Black Beauty ** (1946, Mona Freeman, Richard Denning, Evelyn Ankers, J M Kerrigan, Terry Kilburn, Arthur Space) – Classic Movie Review 11,815

Mona Freeman stars as a Victorian English girl called Anne Wendon, who searches for her missing champion colt, now being mistreated as a workhorse, in this solid children’s film distantly related to its source, the Anna Sewell classic Black Beauty.

Director Max Nosseck’s 1946 black and white children’s film Black Beauty is the second talkie film of the beloved 1877 novel, and the first from a major studio (20th Century Fox). It could do with more oomph, especially in the too-mild acting, but it is pleasant and appealing enough.

There is a handsome production with a telling sense of the period, though for full effect it seems to cry out for colour. J Roy Hunt’s black and white photography is fine but Dimitri Tiomkin’s music is the film’s most outstanding contribution.

Director James Hill’s 1971 film Black Beauty follows.

It features Mona Freeman as Anne Wendon, Richard Denning as Bill Dixon, Evelyn Ankers as Evelyn Carrington, Charles Evans as Squire Wendon, J M Kerrigan as John, Moyna Macgill as Mrs Blake, Terry Kilburn as Joe, Thomas P Dillon as Skinner, Arthur Space as Terry, John Burton as Dr White, Olaf Hytten as Mr Cordon, and Leyland Hodgson as Auctioneer.

London-born actor Terry Kilburn moved to Hollywood at the age of 10, and is best known as a child actor in films such as A Christmas Carol (1938) and Goodbye, Mr Chips (1939). Born on 25 November 1926, he turned 95 in 2021.

© Derek Winnert 2021 Classic Movie Review 11,815

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Terry Kilburn plays Joe.