By Lettie Teague
Although beloved children’s book author Marguerite Henry wrote fifty-nine books, a surprisingly small number of them—just five—were made into movies. When a reporter for the Carpentersville, Illinois, Cardunel Free Press (January 1968) declared, “So popular are Mrs. Henry’s books with young people of all ages that motion picture producers vie for the privilege of bringing them to the screen,” that assertion owed more to hyperbole than fact. The five books that made the transition to the screen included Misty of Chincoteague, King of the Wind, and Brighty of the Grand Canyon, which debuted on the big screen, and two that became made-for-television movies: Justin Morgan Had a Horse and Peter Lundy and the Medicine Hat Stallion, based on the original San Domingo book.
Misty of Chincoteague
Although it didn’t come close to equaling the popularity of the book, the Misty movie, produced in 1961, proved tremendously popular for many years. The film was directed by James B. Clark (who also directed the much-beloved Cary Grant/Deborah Kerr tear-jerker An Affair to Remember, among other films). The Misty movie possessed several advantages when it debuted, the most important of which was the still-living real pony (although Misty was too old to star in the film), and then of course Marguerite, who was not only present at the filming, but also promoted the movie at every turn. In one such effort, Marguerite wrote a piece entitled “Misty Makes the Movies,” published in Junior Libraries, where she marveled at the production that she flew down to witness firsthand. There were three hundred extras (mostly Chincoteaguers) and one hundred and fifty ponies, plus the famed horse trainer Les Hilton “who can run as fast as the ponies he trains,” Marguerite wrote. “I listened spellbound to the jargon: Quiet! Roll it!”
The movie starred David Ladd, son of the much more famous actor Alan Ladd, who later became an MGM film executive. Filmed on location, it was less than a masterpiece with often stilted dialogue and pretty low-wattage drama. In perhaps the strangest twist of all, the pony that played Misty wasn’t even a pinto pony but a very pale palomino. With all the ponies in the world, it was hard to believe that the filmmakers could not find a pony that at least slightly resembled Misty.
Marguerite was quite disappointed by this fact and made her feelings known on more than one occasion. By contrast, she was thrilled by the performances of David Ladd as Paul Beebe and Pam Smith as Maureen Beebe. “They are not acting at all. Each rides like the wind, each has loved a special pony and lost it in death. Their laughter and their tears are real. And they even look like Paul and Maureen!” Marguerite declared.
Brighty of the Grand Canyon
It was another six years before a book by Marguerite was turned into a movie again. This time it was Brighty of the Grand Canyon (1967), directed by Norman Foster, who was then famous for directing Davy Crockett and Charlie Chan movies. But it was the film’s producer, Stephen Booth, who was responsible for bringing Marguerite’s book to the big screen. In an interview with John Bustin, entertainment editor of The Austin American-Statesman (June 8, 1967), Booth recounted how his wife Betty bought a copy of Brighty for their three young sons and how they read it aloud. All five Booths were entranced by the story.
Booth wanted to make the book into a movie but was convinced that Disney owned the screen rights. “But I kept thinking about a movie of the book, so I finally wrote Rand McNally to see who owned the rights and found out, to my amazement, that they still did,” said Booth.
The problems began when Booth decided that in order for the film to be as authentic as possible, they needed to do all of the filming on site at the Grand Canyon. This made the film complicated—and quite expensive as well. Everything had to be brought into the canyon by muleback or helicopters, and they had to film in all four seasons, so the crew worked in blazing heat and during blizzards, in just a few months’ time. The unpredictability of working with animals was a complicating factor as well. “I don’t know that I’ll necessarily go after more animal stories,” said the chastened Booth. And he did not. Brighty was his first and last production. The real-life Brighty (aka Jiggs), who starred in the film and was well-supplied with his favorite peppermints throughout the screening, went home to Marguerite and later to the home of “Tex” Drexler, where he remained the rest of his life.
Justin Morgan Had a Horse
Although Justin Morgan Had a Horse was Marguerite’s first full-length book, it was her third book-made-into-a-movie, specifically a Disney made-for-television movie that debuted in 1972. The movie rights had actually been acquired years earlier by Disney veteran producer Harry Tytle, but Walt Disney, who had been working with Tytle, died quite suddenly in the middle of the film’s development, and it had to be shelved (Atlanta Constitution, February 6, 1972).
The star of the movie was Don Murray, an actor later best known for his role on the long-running soap opera Knots Landing. Murray played Justin Morgan and his love interest was played by Lana Wood. Never mind that such a character didn’t exist in the book, but then she didn’t get much of a role in the movie either. Gary Crosby, son of Bing (and a horseman), played a supporting role. The film was billed as “an inspirational story with wide appeal for both children and adults” that depicted an all-American story of the hardships and triumphs of Justin Morgan (schoolmaster) and his horse. The movie received generally good reviews, although, like Misty, it wasn’t near the equal of Marguerite’s book. (The slow-motion scenes of the racing Figure are arguably some of the best scenes in the film.)
San Domingo
The next Marguerite book-made-movie was another made-for-television special, although the movie had a different name than the original edition of the book (San Domingo). Peter Lundy and the Medicine Hat Stallion (1977) was the creation of famed producer Ed Friendly, who had several hits to his name, including Little House on the Prairie. (A later edition of the book matched the name of the film.)
Peter Lundy was played by the then-fifteen-year-old heartthrob Leif Garrett, who was a major teen star in the 1970s and had already appeared in several films and television shows. Garrett was soon to embark on a singing career, and the movie was originally intended to be a pilot for a television series, which Garrett hoped would help further his musical career. Sadly, the network declined to commission the series, and the first Peter Lundy TV movie was also the last.
Although Marguerite’s story of San Domingo had been set in Nebraska Territory, the movie was filmed on location in New Mexico, where Garrett, who did all his own riding in the movie, told an interviewer, “I like horses a lot and can ride fairly well,” which must have pleased Marguerite. The movie received generally positive reviews and was considered a boon for Garrett’s career, which sadly soon derailed in a battle with drug addiction and alcohol abuse before the star finally got sober as a much older adult. On a happier note, the horse that played San Domingo won a Craven Award, named for Richard C. Craven, the first director of the American Humane Association. The award is given to animals who have a special ability or talent. (And notably, unlike the Misty pony of that movie, the San Domingo television character looked like the horse that had been drawn for the book.)
King of the Wind
Perhaps it was fitting that the book that many believe to be Marguerite’s very best was the last time her work would be translated into a film. Filmed in England and Turkey, the King of the Wind movie (1990) was produced by a consortium of no less than seven men, including Peter Davis (best known for the Highlander films). It costarred Richard Harris and Glenda Jackson with Navin Chowdhry as Agba. It was directed by Peter Duffell, who also directed another great horse-centric classic, The Adventures of Black Beauty, a series that ran for two years (1972 to 1974). King of the Wind was screened in very few theaters in the United States and seemed to disappear altogether soon after it was made.
Nine years before King of the Wind’s eventual theatrical release, Marguerite had written a letter to the King Brothers film production company (October 7, 1981), offering to pay the company twenty-five thousand dollars to buy back the rights to King of the Wind, which it held at the time. (She eventually paid thirty thousand dollars.) As to her percentage of the film’s profits, Marguerite’s reply to King was a disheartening reckoning of just how far from a windfall her experience of turning her books into movies had been. “I’ve had only four films based on my books, and in each case (Disney, 20th Century Fox, Booth Productions and NBC) it was break-even. One of the previous four I was ‘out of pocket,’” she wrote.
This excerpt adapted from Dear Readers and Riders: The Beloved Books, Faithful Fans, and Hidden Private Life of Marguerite Henry is reprinted with permission from Trafalgar Square Books (TrafalgarBooks.com).
Dear Readers and Riders: The Beloved Books, Faithful Fans, and Hidden Private Life of Marguerite Henry
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This excerpt from Dear Readers and Riders: The Beloved Books, Faithful Fans, and Hidden Private Life of Marguerite Henry is reprinted with permission from Trafalgar Square Books. Visit them online at Horse & Rider Books. All photos courtesy of Horse & Rider Books.
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