The Colt (2005)

Ryan Merriman is Jim Rabb, a young cavalryman in the Union Army who has just seen his brother killed in action at The Wilderness.

When his prize mare gives birth the next day, Jim is ordered to shoot the colt. He can’t bring himself to do it, scaring it off instead.

But the colt returns to camp, his commanders have a change of heart, and the young horse comes to be regarded as a good luck charm for the company.

Meanwhile, Confederate Sgt. Woodruff (William MacDonald) and his superior are trying to rejoin the Southern front line, wherever that might be.

The sergeant’s son had been badly burned as the result of a Union artillery barrage and eventually succumbs to his wounds.

Woodruff takes out his frustration on a cowardly private named Hatch (Haig Sutherland), determined to make him show some of the fighting spirit displayed by men — like his son — who have died for the Southern cause.

The mourning Yankee cavalryman and the mourning Rebel sergeant are destined to come face to face at a river crossing somewhere north of Richmond.

Ryan Merriman as Union Private Jim Rabb in The Colt (2005)

William MacDonald as Confederate Sgt. Woodruff in The Colt (2005)

Review:

A surprisingly well-done Civil War film from the good folks at Hallmark, featuring solid acting and soldiers who actually look like soldiers (as opposed to overweight and aging re-enactors).

Another surprise: The film features well-choreographed bursts of violence that drive home the ever-present danger faced by the young men fighting on both sides and avoids an overly optimistic ending.

Merriman makes for a likeable lead. Three years later, he’d star as Jake Spoon in the TV mini-series Comanche Moon, part of the Lonesome Dove saga. He got his start in acting with a regular role in the TV series The Mommies around age 10 and later starred in another TV series, The Pretenders.

This marked the first full-length film directed by Yelena Lanskaya.

Scott Heindl at Union Lt. Hutton in The Colt (2005)

Steve Bacic as Union Sgt. Longacre in The Colt (2005)

Directed by:
Yelena Lanskaya

Cast:
Ryan Merriman … Jim Rabb
Steve Bacic … Sgt. Longacre
William MacDonald … Sgt. Woodruff
Darcy Belsher … Covington
Scott Heindl … Lt. Hutton
Pete LaCroix … Capt. Thorndale
Haig Sutherland … Hatch
Colby Johannson … Cleary
Matthew Currie Holmes … Stanton
Anthony Gerbrandt … Switters
Christopher Redman … Wesley
Richard Kahan … Silsbee
Philip Granger … Leander Calloway
Megan Leitch … Lucy Calloway
Aidan Drummond … Henry
Cassandra Sawtell … Sarah
Chad Krowchuk … Ferris
Braham Taylor … McPherson

Runtime: 80 min.

Pete LaCroix as Confederate Capt. Thorndale in The Colt (2005)

Haig Sutherland as Confederate private Hatch in The Colt (2005)

Memorable lines:

Jim Rabb, balking a shooting the colt: “It’s newly born, sergeant.”
Sgt. Longacre: “Yes. And the longer it’s around, the more life’s likely to disappoint it.”

Confederate soldier Hatch, approaching a picket line: “I ain’t no Billy Yank. I’m just lost, that’s all.”
Confederate Capt. Thorndale: “Well, if you’re lost, you’ll fit right in.”

Sgt. Woodruff to Hatch: “Good men dying everywhere. And you’re alive, you spineless son of a bitch.”

Lt. Hutton: “This is the dangerous time. Men start to smell victory, they get cautious. They resent having to die. They start to love war too little.”

Darcy Belscher as Covington, the illustrator traveling with the Union cavalry in The Colt (2005)

Spring as the colt in The Colt (2005)

Philip Granger as Leander Calloway in The Colt (2005)

Megan Leitch as Lucy Calloway in The Colt (2005)