Product Description

A young boy is determined to befriend a rebellious horse in this touching family film based on the celebrated novel by Mary O'Hara. Ten-year-old Ken McLaughlin (Roddy McDowall), who lives on the Goose Bar Ranch, desperately wants a colt of his own. Frustrated by the boy's constant daydreaming, Ken's father (Preston Foster) finally lets him choose any horse in the herd. Ken picks a beautiful filly whom he names Flicka, but the high-spirited animal comes from a "bad" bloodline that's considered to be hopelessly wild. To prove Flicka is worth keeping, and prove himself as a person, Ken sets his heart on winning the horse's confidence and ultimately taming her. Along the way, ken begins to grow up a little and everyone learns some important lessons, in this poignant tale of love, patience, faith, and "hope beyond hope".

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #34402 in DVD
• Brand: TCFHE
• Released on: 2007-02-06
• Rating: NR (Not Rated)
• Aspect ratio: 1.33:1
• Formats: Color, DVD, NTSC, Mono
• Original language: English
• Number of discs: 1
• Dimensions: .25 pounds
• Running time: 89 minutes

Amazon.com

My Friend Flicka: This gorgeous 1943 family film stars Roddy McDowell as a Colorado rancher's son who takes a shine to a colt named Flicka and chooses to train her. The boy's father (Preston Foster) isn't happy about the idea: the horse is an offspring of a stormy mare who may not be right in the head. For a while, Flicka seems determined to prove the rancher's point, fiercely resisting young McDowell's efforts at domestication. But persistence and love win the day, and Flicka grows up to be a magnificent animal and friend. The film was shot by director Harold Schuster and cinematographer Dewey Wrigley as if for the ages, marrying such perfect elements as a Technicolor sweep of the beautiful Rocky Mountains setting with a wonderful story, plus McDowell's charismatic earnestness. Based on the Mary O'Hara novel, this film was popular enough in its time to inspire a couple of sequels, though the original best stands up as a perennially worthy adventure tale for kids ages 5 and up. --Tom Keogh

Thunderhead, Son of Flicka: A sequel to the wildly popular, heart-warming children’s classic My Friend Flicka, Thunderhead stars the original winsome young Roddy McDowall as the horse-lover against all odds. The sequel is every bit as touching, involving, and misty-eye-inducing as the original film. Thunderhead, a headstrong albino colt, is the son of the mare Flicka, and McDowall’s Ken McLaughlin sets out to find out what this wild thing can do. Thunderhead, when given his head, can fly as though winged, so Ken decides to enter Thunderhead in some horse races. But it becomes clear that Thunderhead can fly only if he’s free. A tragedy threatens the sweet world that Thunderhead and Ken have created, and only that magical love between child and animal can overcome the stumbling blocks. Thunderhead, Son of Flicka is a worthy successor to the original film, and a touching family film for horse lovers of all ages. --A.T. Hurley

Green Grass of Wyoming: The final installment in Mary O’Hara’s landmark horse saga that includes MY Friend Flicka, The Green Grass of Wyoming is a worthy valentine to the love of horses and the wild America they represented in the mid-20th century. Robert Arthur replaces Roddy McDowall as Ken McLaughlin, the boy horse whisperer who connects on a subliminal level with four-legged critters. The equine star is Crown Jewel, a harness-racing trotter for whom Ken has hopes of championships and financial windfalls. But Jewel has something else on her mind--love, for the stallion Thunderhead (star of O’Hara’s second installment, Thunderhead, Son of Flicka. Arthur is a talented, charming successor to McDowall, and the breathtaking scenery and cinematography will charm even those film fans who aren’t big horse lovers. (Charles G. Clark was nominated for an Oscar for best cinematography.) Burl Ives makes the most of his sidekick role as Gus, and Lloyd Nolan is sympathetic as Ken’s financially struggling dad. Extras include a detailed featurette on the life of Mary O’Hara. --A.T. Hurley

Customer Reviews

Family Entertainment - Yes.
I'm giving this trilogy 4 stars based on its viewability and enjoyability for the family to watch. However, being a fan of Mary O'Hara's books (I read these when I was about 7 or 8), I was very disappointed in the way the story line strays from the books. Perhaps I am being overly critical, if so, I apologize to those offended.
The scenery is beautiful. The cinematography is great. The story line in "Flicka" (disc 1) is a little closer to the book than the other two.
But what happened to the older brother? The competition between Ken and his brother Howard was very important. However, the story line stays relatively close, and the moral of the story is there. Ken learns a lesson about responsibility, but at the same time realizes the imprtance of believing in the decisions you have made.
In the seond dis, "Thunderhead", the panorama of the mountains and the cinematography are still great. Perhaps even better, and the story line doesn't wander too terribly far astray, but it does deviate. Again, the absence of the brother in this story completely ingnores the bortherly competition, and the maturing that goes with it. And disappointingly (and erroneously) the McLaughlin stallion Banner does not die. Hurts part of the story in the next book. Still, the maturing of Ken and the developing respect between father and son are quite evident.
In the third film "Green Grass", the original story line goes on vacation to far away places. Beaver Greeenway is an uncle, not a grandfather. The grandmother (who dominates Carey's life) is gone, and the brother is still missing. And what happened to Pete, the hobo Clydesdale? And where did all those trotters come from? They were supposed to be jumpers. All in all, a completely different story. Panoramic cinematography still great. Different actors still did a credible job.
After all of that, when I watched the movies, I still enjoyed them thoroughly just as I did as a youngster. If you are a real fan of the books, you may find yourself disappointed, so watch it for the sake of enjoyment, not as they relate to Mary O'Hara's novels.

My Friend Flicka
This is an all-time classic horse movie. Along with the others in the series which I am trying to get such as"Green Grass of Wyoming" and "Thunderbolt;Son of Flicka" but unfortunately not having much luck. They are all excellent movies not only do I expereince laughter but also a few tears to a not so emotional person. I think it is movies like this one that will never cease their popularity, it would just be nice if they were played more often then what they are. I am in my 20s and I love many of the new movies, but My Friend Flicka will always be a childhood fav.

The Classic Flicka Trilogy
For those of you who only saw the new film last year (I bought it with this sight unseen because it looked interesting and it allowed me to get my favorite free shipping deal) here's your chance to see the Original stories of Flicka and her son Thunderhead. These 3 films which I am told are pretty faithful to Mary O'Hara's novels of the same titles (I have them too but never read them). The main difference between them and the 2006 remake is that is the central character is named "Ken (rather than Katy McLaughlin", well at least the kept the same name in the remake) and is played by a young Roddy McDowell in the first 2 films and Robert Arthur in the third. The reason he probably didn't do "Green Grass" is that the same year (1948) he was making the second big screen version of Robert Louis Stevenson's Kidnapped. The first film was released on VHS years ago, and both the first 2 had been previously released on DVD to celebrate their 60th anniversaries. Unfortunately those discs are out of print, albeit some Amazon sellers are still offering them separately or together. But the copies in this set are exactly the same discs, except for the pictures on the jackets and the labels on the discs. The text on the back of the boxes and list of chapter stops (on the lists and discs) are exactly the same as the previous releases. This is also the only way to get all 3 (if you don't count the old copies) as only the first film has been re-released as a separate item (it also marks the first appearance of "Green Grass" on video in any way, shape or form). By the way, it was also made into the a short lived tv series in 1956 which I doubt we will ever see again. If you like the books and movies of Anna Sewell's Black Beauty and Walter Farley's Black Stallion and the 2006 remake interests (or interested you), get this set before they go out of print again.