The Sad Horse is a 1959 American drama film directed by James B. Clark, written by Charles Hoffman and starring David Ladd, Chill Wills, Rex Reason, Patrice Wymore, Gregg Palmer and Eve Brent.[2][3] One of API's first films, it was released in March 1959 by 20th Century Fox.[4][5][6][7]
Polio-stricken 10-year-old boy Jackie Connors stays at his grandfather Captain Connors' horse farm while his father Bart goes away on a honeymoon with Sheila, his new wife. Jackie and his dog Hansel become acquainted with a woman named Leslie MacDonald and her thoroughbred North Wind, who hasn't seemed the same since the death of a dog that had been the horse's steady companion.
The unhappy Leslie is seeking a divorce from husband Bill and sees the child's Hansel as a replacement for the horse's dog. Jackie resists and she bribes Captain Connors with a $5,000 trust fund for the boy. Jackie and the dog head off to the hills, looking for a rumored buried treasure that could keep his grandfather from needing the woman's money. A mountain lion menaces the boy, who is saved in the nick of time.
Leslie and Bill reconcile. Bart returns and persuades Jackie that giving up the dog would be a grand gesture, and he agrees.
The film was made by Robert L. Lippert, whose Regal outfits produced films for Fox for an average of $100,000. However, with competition from television, Lippert persuaded Fox to start financing as much as $300,000 per film, starting with The Sad Horse. He later claimed that the return on the film "was comparable to a $1 million picture."[1]