The Black Stallion Returns (1983)

A teenager loses his horse in Morocco and gets him back after various daredevil adventures.

Director:

Robert Dalva

Writers:

Walter Farley (novel), Richard Kletter (screenplay)

Stars:

Kelly Reno, Vincent Spano, Allen Garfield

1 nomination.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Kelly Reno	...	Alec Ramsay
Vincent Spano	...	Raj
Allen Garfield	...	Kurr (as Allen Goorwitz)
Woody Strode	...	Meslar
Ferdy Mayne	...	Abu Ben Ishak (as Ferdinand Mayne)
Jodi Thelen	...	Tabari
Teri Garr	...	Alec's Mother
Larbi Doghmi	...	Tiny Man (as Doghmi Larbi)
Angelo Infanti	...	Raj's Father
Luigi Mezzanotte	...	Scarface
Franco Citti	...	Foreign Legion Officer
Robert Behling	...	Customs Officer (as Robert A. Behling)
Joe Murphy	...	Fireman
Chris Larrance	...	Neighbor
Loris Bazzocchi	...	Berber on Dock

Storyline

The Black is stolen from Alec by his former Arabian owners. Alec sets off on an adventure to Arabia to reclaim his beloved horse. Based on the books by Walter Farley.

---

Plot Keywords:

horse movie | horse | rescued by a horse | two riding a horse | arabian horse | 

---

Genres:

Adventure | Family

---

Certificate:

PG

Details

Official Sites:

MGM

Country:

USA

Language:

English Berber languages French

Release Date:

25 March 1983 (USA)

Also Known As:

Der schwarze Hengst kehrt zurück

Filming Locations:

Abiquiu, New Mexico, USA

Box Office

Gross USA:

$9,800,000

Company Credits

Production Co:

Zoetrope Studios

Technical Specs

Runtime:

103 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Some critics felt the film's portrayal of Arabs was racist. Roger Ebert wrote, "The Arabs are portrayed in this movie as the usual greasy, obnoxious buffoons that have been so popular in the movies ever since the oil crisis; I guess the message is that it's OK to be racist, as long as your targets live far away and don't buy many movie tickets. The Arab villain is played by Allen Goorwitz, a good character actor who is so far off-base here it's pathetic."

---

Goofs

In the scene in the race where Alec and Raj are being chased by the truck, the windshield is there in the close-ups and point-of-view from inside the truck, but gone in the wide shots.

---

Connections

Follows The Black Stallion (1979)

User Reviews

Boys adventure story...prettily photographed but a sequel nobody asked for

Follow-up to the acclaimed 1979 film, regarding a young American lad in the 1940s who bonds with an Arabian stallion while shipwrecked on an island, picks up where its predecessor left off. The boy, having won a championship race while riding the Black, has his horse stolen by a sheik who claims the horse is actually his. Following the horse thieves, the kid stows away on a plane headed for Casablanca, where he learns the Black will be entered in a new competition. Although the horse is the same (except for the racing shots) and the kid (Kelly Reno) is the same, director Carol Ballard from the first film is missing, and one can sense almost immediately that "The Black Stallion Returns" is without Ballard's dreamy pace and caressing images (here, Robert Dalva sets up individual scenes with a ham-fisted directness that makes the whole enterprise seem perfunctory, and he has no talent whatsoever with actors). Since the story is a washout, there's nothing to occupy one's interest except for the technical accomplishments, including Carlo di Palma's fine, if inexpressive, cinematography and Georges Delerue's lovely score. As for the performances, Reno doesn't have a professional actor's polish (which is both pro and con), but Allen Goorwitz (Garfield), playing the sheik's competitor for the Black (an Arab named Kurr!), is hopelessly if amusingly miscast as the proverbial cackling-villain; Vincent Spano (as Moroccan an actor as money could buy) is equally out-of-place as Reno's desert friend, while Teri Garr returns in a walk-on as Reno's mother (it's even less of a cameo than she had the first time). Not terrible, certainly, but a turgid adventure, trotting out aged stereotypes and a formula finale. *1/2 from ****