THE BLACK STALLION
TCM, 8:00 p.m. ET
This is a gorgeously photographed movie that’s appropriate for the entire family – the rare kind of film that you can watch as a family, taking in a dramatic story as well as a breathtaking work of art. The story, of a boy who’s shipwrecked on a remote island with a horse who also survived the wreck, is based on Walter Farley’s novel, and is divided into two different, equally important segments: the time on the island, and the return to civilization, when the boy and the horse are groomed to enter a prestigious horse race. There’s a field of thoroughbreds involved with the movie offscreen as well. The film’s director, Carroll Ballard, also directed the lovely family film Fly Away Home, as well as Never Cry Wolf – two other films about humans bonding with animals. And the cinematographer of The Black Stallion, whose work here is jaw-droppingly beautiful, is Caleb Deschanel, whose other credits include (ready?) The Right Stuff, The Natural, and, yes, Fly Away Home. And one of the screenplay authors of this adaptation of The Black Stallion is Melissa Mathison, who, three years after this 1979 classic, wrote another adventure about a young boy bonding with a noble creature: 1982’s E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial. Kelly Reno stars, with support from Teri Garr and, in time, Mickey Rooney.