrical trailer
- Original poster artwork
- The Black Stallion by Walter Farley
- Flickchart
- Letterboxd
Trailers of the Week - Andy's Trailer: What Happened to Monday — "I love scifi films that paint a unique future. This film certainly does, with septuplets trying to find their lost sister in a world where people can have only one child. I’m a little skeptical from the director’s credits but at least from those, I’d like to think this will be fun. I’m just hoping it’ll have some serious meat to it as well, which I always love in scifi. We shall see..."
- Pete's Trailer: American Made — "Another film in the catalog of Tom Cruise, who clearly made a deal with a power that allows him to Benjamin Button. I’m in for Doug Liman because of Bourne, Edge of Tomorrow, and in spite of Jumper. Lots of earned equity in my book and drug-running for the CIA seems par for the course in today’s news."
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