Adventures of Gallant Bess (1948) User Reviews

This is not the movie to promote horses as one of man's best non-human friends.

[mark.waltz · 4/10 · 23 April 2020]

When horse lover Cameron Mitchell finds out that a wild horse he seems to bond with is being abused, he arranges to replace its trainer, and the question arises, is he really benefiting the titled character with his treatment? Yes, there seems to be a bond between best and Rachel, but all he seems to do is train the horse to grading tricks that any circus horse would be able to perform.

some of the questionable treatments of the horse will create some controversy, but Mitchell is determined to do what's best in order to make Bess happy. He falls in love with the owner's daughter (Audrey Long) who bids on Bess for Mitchell to own, but Mitchell has a sudden case of conscience and decides to free best into the wild. By this time, Bess (billed on-screen as "the wonder horse") is too attached to Mitchell, at times even having human aspects to its personality. What could have been a touching finale becomes predictable and even slightly cruel. Even though this has the comic antics of sidekick Fuzzy Knight, this film never rises above its be status even with the pretty, if not detailed Cinecolor.

Pretty Good Scenery & Photography; Story Doesn't Fulfil Its Potential

[Snow Leopard · 22 August 2001]

There is some pretty good scenery and photography in this movie, but the story never really fulfils its potential, and this keeps it from being anything more than average. It's not unpleasant, just bland, with characters and potential conflicts that are not fully developed.

Most of it is about Ted, a rodeo hand, and 'Bess', a wild horse that he has tamed and trained. Ted is mostly likable, but pretty dull, and most of the other characters are stock figures. There are really only a couple of scenes that aren't routine.

On the other hand, there is some good scenery, with plenty of outdoor shots, and a couple good views of groups of wild horses roaming free. The color photography is good, and has held up well. It makes it a mostly pleasant movie to watch, but it just never really gets going.

A love story about a man and his horse...and get your mind out of the gutter!

[planktonrules · 3/10 · 11 October 2015]

Despite the title, this is NOT a historical film about Queen Elizabeth I (that would be 1953's "Young Bess"). Instead, it's a creepy family film about a horse--a horse that gets top billing! Imagine Cameron Mitchell's feelings about his receiving second billing in this film!

When the film begins, Ted Daniels (Cameron) has captured a wild horse he names Bess. His boss, however, the nasty old Millerick is jealous--he wants the horse and tries to take it--but Ted insists that it's his horse and quits. Soon all Ted talks about is Bess and he utters some pretty amazing lines such as "I've never loved anything like this horse"--which I guess was pretty sweet back in the day, but in the 21st century I am sure some folks would laugh at this for obvious reasons.

Millerick isn't content however and soon gets his revenge. He not only arranges an accident for Ted but soon steals the horse...legally. Ted ain't happy about it and soon takes the horse back...and is now wanted by the law. And, for the rest of the film it's Ted and his beloved horse trying to remain free of Millerick and his icky ways.

So what you have here is a relatively benign but limp film about two guys who are in love with a horse. One is a pure and simple love-- the other the love of a nasty bully who likes to use whips! Again, when you say all this today, it sounds pretty kinky. It isn't...I assure you! But it's also not all that good. Sure, the horse does some nice tricks but the film itself just isn't all that interesting and it doesn't always make a lot of sense--especially Millerick's behavior at the end of the movie. It's not a terrible film but it is pretty dated and a bit silly.

A typical horse opera

[HallmarkMovieBuff · 1 July 2006]

I'd check "contains spoilers", but this is such a standard story of the western ilk that there's really nothing to spoil -- guy breaks wild horse, gives up job to get horse, loses another job for spending too much time on the horse, gets injured and loses horse, meets girl but can't decide between girl and horse...you get the idea.

The action reminded me of The Roy Rogers Show and all the Hopalong Cassidy and other cowboy movies I watched on Saturday morning television as a kid, i.e., tackling rider off a moving horse, etc.

Star Cameron Mitchell looks like he could be the son of Thomas Mitchell, of "Gone With the Wind" and scads of other movies, but there's apparently no relation.

Judging by plot descriptions, there is also no apparent relation between this and the movie, "Gallant Bess" (which I haven't seen) made two years earlier, suggesting that this may have been made to re-employ Gallant Bess, "the wonder horse," and capitalize on her good name, i.e., strike while the horse is hot.

Sidekick Fuzzy Knight, who made nearly 200 movies, plays the Gabby Hayes / Pat Brady / etc. role here, even providing some musical breaks with a couple song fragments.

Lovely Audrey Long effectively portrays the girl, the doctor's daughter for whom the hero falls (reluctantly of course, since here the horse is paramount). Though not overly endowed like a Jayne Mansfield or a Joi Lansing, she makes an attractive sweater girl, the sweet kind you'd want to marry, even if you're a roamin' cowboy.

This 71 minute movie was "squeezed" into a two hour time slot this afternoon on the i channel (formerly PAX), which means there were about five minutes of commercials for every seven minutes of movie. Shot in Cinecolor, as shown here the colors were supersaturated, not washed out or faded like some old movies. But at this saturation level, one can but wish that they'd been toned down a bit to look more natural.

Predictable at every turn

[Wizard-8 · 9 September 2014]

While I wouldn't say that "Adventures of Gallant Bess" is a downright awful movie, if you have seen your share of family westerns from this period (like the ones with Gene Autry and Roy Rogers), it will come across as very familiar. There is one big difference, that this western was filmed in color. However, it was photographed in the cheapo "Cinecolor" process, so that, at least in the print that I watched, the color is not very strong. And the color makes the sequences filmed on soundstages (though supposed to be taking place outdoors) look more phony than if they had been shot in black and white. Anyway, the movie as a whole doesn't provide any surprises. The standard ingredients are here - horse tricks, a love interest, a villain, etc. It does unfold a tad slow, and Cameron Mitchell doesn't have the charisma of Autry or Rogers. Still, I have seen worse horse operas.