I watched Hidalgo with Viggo Mortensen again last night. It's available on Hulu. I've seen it several times over the years.
It's a well made and entertaining movie based on the life of Frank T. Hopkins, a cross-country endurance horse racer around the turn of the 20th century.
I find several things interesting about the movie and the Hopkins character.
First is Frank T. Hopkins. He claims to have been born to a Lakota woman and a calvary scout, Charles Hopkins. Frank claims that Charles rode with Custer at the Little Bighorn and was captured and later released. He claims to have won over 400 endurance races including the one in the movie. He claims to have performed in the Buffalo Bill Cody Wild West Show.
The Wikipedia article says historians have not been able to substantiate any of these claims and that he was simply a con-man.
He is recorded as being a champion of the mustang wild horses. That part, at least, is true.
In the movie, I noticed and later confirmed, that more than one "Hidalgo" was used in the movie. They do a lot of close ups of the horse's expression and I noticed that his skin color patterns around his nostrils changed in different scenes. IMBd confirmed that. Viggo Mortensen actually purchased one of the horses used in the filming.
The scene at the end of the movie where the mustangs are released is supposedly in Oklahoma.
It reminded me of the Pryor Mountains Wild Horse Range in SE Montana. Many, many years ago as a man in my mid-twenties, I drove the trail road up to the plateau with my family in our Jeep Cherokee. We watched the wild horses, saw the ice cave, and eventually drove down the other side into Lovell (we originally departed from Billings). A very memorable drive if you're ever in the area. Its close to the Little Bighorn battle sight as well.
Despite the controversy surrounding the legitimacy of the story, the movie is worth watching if you haven't seen it. If you don't have a Hulu subscription, they offer a free 30 day trial.
It's a well made and entertaining movie based on the life of Frank T. Hopkins, a cross-country endurance horse racer around the turn of the 20th century.
I find several things interesting about the movie and the Hopkins character.
First is Frank T. Hopkins. He claims to have been born to a Lakota woman and a calvary scout, Charles Hopkins. Frank claims that Charles rode with Custer at the Little Bighorn and was captured and later released. He claims to have won over 400 endurance races including the one in the movie. He claims to have performed in the Buffalo Bill Cody Wild West Show.
The Wikipedia article says historians have not been able to substantiate any of these claims and that he was simply a con-man.
He is recorded as being a champion of the mustang wild horses. That part, at least, is true.
In the movie, I noticed and later confirmed, that more than one "Hidalgo" was used in the movie. They do a lot of close ups of the horse's expression and I noticed that his skin color patterns around his nostrils changed in different scenes. IMBd confirmed that. Viggo Mortensen actually purchased one of the horses used in the filming.
The scene at the end of the movie where the mustangs are released is supposedly in Oklahoma.
It reminded me of the Pryor Mountains Wild Horse Range in SE Montana. Many, many years ago as a man in my mid-twenties, I drove the trail road up to the plateau with my family in our Jeep Cherokee. We watched the wild horses, saw the ice cave, and eventually drove down the other side into Lovell (we originally departed from Billings). A very memorable drive if you're ever in the area. Its close to the Little Bighorn battle sight as well.
Despite the controversy surrounding the legitimacy of the story, the movie is worth watching if you haven't seen it. If you don't have a Hulu subscription, they offer a free 30 day trial.
