Mickey Rooney & Horses
What would a great horse movie be without Mickey Rooney?
When you think of great horse films you cannot help but think of Mickey Rooney. He has been seen in some of the greatest horse films of all time. To mention the most popular of them all, National Velvet and The Black Stallion. The Black Stallion is considered on of the greatest movies of ALL time.
National Velvet is a classic. Mickey co-starred with Elizabeth Taylor in this film. It's one of the most beautiful films I have ever seen. In both films Mickey plays a horse trainer. In National Velvet he is Mi Taylor and in the Black Stallion he is Henry Daily. On this site I will list some comments people have made about each film.
Then in 1991-1993 Mickey reprised his role as Henry Daily in the Adventures Of The Black Stallion. The series was aired on the Family Channel. The scenery and horse tracks are beautiful and of course Mickey Rooney is wonderful once again as horse trainer Henry Daily.
Other horse films Mickey has been in:
Fast Companions was a 1932 film from Universal that had Mickey co-starring with Maureen O'Sullivan and Tom Brown. This was the very first horse film Mickey was seen in. Unfortunately, the film is not available on VHS or DVD. In fact, it is said to be lost. I'm still holding out hopes to find it on 16mm someday.
Down The Stretch is a 1937 film that has Mickey playing an orphaned horse jockey. I'm happy to say I own a fairly decent copy of this film. Mickey Rooney is wonderful and will touch your heart in this great little film. I will be adding some photo shots from the movie later on.
StableMates is up there with one of my all time favorite horse films. Mickey Rooney co-starrs with Wallace Berry. This is a 1938 film and was released by MGM. Mickey Rooney was just becoming a major star at this time. Mickey once again plays an orphan who races horses. This film is heartwarming and very enjoyable. Mickey Rooney will touch your heart in this wonderful movie.
Throughbred's Don't Cry is a horse movie that also starrs Judy Garland. In fact, this was Mickey and Judy's very first movie together. Mickey plays a very arrogant horse jockey. Mickey's father will make you cringe in this film. He is constantly out to hurt his son (Mickey). This is a wonderful movie and if you love horses or Mickey and Judy, this is for you.
Mickey was also in a memorable episode of The Twilight Zone called The Last Night Of A Jockey and a GE Theatre episode called, The Money Driver. In both episodes of these tv shows Mickey plays a horse jockey. I have copies of both shows.
Not only does Mickey love horses in his movies, he loves horses in real life. To this day he still loves to go to horse races and he has owned his own horses and racetrack. Mickey is truly what you would call a horse lover. I don't think that anyone can think of horses without Mickey Rooney coming to their mind. If you love Mickey Rooney and horses and don't have some of the above films. I would be happy to help you. Please contact me at mickeyrooneyfan@yahoo.com if interested. The Black Stallion and National Velvet are now available on DVD. For the best prices I would check ebay.
Also, the 1st season of the Adventures Of The Black Stallion are now available on DVD. The best price for this set can be found online at Wal-Mart. They are 26 episodes. I have the set and the quality is wonderful.
