The Horse Without a Head

1962
6.8| 1h30m| en
Details

When a kindly junk dealer gives a group of poor French children a headless toy horse, the kids dub themselves "The Knights Of The Headless Horse." The broken toy becomes their only source of fun, but suddenly the horse becomes the pawn in another game -- a deadly race against time between a ruthless gang of train robbers and the town's honest police inspector.

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Reviews

Stometer Save your money for something good and enjoyable
ReaderKenka Let's be realistic.
Curapedi I cannot think of one single thing that I would change about this film. The acting is incomparable, the directing deft, and the writing poignantly brilliant.
Janis One of the most extraordinary films you will see this year. Take that as you want.
Wizard-8 When Walt Disney started to move into television, he kept up the same high level of quality that was usually found in his theatrical movies, so much so that these television productions sometimes later got a theatrical release to American and/or foreign theaters. "The Horse Without a Head" is one such example of this. One of the most interesting aspects of this effort is that it lacks the clean polish usually associated with Disney; while it's obvious some considerable expense was put into it, the look and feel of the movie is scuzzy and unkempt. But it's appropriate for this particular tale of poor French children getting tangled with a robbery plot. Strangely, these children, while essential to the plot, don't make much of an appearance in the first third of the movie. The plot unfolds in a fairly predictable and familiar manner, and there is a bit too much talk and not quite enough action. But kids with some patience will probably get a kick out of it. Parents will find it tolerable, and probably find the most amusing part of the production the fact that one of the villains strongly resembles a young Walt Disney!
yaalaast Quite well-made family movie. I feel it is suitable for all ages.It has good characterisations. I enjoyed the pompous constable who was at odds with the kids (good acting on his part also). And the girl with the dogs was my favourite of the kids. The conspirator, Reubleau (sp) was good as the bumbling bad guy also.The story is certainly for kids (I believe there was a book from which this movie was made). But it isn't so juvenile that adults can't enjoy it.The story revolves around a gang of thieves who steal French currency from a train. This loot is hidden in an abandoned building.A group of French kids encounter one of the thieves when they collide with him while riding their "headless horse". (This is a tricycle affair with the body of a horse...minus the head.) The thief, fearing exposure from the constable investigating the collision, hides the key to the abandoned building in the body of the horse hoping to retrieve it later.This turns out to be more complex than the thieves ever realised. They first try bribing the kids with an electric train to give them the horse. When this doesn't work they raid the kids' clubhouse, but the horse is away being repaired. Eventually the thieves manage to steal the horse (right in broad daylight) but the kids have already removed the key.Several humorous mishaps (usually involving the bungler Reubleau) help move the story along. He has a car crash, gets chased by the girl's dogs, fights with the gypsies, and so on.By this time the kids have gotten suspicious and start investigating. They eventually discover the key and what it belongs to.The climax occurs in the abandoned building which turns out to have been a manufacturer of masks, costumes, Mardi gras favours and the like. The kids go wild in the place until the villains show up and try to capture the kids. During the mêlée the dogs are summoned and turn the tables on the thieves.The stolen money is recovered much to the surprise of the local inspector and the kids become heroes for the day. They even have the stuffy constable ordered to stop traffic so the horse can roll on down the street.A very engaging little story. I liked how the inspector treated the kids and how he cooperated with them.The scenes were well done also. There was the dark, mysterious atmosphere when the thieves are prowling around the kids clubhouse. Then there was the festive, colourful mood in the old factory. I'm assuming most of this was shot in France somewhere. At least the train depicted was of French origin.And for kids, I felt the acting was rather good.This would make for a pleasant little diversion on a rainy day.
meadmcl This was one of the few films that I saw twice as a young lad, but like another commentator I was convinced that some of the location shots took place in France. I would like to find out if my memory of this was a flawed as my idea that the title was "The Headless Horse" or did that phrase appear in the title song.
b.gray I saw this film when I was fourteen and since that time, I've come to imagine it must have been made in French with English sub-titles, perhaps due to the presence of M. Aumont. Clearly, it has a quite unique kind of atmosphere and I would certainly recommend it to young and old alike.

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