Great moments in horses
From art to movies to TV and more, the horse has often stolen the show
Bonaparte Crossing the Alps, Jacques-Louis David's famous portrait of the French dictator leading his troops over the mountains of central Europe. The image of an ambitious, vain leader wearing a funny hat and rearing back on his horse has been used countless times in editorial cartoons and on magazine covers to satirize egomaniacal politicians.
The Marx Brothers movie, A Day at the Races (1937). Groucho Marx (right) played Dr. Hugo Z. Hackenbush, a veterinarian posing as a medical doctor who tries to help a friend save her farm by winning a big horse race. The film was a huge hit.
A scene from National Velvet (1944), starring a 12-year-old Elizabeth Taylor (centre). Taylor played Velvet Brown, a young girl who saves a horse from the slaughterhouse, disguises herself as a jockey and rides to victory in England's Grand National Steeplechase. The role made Taylor a star.
Trigger (and Roy Rogers). Together they conquered film and television, starring in more than 100 movies and on a TV show that ran from 1951-57. Every boy who grew up in the 1950s wanted horse as loyal as Trigger.
Silver (and the Lone Ranger), another great television team. Played by Clayton Moore, the Lone Ranger finished most shows by shouting "Hi-yo, Silver, away!" and then riding off into the sunset
A gelding named Bamboo Harvester as Mr. Ed and Alan Young as Wilbur Post in a scene from the 1960s sitcom, "Mister Ed". Mr. Ed was a horse that could talk. "Mister Ed" was the first show ever to debut as a mid-season replacement.
Barry Fitzgerald, Shirley Temple and Lon McCallister in The Story of Seabiscuit, a movie based on the true story of a horse that went from running claiming races to being the greatest American thoroughbred racehorse of the 1930s. The movie focussed on the love story between the characters played by Temple and McCallister, and flopped badly.The Kobal Collection
Jeff Bridges in a scene from the 2003 film Seabiscuit, a movie based on the true story of a horse that went from running claiming races to being the greatest American thoroughbred racehorse of the 1930s. The movie was well received, garnering seven Oscar nominations (but winning none).
Special Cinematic Horse Moment #1: Mongo, played by NFL football player Alex Karras, knocks out a horse in a single punch in the 1974 comedy Blazing Saddles.
Special Cinematic Horse Moment #2: Jack Woltz, the movie producer played by John Marley in the film The Godfather, wakes up to find the head of his prize horse, Khartoum, in his bed after refusing to do the Godfather a favour. He subsequently does the Godfather a favour.
Robert Redford and Scarlett Johansson in a scene from the 1998 movie The Horse Whisperer. Redford played a "horse whisperer" -- a man who could communicate with the beasts. The film had a mixed reception but the term used in its title caught on as a cultural trope, leading to such things as the TV show "Ghost Whisperer" and dubious professions like "dog whisperer" and "baby whisperer."
What do you do when you're known only for playing a boy wizard in a blockbuster film series and you want to be taken seriously as an actor? You do like Daniel Radcliffe did at age 17 and take the lead role in Equus, Peter Shaffer's controversial play about a boy who blinds six horses and in which you must appear buck naked. Radcliffe's role in the play's 2007 London revival earned him positive reviews, and when the show came to New York he won a coveted Drama Desk Award for outstanding actor in a play.Carol Rosegg