Smoky (1966)

Fess Parker plays Clint, a wandering cowboy who rides into the Rocking R leading a mustang that ranch foreman Jeff has been trying to capture for years.

Clint is hired on by pretty ranch owner Julie Richards (Diana Hyland), but her foreman almost immediately discovers he might have a shady past — seems Clint served some jail time in Laredo.

But Julie keeps Clint on after watching the way he works with the mustang, now dubbed Smoky.

And when a rodeo agent offers $1,500 for the horse with a wild streak, she refuses to sell, realizing there’s a special connection between Clint and Smoky.

Then Fred Denton, an old friend of Clint’s with a knack for getting into trouble, shows up. And he quickly manages to complicate life for man and horse.

Review:

A pretty well done family film that’s a remake of a 1946 movie by the same name and uses stock footage from it.

Fess Parker is solid in the lead role and, unless you have a tin heart, you’ll wind up caring about the fate of Smoky.

Hoyt Axton plays the villain of the piece even though he sings the theme song and a few others over the course of the film.

This wound up being the final feature film for Parker, who starred in the “Daniel Boone” TV series from 1964 to 1970 and soon after retired from acting to go into real estate.

Directed by:
George Sherman

Cast:
Fess Parker … Clint
Diana Hyland … Julie Richards
Katy Jurado … Maria
Hoyt Axton … Fred Denton
Robert J. Wilke … Jeff Hicks
Armando Silvestre … Gordon
Jorge Martinez de Hoyos … Pepe
Ted White … Abbott
Chuck Roberson … Chuck
Jose Hector Galindo … Manuel

Runtime: 103 min.

Title song: “Smoky”
performed by Hoyt Axton

Memorable lines:

Pepe of Smoky: “It’s his first round-up, and I ain’t so sure he likes it.”
Clint: “How’d you like your first day of school.”
Pepe: “I stayed home.”

Clint: “Have you registered with that draft board yet?”
Fred: “A gentle troubadour like me? Whew. I’m a conscientious musician. I don’t like the war tunes; there’s nothing to them And if I got these fingers shot off, I’d lose half my personality.”