The Red Pony (1949)

Director:

Lewis Milestone

Writers:

John Steinbeck (by)
John Steinbeck (screenplay)

Release Date:

28 March 1949 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Family | Western

Plot:

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

Plot Keywords:

Pony | Colt | Boy | Ranch Hand | Self Sacrifice

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
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Eddie Borden	...	Circus performer (uncredited)
Dolores Castle	...	Gert (uncredited)
William 'Wee Willie' Davis	...	Truck driver (uncredited)
Alvin Hammer	...	Telegrapher (uncredited)
Gracie Hanneford	...	Circus performer (uncredited)
Poodles Hanneford	...	Clown (uncredited)
Bill Quinlan	...	Ben (uncredited)
George Tyne	...	Charlie (uncredited)
Max Wagner	...	Bartender (uncredited)

Directed by
Lewis Milestone

Writing credits
John Steinbeck		(by)
John Steinbeck		(screenplay)

Produced by
Lewis Milestone	....	producer
Charles K. Feldman	....	executive producer (uncredited)

Original Music by
Aaron Copland

Cinematography by
Tony Gaudio		(director of photography)

Film Editing by
Harry Keller

Production Design by
Nicolai Remisoff

Art Direction by
Victor Greene

Set Decoration by
John McCarthy Jr.		(set decorations)
Charles S. Thompson		(set decorations) (as Charles Thompson)

Makeup Department
Peggy Gray	....	hair stylist
Bob Mark	....	makeup supervisor
Louise Landmier	....	hair stylist (uncredited)

Production Management
Nate Watt	....	production manager (uncredited)

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Robert Aldrich	....	assistant director (uncredited)

Sound Department
Victor B. Appel	....	sound
Howard Wilson	....	sound

Special Effects by
Howard Lydecker	....	special photographic effects
Theodore Lydecker	....	special photographic effects

Camera and Electrical Department
Glen Kaiser	....	grip (uncredited)
Donald Biddle Keyes	....	still photographer (uncredited)
Thomas Morris	....	camera operator (uncredited)
Sid Swaney	....	gaffer (uncredited)

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Adele Palmer	....	costumes

Music Department
R. Dale Butts	....	orchestrator (uncredited)
Nathan Scott	....	orchestrator (uncredited)

Other crew
Francis Cugat	....	associate Technicolor color director
Charles K. Feldman	....	presenter
Natalie Kalmus	....	Technicolor color director
Norman Lloyd	....	assistant to producer
Don Weis	....	script supervisor (uncredited)

Production Companies

• Republic Pictures (I) (as A Republic Production)
• Lewis Milestone Productions (as A Lewis Milestone Production)
• Chas. K. Feldman Group Productions Inc. (uncredited)

Distributors

• Republic Pictures (I) (1949) (USA) (theatrical) (as A Republic Production)
• Republic Pictures Home Video (1993) (USA) (video) (laserdisc)
• Republic Pictures Home Video (2003) (USA) (DVD)
• Image Entertainment (2004) (USA) (video) (laserdisc)
• Republic Pictures Home Video (2004) (USA) (VHS)
• Gloria Filmverleih AG (1950) (West Germany) (theatrical)
• Les Films Fernand Rivers (1950) (France) (theatrical)
• Olive Films (2012) (Canada) (DVD) (DVD and Blu-ray)
• Olive Films (2012) (USA) (DVD) (DVD and Blu-ray)

Other Companies

• United Productions of America (UPA)  animation effects

Also Known As:

"John Steinbeck's The Red Pony" - UK (complete title), USA (complete title)

Runtime:

89 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Sound System)

Certification:

Finland:S | USA:Approved (PCA #12907) | UK:PG (video rating) (1986) | UK:U (original rating) (passed with cuts) | West Germany:6 | UK:PG (video rating: cut by 11 sec) (2010) | UK:PG (tv rating)

Filming Locations:

Agoura, California, USA

Company:

Republic Pictures (I)

Trivia:

The 81-day shooting schedule was at the time the longest and costliest for Republic Pictures.

Goofs:

Continuity: 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.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "The Mentalist: The Red Ponies (#3.5)" (2010)

Soundtrack:

Shall We Gather at the River?

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.