Black Beauty

Freeman stars as the 19th-century British girl who is given a colt by her father to teach her responsibility in this third adaptation of Anna Sewell's classic novel. The girl raises the pony into a prize horse, but tragedy strikes when the animal falls into the hands of an unscrupulous party who uses it as a workhorse. After a frantic search, Freeman finally locates "Black Beauty" in a burning stable, but she is unable to save the horse. Not a bad version of the story, but better performers and color photography might have helped.