The Red Pony (1949)

A ranch boy is gifted with a colt, grows to love him but the colt escapes, with tragic results.

Director:

Lewis Milestone

Writers:

John Steinbeck (by), John Steinbeck (screenplay)

Stars:

Myrna Loy, Robert Mitchum, Louis Calhern

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Myrna Loy	...	Alice Tiflin
Robert Mitchum	...	Billy Buck
Louis Calhern	...	Grandfather
Shepperd Strudwick	...	Mr. Fred Tiflin
Peter Miles	...	Tom
Margaret Hamilton	...	Teacher
Melinda Byron	...	Jinx Ingals
Jackie Jackson	...	Jackie
Beau Bridges	...	Beau
Don Reynolds	...	Little Brown Jug (as Little Brown Jug)
Nino Tempo	...	Nino
Tommy Sheridan	...	Dale

Storyline

In the coast range mountains on the western edge of the Salinas Valley is a ranch where Tom, a lad of about ten, longs for a pony. He lives with his mom, who was born there, her dad, a talkative pioneer who misses the old West, Tom's dad Fred Tiflin, who comes from the city and after years on the ranch doesn't feel at home there, and Billy, their trusted hand, a real cowboy. While Fred has to sort out whether he wants to stay a rancher and come to terms with his son being closer to Billy than to himself, Tom gets a pony and learns directly about responsibility and loss. What lessons can each learn, and are tragedy and hard choices all that life offers? Are laughter and joy anywhere?

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Plot Keywords:

pony | colt | boy | ranch hand | self sacrifice | 

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Genres:

Drama | Family | Western

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Certificate:

Approved

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

28 March 1949 (USA)

Also Known As:

John Steinbeck's The Red Pony

Filming Locations:

Agoura, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Republic Pictures (I), Lewis Milestone Productions, Chas. K. Feldman Group Productions Inc.

Technical Specs

Runtime:

89 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Sound System)

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The novel is actually made up of four short stories: "The Gift," "The Great Mountain," "The Leader of the People" and "The Promise." Each was published separately in magazines between 1933 and 1937.

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Goofs

Alice opens the lunch box to find a small snake inside. The snake is clearly hanging out of the box, but in the next angle it is fully inside.

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Crazy Credits

and introducing Peter Miles as Tom

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Connections

Referenced in The Mentalist: The Red Ponies (2010)

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Soundtracks

"Shall We Gather at the River?"
Written by Robert Lowry
Played on piano by Myrna Loy

User Reviews

Not quite up to the high standards of the novel.

There is an unusual abundance of talent associated with this film. The screenplay was written by one of the great American writers of the 20th century, John Steinbeck, taken from his excellent short novel of the same name. The score was written by Aaron Copland, perhaps the most noted composer in American history. The director, Lewis Milestone, made many fine pictures over a long career including Academy Award winner 'All Quiet on the Western Front.'

All that talent doesn't necessarily mean that 'The Red Pony' is going to be the greatest movie of all time, though it is a good one. Milestone's direction and Copland's score are both fine, but I didn't feel like Steinbeck's script was nearly as good as his book.

We often complain when a favorite work of literature is changed considerably by the movies, but what do you say when it's a Nobel and Pulitzer Prize-winning author doing it to his own work? Although I don't think this filmed version lives up to the novel, it still covers the same ground. It's about a boy growing up on a farm in Steinbeck's beloved Salinas Valley in California, where he learns some lessons about life. One of them is that the things you think you want the most sometimes come at a much higher price than you were prepared to pay. My favorite actor in this movie was Myrna Loy as the mother. Where did I ever get the idea that she wasn't supposed to be that good an actress? I must have had her mixed up with someone else.