The Red Pony (1949 film)

The Red Pony
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Lewis Milestone
Produced by	Lewis Milestone
Screenplay by	John Steinbeck
Story by	John Steinbeck
Starring	Myrna Loy Robert Mitchum Louis Calhern Shepperd Strudwick Peter Miles
Music by	Aaron Copland
Cinematography	Tony Gaudio
Edited by	Harry Keller
Production company	Lewis Milestone Productions Chas. K. Feldman Group Productions
Distributed by	Republic Pictures
Release date	March 28, 1949 (1949-03-28) (United States)
Running time	89 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$2 million

The Red Pony is a 1949 Technicolor Western drama film based on John Steinbeck's 1937 novella of the same name. Steinbeck also wrote the screenplay for this film.

A young boy, Tom Tiflin (Peter Miles), is given a small pony by his father (Shepperd Strudwick). Tom asks the stable helper, Billy Buck (Robert Mitchum), to help him raise and train it so that it can be ridden. During a rain storm the pony gets out of the stable and having been soaked becomes fevered. Despite Buck's best efforts to nurse the pony it develops strangles and requires a tracheotomy. Shortly after the procedure, the pony escapes from the farm. Tom follows the pony's hoof prints to a gully where it has died and is being eaten by vultures. He blames Buck for not saving its life. Buck, feeling remorse, prepares to kill his own pregnant mare in order to give Tom a colt, believing the unborn may not have turned. Tom grows angry at Buck's willingness to sacrifice a horse and steals his knife. When they return to the stable the foal has been born naturally, with both mother and colt surviving.

In adapting his novella into a screenplay, Steinbeck focused mainly on the chapters "The Gift" and "The Promise". Characters' names were changed from those in the book: Jody Tiflin became "Tom", and his parents Carl and Ruth became "Fred" and "Alice". The film also features a much happier ending than the novella: in the book, Billy Buck cannot deliver the foal naturally and so has to kill the mare in order to remove her uterus. Other violent scenes, such as Jody beating a vulture to death, were also toned down or omitted entirely for the film adaptation.

The film is notable today because of the original score composed by Aaron Copland, which he also arranged and published as an orchestral suite. Copland himself conducted London's New Philharmonia Orchestra in a recording of the music for Columbia Records, which was later reissued on CD by Sony Records.

Film critic Bosley Crowther gave the film a mixed review, writing, "But, unfortunately, the story does ramble, and its several interlaced strands are often permitted to dangle or get lost in the leisurely account. An extraneous family situation involving the youngster's Ma and Pa, wherein the father has trouble with his ego, likewise confuses the plot. In directing the picture, Mr. Milestone has adopted a frankly casual style which further invests the proceedings with a languid quality."