Hollywood Hoofbeats: The Fascinating Story of Horses in Movies and Television

By Petrine Day Mitchum and Audrey Pavia

Book Overview

The horses that captured the moviegoers' hearts are the common denominator in Hollywood Hoofbeats. As author Petrine Day Mitchum writes, "the movies as we know them would be vastly different without horses. There would be no Westerns--no cowboy named John Wayne--no Gone with the Wind, no Ben Hur, no Dances with Wolves..." no War Horse, no True Grit, no Avatar Those last three 21st-century Hollywood creations are among the new films covered in this expanded second edition of Hollywood Hoofbeats written by the daughter of movie star Robert Mitchum, who himself appeared on the silver screen atop a handsome chestnut gelding. Having grown up around movie stars and horses, Petrine Day Mitchum is the ideal author to pay tribute to the thousands of equine actors that have entertained the world since the inception of the film medium. From the early days of D.W. Griffith's The Great Train Robbery to Quentin Tarantino's Django Unchained, this celebration of movies promises something for every Hollywood fan... the raucous comedy of Abbot and Costello (and "Teabiscuit") in It Ain't Hay, a classic sports films like National Velvet starring Elizabeth Taylor, a timeless epic with Errol Flynn, and films featuring guitar-strumming cowboys like Gene Autry and Roy Rogers. INSIDE HOLLYWOOD HOOFBEATS Movie trivia and fascinating anecdotes about the stars of yesterday and today An inside look at the stunts horses performed in motion pictures and the lingering controversies Hundreds of illustrations, including rare movie posters, movie stills, and film clips Updated, expanded text including coverage of new movies and photographs Chapters devoted to action films, Westerns, comedies, musicals, child stars, and more Famous TV programs and their horses including Mr. Ed and Silver (Lone Ranger)

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1620081334
• ISBN13: 9781620081334
• Release Date: November 2014
• Publisher: Companionhouse Books
• Length: 224 Pages
• Weight: 2.15 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.7" x 10.5" x 9.2"

Customer Reviews

Hollywood Hoofbeats

Great book, full of very interesting information about all the great horses that contributed so much to my childhood enjoyment !! Wonderful photo's, very good research in this. I love horses and movies, what a great combo !! Well written !!

A Trot Down Memory Lane

This book is fabulous. All my horse-crazy friends and I oohed and ahhed and squealed with delight as page after page brought great photos of all our horsey heros and heroines before our enchanted eyes. The text is well-written, informative and very entertaining. You couldn't do much better as a gift for a horse-loving baby-boomer who grew up with all these famous equines and their two-legged companions.

The horse in pop culture. Equine stars in movies and TV

This is an excellent book on horses in pop culture. Well written, lots of great pics. From Muyrbridge's first equine moving images of the horse (1879), to The Lord of the Rings, the equine stars of almost every major (and lots of minor) horse movies are profiled. Not just the horses, the stunt doubles and wrangler are profiled here as well. Stories about the wranglers and hollywood horse suppliers abound. The section on the rise of Humane treatment of horses in movies is very interesting. Esepcially the role of Errol Flynn, who led the humane crusade after witnessing the destruction of horses injured in the filming of a scene. Great present for your horse loving friends.

Hollywood Hoofbeats: Trails Blazed Across the Silver Screen

I purchased two editions of this book. One for my Husband who is a western movie buff and the other for our adult son who is in the horse business and knows many of the people in the book. Both spent half of Christmas day perusing their books and discussing many of the old and current horse trainers.