In the original, Alec rescued the stallion, known as Black, from its cruel Arab owner after a storm at sea and shipwreck on a desert island. The sequel, set in 1947, has Black being abducted by Moroccans from Alec's ranch and taken to their homeland south of the Sahara Desert. Reno stows away on a plane bound for Casablanca and, with the help of a young Arab (Vincent Spano), sets out to find and recover his beloved stallion. The sequel, like the original, reaches its climax with an exciting horse race. The movie was filmed on locations in New Mexico, Italy, Morocco and Algeria.
The stallion is played in the sequel by two horses: Cass Ole, the horse from the original film; and El Mokhtar, a famous Egyptian racehorse. Unfortunately, El Mokhtar died of colic during the making of the movie.
Thirteen years old when the original film was released, Reno experienced a growth spurt during the making of the sequel four years later, causing his appearance to vary from scene to scene. Reno made only one other movie, Brady's Escape (1983), before suffering severe injuries when his pickup truck was hit by an 18-wheeler. After a lengthy recovery, he gave up on his film career and worked as a cattle rancher and truck driver -- ironically, driving an 18-wheeler like the one that ended his career in movies.
Producers: Doug Claybourne, Fred Roos, Tom Sternberg, Francis Ford Coppola (Executive Producer), Christine Berardo and Bill Corcoran (Associate Producers)
Director: Robert Dalva
Screenplay: Jerome Kass, Richard Kletter, from novel by Walter Farley
Cinematography: Carlo Di Palma
Art Director: Aurelio Crugnola
Original Music: Georges Delerue
Editing: Paul Hirsch
Costume Design: Danda Ortona
Principal Cast: Kelly Reno (Alec Ramsay), Vincent Spano (Raj), Allen Goorwitz (Kurr), Woody Strode (Meslar), Ferdinand Mayne (Abu Ben Ishak), Teri Garr (Alec's mother).
C-103m. Letterboxed. Closed captioning.
by Roger Fristoe
