Black Beauty (1946) User Reviews

The Horse's Point Of View

[bkoganbing · 6/10 · 31 January 2009]

Perhaps the best way to tell the story of Black Beauty is with animation. This version of the Anna Sewall family classic that stars Mona Freeman and Richard Denning is a nice film, but not the story.

Too many years ago that I care to remember I read the book as a kid and the story is told from the horse's point of view. I do remember the whole first part of the novel with the birth of Black Beauty and how he interrelated with the other horses on the estate of widower Charles Evans and his daughter Mona Freeman.

Circumstance separates the horse from his mistress and the novel tells of the horse's odyssey. A lot of that is rushed through until the reunion. The book is about the horse's experience with the various humans who owned him, some good and some bad.

Mona Freeman does a nice job of the spirited young lady, a lot like Elizabeth Taylor in National Velvet who lives for her horse. Freeman is a little older than Taylor's character and she wants handsome young American Richard Denning to notice her. Denning at first has eyes for the sophisticated Evelyn Ankers who was taking a break from those Universal horror flicks. In real life she was Mrs. Richard Denning at the time.

Best role in the film for me was J.M. Kerrigan as the very wise groom John on the Evans estate. Next to Black Beauty be's the smartest one in the film.

This version of Black Beauty is a nice family film, done a bit on the cheap by 20th Century Fox's B film unit.

Nice Film, But a Problem with The Editing

[stareyes24 · 6/10 · 6 January 2019]

Black Beauty (1946, 20th Century Fox) I saw this version years ago and today, I finally saw it again on TCM. The cast is outstanding and the production values are nice, but at the times, the editing is just abruptly cut and I have a feeling that this film was meant to be longer. The length of the film and the editing make it just short of being a true classic. If it was filmed in technicolor, it would have really brought out the beauty of this story. The performances are great as well.

Nice Use of Technicolor

[gavin6942 · 6/10 · 17 August 2015]

Widower Squire Weldon (Charles Evans). trying to raise his motherless daughter, Anne (Mona Freeman) presents her with a colt, Black Beauty (Highland Dale), in the hope that by disciplining the horse, she may learn to discipline herself.

Seeing as this was released in the 1940s, I am going to assume the film was black and white and color was added later. This may not be correct, as some great color was around early on. But either way, the use of it here is very nice and makes the dresses (for example) very vibrant. This is how color of its time ought to be used.

The story itself is alright and tends to be a children's story, though it may have a wider family appeal. There is the element of romance, and of course the theme that a horse is more than just something to ride.

Pleasant, but unspectacular family fare.

[verna55 · 14 November 2000]

The title of this movie is misleading. It leads us to assume that we are going to see a film version of the classic novel by Anna Sewell. Not quite. The book and the movie have about two things in common. They both concern a horse and the horse's name in both the book and the movie is Black Beauty. But the similarities end there. This film focuses primarily on a sensually blossoming teenage girl(the impossibly perky Mona Freeman) who takes a romantic interest in the handsome young American(Richard Denning) who visits her father's farm in the English countryside. The pic then mostly concerns the problems the young girl has when she tries to get the man to notice her. Oh yes, our heroine just happens to have a black colt that she just happens to have named Black Beauty, but said horse doesn't figure too much in this version of the story. Don't get me wrong, there are some charming moments. Miss Freeman is an appealing heroine, and Dimitri Tiomkin's lively score helps immensely. The film was originally shot in black and white, but is most commonly available in a computer colorized version. This is one instance in which the colorization process does help because the striking cinematography is much easier to appreciate that way, and is the film's strongest asset.

Shines mostly when the gorgeous title character is on screen.

[mark.waltz · 7/10 · 9 October 2023]

Accompanied by the gorgeous Technicolor photography, this second adaption of the Anna Sewell novel is a decent version if not completely faithful, but at least it's an improvement on the 1933 Monogram film. Having a big studio like 20th Century Fox behind it didn't hurt, either, although when compared to their other films of that year ("My Darling Clementine", "Centennial Summer" and "The Razors Edge" to single out the variety), it's obviously a lower A or B+, utilizing sets already standing and a less than prestigious cast even though leading lady Mona Freeman does give it her all, and was obviously being groomed for possible bigger projects.

She ages from pre-teen to young adult as she watches the beautiful horse growing up and cherished more than anything else she possesses. But it's a formula drama that shows the ups and downs of a horse's life, especially with health struggles, and more time than not, he recovers quickly. There's a romantic triangle too over her love for older neighbor Richard Denning and her jealousy when he becomes involved with the sophisticated but uppity Evelyn Ankers who refers to Freeman condescendingly as a girl.

Playing the part of Freeman's stern father, Charles Evans (a character actor I'd never heard of) is obviously stepping in for Donald Crisp, showing rare moments of tenderness in his cold demeanor. Moyna Macgill is a ray of sunshine as the housekeeper, and J. M. Kerrigan wise yet sly as the stable keeper who deceives Evans by saving Black Beauty from the glue factory when he's ordered to shoot the ailing horse. Satisfying for the effort put into it and frequently heartwarming, one of Fox's many films celebrating the glory of the land and a tribute to the America way of life long before machinery took over.

Dissapointing Movie. Tha acting isn't great

[Celeste_1977 · 3/10 · 11 April 2021]

I've watched this movie excitingly waiting to see in a film version (what I believed) a version of the book. The acting isn't great.. it was dissapointing. It drags on and seems very British. Overdone. Doesn't show more naturalness into it.

Old classic

[mrval · 8/10 · 20 December 2020]

Heartwarming movie and a beautiful tomboy to boot.

Pleasing version but doesn't follow the novel too closely.

[Cajun-4 · 28 June 2000]

There's only superficial resemblances to Anna Sewell's classic in this 1946 movie but this is a not bad piece of Hollywood hokum. Mona Freeman is a pretty and lively heroine as she cavorts on horseback across a Hollywood version of the English countryside and falls in love with handsome American Richard Denning.Very pleasant musical background by Dimitri Tiomkin.

Best Version

[Fury-10 · 10/10 · 18 November 2003]

This is to me the best version of the movie. Most complain because it's in b/w, but that makes it even better. A lot of people don't realize that this was the debut of Fury, the horse from the 50's TV show by the same name. Never a smarter horse was there.