Casey's Shadow facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Casey's Shadow |
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| Directed by | Martin Ritt |
| Produced by | Ray Stark |
| Screenplay by | Carol Sobieski |
| Starring | Walter Matthau Alexis Smith Murray Hamilton |
| Music by | Patrick Williams |
| Cinematography | John A. Alonzo |
| Editing by | Sidney Levin |
| Studio | Rastar |
| Distributed by | Columbia Pictures |
| Release date(s) | March 17, 1978 |
| Running time | 117 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
Casey's Shadow is a drama film from 1978. It was directed by Martin Ritt and stars Walter Matthau. The movie is about horses and racing. It was based on a short story called "Ruidoso" by John McPhee. Many parts of the film were shot in Carencro, Louisiana.
The Story
Lloyd Bourdelle (Walter Matthau) is a horse trainer in Louisiana. He is having a tough time. Lloyd dreams of winning a very important horse race. This race is called the All American Futurity in New Mexico.
Lloyd has three sons: Buddy, Randy, and Casey. Buddy helps his dad train horses. Randy is a jockey, which means he rides horses in races. Lloyd takes Casey and Randy to a small race track. They want to earn some money. They race Casey's pony, Gypsy. They find a race against Mr. Marsh and his daughter, Kelly. Lloyd plays a trick on Mr. Marsh. He ties a live chicken to Gypsy's saddle. Gypsy wins the race! But Mr. Marsh does not pay up. He says Lloyd cheated because Gypsy had no rider.
Lloyd had sent Buddy to buy a racing horse. This horse was for Calvin LaBec, who Lloyd trains horses for. Lloyd hoped to race this new horse that year. But Buddy came home with an old mother horse instead. Calvin was very angry with Lloyd. He threatened to take his horses away. Then, they found out the mare was pregnant with a foal from a famous horse. Calvin was happy about this news.
The mare gave birth to a baby horse, a colt. Then, sadly, the mother horse died. The family wondered how to raise the baby colt. Casey had a good idea. He suggested letting Gypsy, his pony, nurse the colt. Gypsy had just stopped feeding her own foal. So, the family tried it, and Gypsy accepted the baby colt. Casey took care of the young colt. He fed him and helped him grow. The colt grew into a strong two-year-old horse. Lloyd named the horse Casey's Shadow, after his son.
A woman named Sarah Blue (Alexis Smith) came to see the Bourdelle family. She wanted to buy the colt for a lot of money. The family told her they would not sell him until after the All American race. So, Sarah agreed to pay them $5,000. This money was for a chance to buy the horse later. This money also helped them pay to enter Casey's Shadow in the big race.
They took Casey's Shadow to a local track to practice galloping. While they were there, Casey met Mr. Marsh's daughter again. She told him he still owed her five dollars. She dared Casey to have another race for it. During the race, Shadow got scared. He ran onto a hard road and hurt his legs. The vet told Lloyd and Buddy that Shadow needed six weeks of rest. Calvin found out the horse was hurt. But he still let Lloyd enter Shadow in the All American race.
Shadow ran in one of the qualifying races for the All American. He had the fastest time in his race! Mr. Marsh realized that Shadow could beat his own horse in the All American. So, he snuck into the barn where Shadow was staying. He put something bad in the food bucket. He wanted to hurt Shadow.
But Mr. Marsh made a mistake. He poisoned the wrong horse. Sadly, Gypsy died. Casey was heartbroken. Lloyd realized that Mr. Marsh was responsible for Gypsy's death. He got very angry and confronted Mr. Marsh. The next day, Shadow won the All American race! But after the race, Shadow was found to be very lame. Sarah Blue was upset because she wanted to buy a healthy horse. She was no longer interested in Shadow. At first, Calvin and the vet thought Shadow might need to be put down. But Lloyd saw how much this would hurt Casey. So, Lloyd said he would give up his share of the winnings to pay for Shadow's treatment. The vet agreed to try to fix Shadow's legs. The operation was a success! Lloyd and his sons took Shadow home.
Cast
- Walter Matthau as Lloyd Bourdelle
- Alexis Smith as Sarah Blue
- Murray Hamilton as Tom Patterson
- Robert Webber as Mike Marsh
- Andrew Rubin as Buddy
- Stephan Gerard Burns as Randy Bourdelle
- Susan Myers as Kelly Marsh
- Michael Hershewe as Casey Bourdelle
- Harry Caesar as Calvin Lebec
- Joel Fluellen as Jimmy Judson
- Whit Bissell as Dr. Williamson
- James M. Halty as Donovan
- William Pitt as Dr. Pitt
- Dean Turpitt as Dean
- Sanders Delhomme as Old Cajun
