Anna Sewell'sBlack Beautyis, as the author herself put it, "the autobiography of a horse." It follows the titular stallion from his childhood to his retirement and recounts both the bonds he made with sympathetic, caring companions and the many trials he went through at the behest of uncaring masters. Several movie and film adaptations ofBlack Beautyhave been produced, with the oldest one dating all the way back to 1921. The most recent version, starring Mackenzie Foy, was released to Disney+ in November 2020.
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The older adaptations are certainly worth watching as companion pieces to the new version, but some are definitely far better than others.
Black Beauty (2015) - 3.7
2015's Black Beauty is an adaptation in name only of its source material, borrowing a few plot points from the book but little else.
The story follows Audry, a teenaged girl who is sent to live with her grandfather (played byAcademy-Award-nominee Bruce Davison) in the country. While there, she volunteers at an animal shelter, where she meets— and convinces her grandpa to adopt— a horse that's been rescued from its abusive owner.
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Black Beauty (1971) - 5.5
1971's Black Beautyholds on to the original more closely than many of the book's other adaptations— while it's not a precise retelling, it hits all the same story beats.
Interestingly, the big name in this one is Mark Lester, known for occupying the title role in 1968's Oliver!. Here, he plays Joe, the young boy who ties together the tale's beginning with its eventual resolution.
American Black Beauty (2005) - 5.8
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The 2005 TV movieAmerican Black Beauty is one of the many adaptations of Sewell's novel that changes elements of the story and characters so that they blend more closely with the "horse girl" genre it mimics. As implied by its name, the movie also changes the settingfrom England to the United States.
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The plot focuses on Cheryl Birtwick, a teenaged orphan living off of the trust fund her dad left for her, as she goes to live on a ranch run by her distant relatives, the poverty-stricken Lane family. There, she meets Black Beauty, a stallion who, despite her fear of horses, she ends up forming an emotional connection with.
Black Beauty (1946) - 5.8
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1946's Black Beauty skips a good portion of its source text in order tofocus mainly on the strong relationship between Black Beauty and his owner, Anne Wendon, opting for a feel-good narrative in favor of the book's bleak tone.
While the characters tend to fall into archetypical categories, strong performances and a well-executed story keep the adaptation (faithful or not) strong enough to be watched and enjoyed by many.
Black Beauty (1921) - 6.0
The first film adaptation of Black Beauty, released in 1921, was a silent film that totaled about seventy minutes. Like many other adaptations of the story, it features a female protagonist rather than a male one.
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While bits and pieces of Black Beauty have been lost in the years since its release, an abridged cut of the nearly hundred-year-old film is available online.
Black Beauty (1978 Miniseries) - 6.3
1978's first Black Beauty adaptation was a five-episode-long miniseries. Its stellar cast (including William Devane of 24 fame, prolific actor/director Mel Ferrer, and Clue'sEileen Brennan) is more than enough to earn a recommendation, but the series also packs fantastic cinematography and an immersive score.
While it might not be the most groundbreaking of adaptations, it should be satisfying enough to quell the desires of horse fanatics and Sewell scholars alike.
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Black Beauty (2020) - 6.3
Disney's version of Black Beautywas released in November 2020. It stars Interstellar actress Mackenzie Foy as Jo Green (a gender-swapped version of the original protagonist, Joe Green) alongside Kate Winslet as the titular horse (who is portrayed in this adaptation as a wild mustang).
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A harmless, if forgettable, ode to human-equine relationships,Black Beauty strays pretty far from its namesake's narrative, especially in terms of story structure. Still, it's fully worth the watch, if only as an introduction to the far superior novel.
Black Beauty (1978) - 6.4
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The second 1978 adaptation of Black Beauty was actually an animated film produced by Hanna-Barbera's Australian division. Little-known at first, itbecame popular through multiple television airings and home video releases.
While it may be a certified classic (cementing this is the fact that voice-acting legend Alan Young appears as both the narrator and the title character), it's also sufficiently dated enough to be passed on in favor of later adaptations.
Black Beauty (1933) - 6.5
Despite featuring a few plusses, such as its strong cast, 1933's Black Beauty is surprisingly even more overlooked than its 1921 predecessor.
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Perhaps it's just that the drama, which is set on a plantation in Virginia, has too little of anything that would make it truly memorable and not just "good". Unsurprisingly, the horse-race-centered story is also not all that faithful to the book.
Black Beauty (1994) - 6.6
Widely considered the definitive adaptation of its source material, 1994's Black Beautypacks all the juiced-up atmosphere of a '90s familymovie while retaining the core message at the heart of Sewell's story.
Aided by powerful performances from Andrew Knott, Sean Bean, and Alan Cummings, the movie— despite bombing during its initial theatrical run— has succeeded on home video, even earning a bit of a cult status in recent years.
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