Friday Flicks: ‘Danny’ (1979)
Emphasis on 1979. This week’s flick features high-waisted pants, helmet-less heads, questionable acting and a plot that’s delightfully cliché. HN film critic Amanda Ronan reviews.
From Amanda:
“I said KEEP YOUR HEELS DOWN!” “I said RELAX!” These are things that we are all used to hearing in the ring and that is exactly how the movie, Danny (1979), begins. We are introduced to Andrea Cummings who is struggling to ride her brand new pony, Danny.
Danny isn’t quite what Andrea expected. After storming away to her father, it is decided that Janie, the young stable girl, will help Andrea train Danny.
Everything progresses nicely, and Andrea and Danny head out for their first competition. The day doesn’t go well at all. Andrea gets dumped on the ground and Mr. Cummings decides the pony is a lemon. Things really go sour when Danny comes up lame.
Mr. Cummings decides to sell the pony. Janie is heartbroken. Luckily, a mysterious benefactor purchases Danny for Janie. Cue the musical montage of healing, hydro and handwalking!
Danny is miraculously healed! After fierce negotiations with her mother, Janie is allowed to enter Danny in the big County Show where she will compete against Andrea and her “faaaab-ulous” new pony, Midnight Star. Andrea throws down the gauntlet, saying Janie and Danny don’t have a chance in the Children’s Hunter division. Mr. Cummings further ups the ante by luring Mr. Devito, Janie’s mother’s boyfriend, in to a $500 bet over the Children’s Hunter.
Will Danny and Janie take home first prize? Will the mysterious benefactor be revealed? You’ll just have to watch and see!
Welcome to the 1970s! The pants are high-waisted, the heads are un-helmeted and the musical montages are slooo…. (snore) …ooow. Sorry. I dozed off a bit there.
There were some very odd moments in this movie. Like, for instance, when Andrea teaches us how to line dance at her dad’s birthday BBQ, or when Janie is nearly assaulted by a drunken farrier in the woods. She is saved by the farrier’s wife screaming, “You can beat your own kids, but not other people’s!” But my top awkward scene has to go to the random goat at the Hunter Show. Wha???
Seriously, though, this movie wasn’t half bad. Much like International Velvet, the production team clearly favored children with riding skills versus acting skills, so the dialogue is a bit rough but the riding is enjoyable to watch. And who doesn’t love the idea of a hardworking stable girl sticking it to the rich folk?!?
I give Danny 2.5 Golden Horseshoes.
- Send an email to wylie, the author of this post at wylie@horsenation.com
Horse movies of the late 70′s – early 80′s ROCK! But I have never heard of this one! I didnt see them in your previous reviews when I just browsed through them, but two come to mind that I probably watched hundreds of times when I was a kid… both Disney movies… “The Horse Masters” (featuring Annette Funicello) and “The Horse in the Grey Flannel Suit” (featuring a very young Kurt Russell).
BOTH of those movies I have searched and searched for. I would love to review them but can’t find a reasonably priced copy. I found one VHS copy of “Flannel Suit” on Amazon for an astounding $60!!
http://www.amazon.com/Horse-Gray-Flannel-Suit-VHS/dp/0788806742
Heres on for $16.50
I second both of those! My family and I have both Horse Masters and Horse in the Grey Flannel Suit on vhs and we’ve watched them hundreds of times! “Grey Flannel Suit” MIGHT be my favorite horse movie of all time.
One more old horse movie I would recommend; The Miracle of the White Stallions. Its about the riding school master that saved the Lipizzaner breed – they take a few liberties with the story, but its based on what really happened.
This one was reviewed very early on. You can probably find it via search at the top of the page.
Horse in the Gray Flannel Suit DVD for $11.57 on Amazon. http://www.amazon.com/Horse-Gray-Flannel-Russell-Collection/dp/B00007GZZV/ref=sr_1_sc_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1348250149&sr=8-2-spell&keywords=horse+in+the+grey+flanne+suit
For those of you who love the movie the Horse In The Gray Flannel Suit, the book it is based on is The Year Of The Horse by Eric Hatch. It is by far my FAVORITE horse story. Disney takes their typical liberties (killing off the mother and giving a dotty Auntie) and making Suzanne a riding instructor for a love interest…) In the book Suzie is Freddie’s secretary who he finds out by accident is a “horse girl” and enlists her help with his horse issues. There is real sexual tension between them but he is very happily married and honorable…GREAT read.
The Horse with The Flying Tail(1960), The Thanksgiving Treasure (1973) were two I remember. The story of Nautical is a documentary and the other is the hokie plot of girl’s dream come true. Both worth a look.
I love your reviews!! who knew there were so many bad horse movies out there? I have one to review if you haven’t heard of it already called “the white stallion.” it’s not awful, and I dont remember what year it came out but I’m sure you can look it up