Evening star., 1945-03-30
By PATRICIA SIMMONS.


II the animal kingdom boasted Of
AN Academy Award it would un-
doubtedly 60 to Tnunderhead, the
majestic white stallion, for his per-
formance this week at the Capitol.
AS technicolor masterpiece,
"Thunderhead, Son of Flicka" sub
stitutes horses for pinup girls and
breathless scenic beauty for plot.
The picture is something for horse
lovers to dream about, for kids to
revel in and technicolor experts
to point to with pride. Without
exception 1t is the finest piece OF
technicolor artistry we have seen
to date. One scene Is more ave-
inspiring than the other as the
grace and majesty embodied IN the
horse is silhouetted against every
possible type of natural wonder
the blue of the mountain stream,
the jade green meadow grass, the
symmetry of a distant hill, the
grotesQue design of the mountain
gorge, the reckless waterfall or the
quiet color collaboration in a
prairie sunset.
An excellent musical score con-
tributed by Cyril Mackridge carries
the dramatic high lights in many
of the scenes. Dialogue pitted
against such wealth of visual and
aural grandeur would have been un-
thinkable. Take the thrilling ci-
max, the fight-to-the-death be-
tween Thunderhead and Albino the
great wild stallion who attacks
Thunderhead's young master. In
scenes like this one Mr.. Mackridge
rightfully gives free reign to his
dramatic score.
We've already intimated that
Thunderhead rates star billing on
the production. Nevertheless, a good
bit of first-rate scene stealing goes
to her proud mamma, Flicka.
There's not another horse in Holly
wood, or the entire West for that
matter, which could duplicate that
look of maternal anxiety as she
watches her small white colt strug-
gle to ascend slippery mud en-
bankment. AS thunder and light
ming from the approaching storm
busy the sound track department,
the expression on Flika's face be-
lies the fact that horses are handi-
capped when 1t comes to dialogue.
The domestic scene is certainly one
of the most tender we have ever
witnessed
OF course, in addition to horses,
Hollywood enlisted the acting tall
ents of Roddy Mcdowell, Preston
Foster and Rita johnson and thus
is able to carry on the original
Flicka story in well-known sequel
fashion. The first few minutes of
the picture are hardly under way
when Thunderhead makes his
screen debut as the wiry little white
colt born to Flicka. Thunderhead
is branded, broken, and trained to
be a race horse by his young mas
ter, Roddy Mcdowell.
What a frisky one this colt turns
out to be. He really keeps his
mama Flicka stepping. Thunder
head gets into things that would
make juvenile delinquent think
twice. He runs off to the range to
investigate wild life in the form of
snakes and porcupines and gets
himself into all sorts of danger
However, like all small horses, and
even people for that matter, Thun-
derhead grows up in spite of the
odds against it. When it comes time
to make up his own mind. he spurns
racing as a career and goes to join
the wild horses as their king.
Roddy Mcdowell understands horses
and especially Flieka.
n 4 Il
An Easter Festival complete with
stained glass windows and the
Hallelujah Chorus set the holiday
mood on stage this week. Chickens,
rabbits, ducks, anything you might