My Friend Flicka (Alfred Newman)

(1943)

The first film adaptation of Mary O’Hara’s 1941 novel, this film was released two years later by 20thCentury Fox. Two sequels, based on the next two books in the trilogy – ‘Thunderhead’ and ‘Grass of Wyoming’ were released by the studio in 1945 and 1948 respectively. This film, My Friend Flicka, was directed by Harold D. Schuster and, as with hundreds of other Fox films, was scored by Alfred Newman.

Newman, despite only having been at Fox for around two years at the time (he was appointed as head of music in 1940, having done a few films for them previously), had already worked on around thirty films for the studio, earning Oscar nominations for most of them and winning the award for Alexander’s Ragtime Band and Tin Pan Alley (the first two of nine). This film was just one of eight that he worked on as composer during 1943 (he also adapted and conducted several other scores that year), and as usual, it’s a delight from beginning to end.

The main titles are in the style of many of Newman’s other opening pieces – heavy brass, percussion, and string performances. In this particular case, the strings briefly play several two-note motifs which will immediately remind anybody who has heard it of Max Steiner’s score to Gone with the Wind.

The main theme for the film crops up many times throughout the score, and is heard at its best as glorious string renditions in the cues “Wanting a Colt – The Painting”, and “Racing Horses – The Stampede”. Flicka (the horse) is represented by a somewhat comical and mischievous piece that is first introduced in the cue “Flicka” and is heard in subsequent cues with different orchestrations appropriate for the scene in question.

The wonderful performances of the main theme in “Wanting a Colt – The Painting”, and “Racing Horses – The Stampede” make them the highlights of the score and certainly my two favourite cues. That said, there isn’t a single minute of music in this one hour score that I didn’t enjoy, and it without question earns an enthusiastic recommendation.

And so – here’s yet another hugely enthusiastic review for an Alfred Newman score, which of course does imply bias, but that genuinely isn’t the case. Of all the scores by Newman that I’ve heard, there’s really nothing negative I can say about any of them, and this is no exception.

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Track Listing

1 – Main Title

2 – The Ranch

3 – Wanting a Colt – The Painting

4 – Racing Horses – The Stampede

5 – Mom Asks to give Ken a Colt

6 – Good News for Ken

7 – Search for the Colt

8 – Cat Tracks

9 – Flicka

10 – Taming Flicka

11 – Corralling Horses

12 – Rocket Dies

13 – Training Flicka

14 – Flicka Rebels

15 – Flicka Hurt

16 – Advice from Dad

17 – Flicka’s Saddlebag

18 – Ken talks with Mom

19 – Flicka Calls

20 – Flicka Limps

21 – Flicka is Sick

22 – Finale

23 – Flicka Hurt (Reprise)

Credits

Music Composed & Conducted by Alfred Newman

Performed by the Twentieth Century Fox Symphony

Awards

None

Insert Notes

None

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