The Red Pony (1949)

Intro.

At long last, the mail has been going out regularly, so my new Netflix DVD arrived.  The film was added a long time ago, but in light of my "leading men we adore" theme, I had to include a film with Robert Mitchum.  About a year ago I had seen only a clip of this film (of course it was the incredibly sad part) and knew I'd need to see the whole thing eventually.  I'm glad I did too.  The film is based on the Steinbeck novel, which was published in 1945.  Steinbeck himself wrote the screenplay for the film, and his writing style shows in the rich but minimal-dialogue scenes.

Overview

This is not an epic or a sweeping tale of the West.  It does not have a cast of thousands.  It is a brilliant, small film simply about a boy and his first pony.  Tom Tiflin is the little boy in this film, played by the adorable Peter Miles.  Tom gets his first pony, a beautiful red colt.  He is determined to care for it and train it with the help of his grandfather (played by Louis Calhern) and his family's only hired hand, Billy Buck (Robert Mitchum).  He can talk to these two men more than he can to his father Fred (Shepperd Strudwick), who only wants to sell the ranch and go back to the city.  Myrna Loy plays Tom's mother, who loves her father and his ranch and wants to stay.  As much as the family seems to be falling apart, they have to come together when the colt breaks loose during a rainstorm and winds up with a deathly cold.  Despite all attempts to save him, the colt dies, leaving Tom brokenhearted with only Billy Buck to take it out on.  In the end, Billy's prize mare births a colt, which he gives to Tom, and the family begins to put their pieces back together.

Highlights & History
I couldn't get enough of these characters.  Each one is so well written and well acted, that I felt as though it should have been a series, not a single stand-alone film.  I wanted to see Tom grow up and watch his parents get back together.  The simplest stories are often the most touching, and such is the case here.  It's about a lot more than a boy and his horse - it's about the loss of youth and the discovery that death is real.  It's about the end of part of an American dream.  Tom's grandfather talks about the end of "Westering" and how once men hit the ocean, that dream died.  I'm going to detour here a bit for some background.  In 1890, the Census Bureau said that the American frontier was closed - no more expansion was left.  For the years that followed, right up through the 1930s, there was a certain anxiety about our national identity.  We were a country of pioneers, but there was nowhere left to explore.  The nostalgia of the West grew from that period, giving rise to great writers and later to great films.  It's interesting that the same themes would reappear after WWII when the book was written, but that same nostalgia and sadness is very present in the picture.

Now, as for the rest of the film, fine performances by the whole cast.  Robert Mitchum is good in this role.  In 1949 he was still taking less-risky roles.  He had just done some jail time in 1948, so afterward he avoided those gritty, bad guy roles.  It was the same year he made Holiday Affair as well (and the same reason).  His career didn't suffer too much from his record though, and even gave him more of a tough-guy image that led him to roles like Cady in Cape Fear.  Still, as the good-guy cowhand Billy, he does a fine job and is wonderful to watch with Peter Miles.  I should also mention the outstanding performance by Louis Calhern.  He's so much fun to watch and more fun to listen to - his voice and the way he delivers his lines is in the great tradition of storytellers.  I could almost picture him as Mark Twain.  And I knew he looked familiar - turns out he's been in quite a few great films, including High Society (1956).

Review

An understated classic - that's the label I would give The Red Pony.  It's told simply and honestly, with great attention to character.  It also boasts some nice cinematography and an incredible score by Aaron Copland.  A must see for many reasons, this film is one of the great American stories.

As always, check it out on IMDb.  I also found a book review about the end of the American frontier - I really want to read it now.