Thunderhead, Son of Flicka | |
---|---|
Directed by | Louis King |
Screenplay by | Dwight Cummins Dorothy Yost |
Based on | Thunderhead 1943 novel by Mary O'Hara |
Produced by | Robert Bassler |
Starring | Roddy McDowall Preston Foster Rita Johnson |
Cinematography | Charles G. Clarke |
Edited by | Nick DeMaggio |
Music by | Cyril J. Mockridge |
Color process | Technicolor |
Production company | 20th Century Fox |
Distributed by | 20th Century Fox |
Release date |
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Running time | 78 minutes |
Country | United States |
Language | English |
Box office | $2,250,000 [1] |
Thunderhead, Son of Flicka is a 1945 American Western film directed by Louis King and starring Roddy McDowall, Preston Foster, and Rita Johnson. It is a sequel to the 1943 film My Friend Flicka . The film was adapted to screen by Dwight Cummins and Dorothy Yost from Mary O'Hara's novel, Thunderhead (1943), second in a trilogy with My Friend Flicka (1941) and Green Grass of Wyoming (1946).
Ken McLaughlin's mustang mare Flicka gives birth to an all-white colt that, unknown to Ken's dad, Rob, was actually sired by a neighboring rancher's thoroughbred racehorse, Appalachia, rather than Rob's own stallion, Banner. The colt, nicknamed "Goblin", proves to be difficult, but Ken trains him to race. Ken's mother, Nell, officially names the colt Thunderhead after the billowing white clouds she sees overhead. Thunderhead is entered into his first race with Ken as the jockey, but he suffers an injury, ending his racing career.
Meanwhile, the Albino, a wild mustang stallion that has been raiding local ranchers' herds for years, steals Rob's best mares and kills Banner, putting the family near bankruptcy. The Albino is also Flicka's sire and Thunderhead's grand-sire. Rob, Ken, and the ranch hands search for the mares, but during the night, Thunderhead gets loose and runs off.
Tracking Thunderhead on foot to a secluded valley, Ken discovers the Albino's herd, including his father's horses. The Albino attacks Ken, but Thunderhead fights and kills the Albino, saving Ken's life.
Rob and the others arrive as Thunderhead rounds up the Albino's herd, heading them to the McLaughlin ranch. But once there, Thunderhead is uneasy. Rob tells Ken that Thunderhead is a king now and wants to roam his realm. Ken removes Thunderhead's halter, freeing him.
The film was shot on location at various sites, including the following: [2]
This was the first "Color by Technicolor" feature film to be photographed entirely on 35mm color film, in this case Technicolor (Monopack) motion picture film. Earlier Technicolor features used black and white negative film photographed behind color filters, or used Monopack only for certain sequences. [3]
The film was released on DVD and Blu-ray on February 22, 2005. [4] [5]
Roderick Andrew Anthony Jude McDowall was a British and American actor, whose career spanned over 270 screen and stage roles across over 60 years. Born in London, he began his acting career as a child in his native England, before moving to the United States at the outbreak of World War II. He achieved prominence for his starring roles in How Green Was My Valley (1941), My Friend Flicka (1943), and Lassie Come Home (1943). Unlike many of his contemporaries, McDowall managed to evolve from child star into an adult performer and appeared on Broadway as well as in films, winning a Tony Award for his performance in Jean Anouilh's The Fighting Cock. For portraying Octavian in the historical epic Cleopatra (1963), he was nominated for a Golden Globe Award.
Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron is a 2002 American animated Western film produced by DreamWorks Animation and distributed by DreamWorks Pictures. The film was directed by Kelly Asbury and Lorna Cook from a screenplay by John Fusco, based on an idea by Jeffrey Katzenberg, who produced the film alongside Mireille Soria. The film combines traditional animation and computer animation.
My Friend Flicka is a 1941 novel by Mary O'Hara, about Ken McLaughlin, the son of a Wyoming rancher, and his mustang horse Flicka. It was the first in a trilogy, followed by Thunderhead (1943) and Green Grass of Wyoming (1946). The popular 1943 film version featured young Roddy McDowall and was followed by two other film adaptations, Thunderhead, Son of Flicka (1945), and Green Grass of Wyoming (1948), both based on O'Hara's novels. A My Friend Flicka television series followed during 1956–1957, which first aired on CBS, then on NBC, with reruns on ABC and CBS between 1959 and 1966. The Disney Channel re-ran the program during the mid-1980s.
Beverly of Graustark is a 1926 American silent romantic comedy film directed by Sidney Franklin and starring Marion Davies, Antonio Moreno, and Creighton Hale. The film's screenplay was written by Agnes Christine Johnston based on the novel by George Barr McCutcheon, and set in the fictional land of Graustark. The film features a final sequence in Technicolor. It was the first film by Sidney Franklin for MGM.
The Nokota horse is a feral and semi-feral horse breed located in the badlands of southwestern North Dakota in the United States. The breed developed in the 19th century from foundation bloodstock consisting of ranch-bred horses produced from the horses of local Native Americans mixed with Spanish horses, Thoroughbreds, harness horses and related breeds. The Nokota was almost wiped out during the early 20th century when ranchers, in cooperation with state and federal agencies, worked together to reduce competition for livestock grazing. However, when Theodore Roosevelt National Park was created in the 1940s, a few bands were inadvertently trapped inside, and thus were preserved.
The Silver Brumby series is a collection of fiction children's books by Australian author Elyne Mitchell. They recount the life and adventures of Thowra, a magnificent palomino brumby, and his descendants, and are set in the Snowy Mountains of Australia around Mount Kosciusko.
The Colorado Ranger is a horse breed from the Colorado High Plains in the United States. The breed is descended from two stallions imported from Turkey to the US state of Virginia in the late 1800s. These stallions were then bred to ranch horses in Nebraska and Colorado, and in the early 1900s the two stallions who every registered Colorado Ranger traces to, Patches #1 and Max #2, were foaled. The breed was championed by rancher Mike Ruby, who founded the Colorado Ranger Horse Association in 1935. Original registry membership limits resulted in many Colorado Ranger horses being registered instead as Appaloosas, but pedigree research is ongoing to discover additional horses who trace their ancestry back to the original stallions.
Flicka is a 2006 American family adventure drama film loosely based on the 1941 children's novel My Friend Flicka by Mary O'Hara. The film is directed by Michael Mayer and written by Mark Rosenthal and Lawrence Konner. The novel had previously been made into a film by 20th Century Fox in 1943, and served as the inspiration for My Friend Flicka, a 39-episode TV series in 1956–1957. In this version, set in the 21st century, the protagonist is a girl, played by Alison Lohman. The film also features Maria Bello, Ryan Kwanten and country singer Tim McGraw, who also served as executive producer of the soundtrack album. This USD15 million-budgeted film grossed $21 million in the United States theaters, and then it went on to become a surprise hit in DVD market in the United States; it made more than $48 million on DVD sales and more than $19 million on DVD/Home Video rental.
Color motion picture film refers both to unexposed color photographic film in a format suitable for use in a motion picture camera, and to finished motion picture film, ready for use in a projector, which bears images in color.
Green Grass of Wyoming is a 1948 American Western film directed by Louis King and starring Peggy Cummins, Charles Coburn and Robert Arthur.
The Young Black Stallion is a 2003 American IMAX drama film produced by Walt Disney Pictures. Directed by Simon Wincer, the film is based on the 1989 novel of the same name by Black Stallion creator Walter Farley and his son Steven Farley.
My Friend Flicka is a 1943 American Western film about a young boy, played by Roddy McDowall, who is given a young horse to raise. It is based on Mary O'Hara's popular 1941 children's novel of the same name. Thunderhead, Son of Flicka, released on March 15, 1945, was the sequel to My Friend Flicka.
Flicka 2 is a 2010 American drama film and a sequel to Flicka (2006). The film is about a city girl who finds herself in the country not by choice and befriends a horse. Neither girl or horse are wanted and they find a common bond. The film stars Patrick Warburton, Tammin Sursok and Clint Black.
The Silver Brumby is a 1993 Australian drama-family film, directed by John Tatoulis, and starring actors Caroline Goodall, Russell Crowe and Amiel Daemion. It was based on the Silver Brumby series of novels by Elyne Mitchell.
Comin' Round the Mountain is a 1936 Western film directed by Mack V. Wright and starring Gene Autry, Ann Rutherford, and Smiley Burnette. Based on a story by Oliver Drake, the film is about a Pony Express rider who is robbed and left to die in the desert, where he is saved by a wild horse he captures and later uses to round up other horses to be used in the race for a government contract.
Double Trouble is a 1992 action comedy film released theatrically in limited release on February 14, 1992 and on home video. It stars the "Barbarian Brothers"—Peter and David Paul—and is directed by John Paragon. Co-stars include Troy Donahue, James Doohan, Collin Bernsen, Bill Mumy, Roddy McDowall, David Carradine and Lewis Arquette.The Barbarian Brothers appeared in person at the Marina Twins Cinema, one of five Honolulu movie theaters playing the title. The film was released on home video on VHS and LaserDisc in 1992. The film was issued on DVD by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Home Video's Limited Edition Collection series in 2015. Kino Lorber released the film on Blu-ray in 2023.
Black Allan or Allan F-1 was the foundation sire of the Tennessee Walking Horse. He was out of a Morgan and Thoroughbred cross mare named Maggie Marshall, a descendant of Figure and the Thoroughbred racing stallion Messenger; and sired by Allandorf, a Standardbred stallion descended from Hambletonian 10, also of the Messenger line.
My Friend Flicka is an American children's Western television series. The series is based on the novel of the same name by Mary O'Hara and the 1943 film My Friend Flicka by 20th Century Fox. It was one of the first television series produced by TCF Television Productions. Though filmed in color, it was originally shown on CBS in black-and-white from February 10, 1956 until May 18, 1958. Only one season was produced, but was broadcast in syndicated reruns for many years, starting in September 1957 on NBC.