''My Friend Flicka'' is a 1941

novel A novel is an extended work of narrative fiction usually written in prose and published as a book. The word derives from the for 'new', 'news', or 'short story (of something new)', itself from the , a singular noun use of the neuter plural of ...

by Mary O'Hara, about Ken McLaughlin, the son of a

Wyoming Wyoming ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States, Western United States. It borders Montana to the north and northwest, South Dakota and Nebraska to the east, Idaho t ...

rancher, and his

mustang horse The mustang is a free-roaming horse of the Western United States, descended from horses brought to the Americas by the Spanish conquistadors. Mustangs are often referred to as wild horses, but because they are descended from once-Domesticati ...

Flicka. It was the first in a trilogy, followed by ''Thunderhead'' (1943) and ''Green Grass of Wyoming'' (1946). The popular 1943 film version featured young

Roddy McDowall Roderick Andrew Anthony Jude McDowall (17 September 1928 – 3 October 1998) was a British-American actor whose career spanned over 270 screen and stage roles across over 60 years. Born in London, he began his acting career as a child in his n ...

and was followed by two other film adaptations, '' Thunderhead, Son of Flicka'' (1945), and ''

Green Grass of Wyoming ''Green Grass of Wyoming'' is a 1948 American Western film directed by Louis King and starring Peggy Cummins, Charles Coburn and Robert Arthur. The screenplay, written by Martin Berkeley, is based on the third book in the popular, "My Friend ...

'' (1948), both based on O'Hara's novels. A '' My Friend Flicka'' television series followed during 1956–1957, which first aired on CBS, then on

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a subsidiary of Comcast. It is one of NBCUniversal's ...

, with reruns on ABC and CBS between 1959 and 1966. The Disney Channel re-ran the program during the mid-1980s.

Plot summary

Kenneth McLaughlin is a 10-year-old boy living on Goose Bar Ranch, just out of

Cheyenne, Wyoming Cheyenne ( or ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Wyoming, most populous city of the U.S. state of Wyoming. It is the county seat of Laramie County, Wyoming, Laramie County, with 65,132 reside ...

, with his practical father, Rob; his mother, Nell; and his older brother, Howard. Rob is often unsatisfied with Ken, who daydreams when he should be attending to practical matters; Nell, however, shares her son's sensitive nature and is more sympathetic. Howard, the older son, who looks and acts more like Rob, was allowed to choose and train a colt from among the Goose Bar herd (thoroughbreds that Rob McLaughlin is raising in the old-fashioned way, on the open range), much to the jealousy of Ken. Although Ken loves horses, Rob doesn't think his wool-gathering son deserves such a privilege yet. At the beginning of the novel, Ken has angered his father by returning home from boarding school with failing grades and will have to repeat fifth grade, an expense Rob can ill afford. After a few mishaps in his first few days home, Nell convinces Rob to give Ken a colt, saying it will give him something to work towards and improve himself and his sense of responsibility. Ken is unable to decide which yearling he wants until he sees a beautiful

sorrel Sorrel (''Rumex acetosa''), also called common sorrel or garden sorrel, is a perennial herbaceous plant in the family Polygonaceae. Other names for sorrel include spinach dock and narrow-leaved dock ("dock" being a common name for the genus ''Ru ...

filly running swiftly away from him. Rob disapproves Ken's choice; this particular filly has a strain of

mustang The mustang is a free-roaming horse of the Western United States, descended from horses brought to the Americas by the Spanish conquistadors. Mustangs are often referred to as wild horses, but because they are descended from once-domesticate ...

blood that makes her unpredictable. Her grandsire was a wild stallion called the Albino, named for his pure white coat. All the Goose Bar horses with this strain have been fast and beautiful, but untameable, and after many years of trying to break them, Rob has decided to get rid of them all. Ken persists and Rob reluctantly agrees to let him have the filly. Rob, Ken, and the ranch hands make two attempts to capture her. During the second attempt, she severely injures herself trying to jump a high

barbed wire Roll of modern agricultural barbed wire Barbed wire, also known as barb wire or bob wire (in the Southern and Southwestern United States), is a type of steel fencing wire constructed with sharp edges or points arranged at intervals along the ...

fence. Ken spends the summer caring for the filly. He names her Flicka; Swedish for "little girl". Flicka comes to love and trust the boy, but her wounds fester and cause a dangerous blood infection, still young Ken perseveres in his care of her. During this time, he writes his overdue essay well enough to convince his fifth-grade English teacher to promote him to the next grade. However Flicka grows so thin and weak that Rob decides she must be shot to put her out of her misery. The night before the order is to be carried out, Flicka wades into a shallow brook, falls, and is unable to rise. Ken sneaks from the house and spends the night sitting on the bank of the stream, with his legs in the cold water, holding her head to prevent her from drowning. When he is found the next morning, he has developed chills then a high fever but Flicka is alive. As the days pass, Ken's fever turns to pneumonia, and his condition continues downhill. On the other hand, Flicka gains strength steadily. By the end of the book, Ken has not only regained sufficient health to return to school he learns that his beloved horse is alive.

Film adaptations and franchise

Films

* '' My Friend Flicka'' (1943), a

20th Century Studios 20th Century Studios, Inc., formerly 20th Century Fox, is an American film studio, film production and Film distributor, distribution company owned by the Walt Disney Studios (division), Walt Disney Studios, the film studios division of the ...

film directed by Harold D. Schuster and starring

as Kenneth McLaughlin. It was followed by two sequels based on O'Hara's subsequent novels, '' Thunderhead, Son of Flicka'' (1945) and ''

'' (1948). * ''

Flicka ''Flicka'' is a 2006 American family adventure drama film loosely based on the 1941 children's novel '' My Friend Flicka'' by Mary O'Hara. The film is directed by Michael Mayer and written by Mark Rosenthal and Lawrence Konner. The novel had ...

'' (2006), a 20th Century Fox film directed by Michael Mayer that loosely adapts the story to modern times, starring a gender-flipped Alison Lohman as Katy McLaughlin. ** '' Flicka 2'' (2010), an original sequel released direct to DVD. ** '' Flicka: Country Pride'' (2012), a 2nd original sequel released direct to DVD.

Radio

* ''My Friend Flicka'' (June 7, 1943), radio adaption presented on ''

Lux Radio Theatre ''Lux Radio Theatre'', sometimes spelled ''Lux Radio Theater'', a old-time radio, classic radio anthology series, was broadcast on the Blue Network, NBC Blue Network (1934–35) (owned by the National Broadcasting Company, later predecessor of A ...

'', starring

and Rita Johnson reprising their 1943 film roles as Ken McLaughlin and Nell McLaughlin.

Television

* '' My Friend Flicka'' (1956-1957), 20th Century Fox television series on CBS.

Influence

The novel was the inspiration for the pseudonym of Beninese social media entrepreneur Mylène Flicka.

References

Sources

External links

* * * {{IMDb title, qid=Q5602608, title=Green Grass of Wyoming 1941 American novels 1941 children's books American children's novels Novels set in Wyoming Children's books set in Wyoming Children's novels about horses American novels adapted into films American novels adapted into television shows American novels adapted for radio Children's books adapted into films Children's books adapted into television shows