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Brighty of the Grand Canyon

Brighty of the Grand Canyon

List Price: $9.98
Your Price: $9.98
Product Info Reviews

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Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Murder & Manhunt in the Spectacular Grand Canyon of 1908.
Review: A beautifully photographed film based upon the best-selling book by Marguerite Henry. This 1965 adventure features breathtaking scenes shot in the Grand Canyon. It also delivers motive, murder, manhunt and moral victory. Brighty, a burro, is befriended by an Old-Time prospector (Dick Foran) and subsequently by his friend, played by Joseph Cotten. The villain - Jake Irons (Pat Conway of the old "Rawhide" series) is mean and ornery - the way classic western villains "should be."

This movie has a great deal of action, but might be too violent for some younger children. It includes murder and a fight between Brighty and a mountain lion.

The musical score by Richard Lavsky is wonderful. It consists of a number of highly memorable themes and some beautiful symphonic orchestrations.

Brighty of the Grand Canyon is a fun film, and even provides an exciting cougar hunt with Joseph Cotten and President Teddy Roosevelt. Some of the acting occasionally seems a little stilted, but the over-all effect of the photography, music and story line makes Brighty worth watching.

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: Brighty movie not exactly a bright spot...
Review: Brighty (played by Jiggs, who belonged to the renowned children's author, Marguerite Henry) is a wily burro who lives and works in the Grand Canyon. In the movie he helps an old prospector (Dick Foran) find gold, but the true story of Brighty is actually much more entertaining: The famous burro lived in the canyon from approximately 1892 until 1922,and locals gave him the name Bright Angel after the creek that flowed into the Canyon from the North Rim. He spent summers carrying water from the creek to the tourist areas, and patiently gave "pony rides." Read the book instead, unless you are a diehard burro fan and just want to see the cute little guy.

Staci Layne Wilson
[...]

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: You'll Love Brighty
Review: Brighty of the Grand Canyon is an exciting family film for children of all ages...including Mom and Dad. A timless classic filmed on location in the Grand Canyon and based upon the best selling book by award winning author Margurite Henry.

A warm and loving tale of a free spirited burro "Brighty" and his best friends. Shown first to my Children years ago and now that is available in DVD I purchased copies for each of my grandchildren and they also fell in love with "Brighty".

A great adventure story, beautifully photographed with wonderfull music. "You'll love Brighty"

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: You'll Love Brighty
Review: Brighty of the Grand Canyon is an exciting family film for children of all ages...including Mom and Dad. A timless classic filmed on location in the Grand Canyon and based upon the best selling book by award winning author Margurite Henry.

A warm and loving tale of a free spirited burro "Brighty" and his best friends. Shown first to my Children years ago and now that is available in DVD I purchased copies for each of my grandchildren and they also fell in love with "Brighty".

A great adventure story, beautifully photographed with wonderfull music. "You'll love Brighty"

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: A great family film? No way!
Review: There's hardly any substance to "Brighty". It's ostensibly about a boy and his burro but they literally spend only a few minutes together during the entire film!

An old man stumbles across the burro and befriends him. Well, the guy is looking for gold and wouldn't you just know it...the burro helps him find some. The burro is inspecting a nearby lizard and the old guy goes over to take a look at what's going on. Improbably enough, there's a gold nugget right in front of the burro's nose and the prospector is now rich. Imagine that!

His new found wealth is awfully short-lived however. A shady character comes around and does him in. Seems this new guy wants it all for himself. (Don't they always? At least my mommy taught me how to share). Anyway, the aforementioned boy and his mountain lion-hunting uncle enter the picture and try to track down the person responsible for murdering the old man. End of plot.

What you really have to love about this film is how they actually have the nerve to call burros "sacred" and they go on even further by stating that the spirits of some animals live on after they have passed away. Um...that would honestly be all fine and good except that the uncle in this movie MAKES A CAREER OUT OF KILLING MOUNTAIN LIONS. Why is a burro sacred and a mountain lion deserving of being blown to bits? Sadly, this film doesn't bother tackling that tricky subject.

The sole bright spot is the beautiful location shooting. It's just a real shame that it wasn't in a more deserving movie.

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: A great family film? No way!
Review: There's hardly any substance to "Brighty". It's ostensibly about a boy and his burro but they literally spend only a few minutes together during the entire film!

An old man stumbles across the burro and befriends him. Well, the guy is looking for gold and wouldn't you just know it...the burro helps him find some. The burro is inspecting a nearby lizard and the old guy goes over to take a look at what's going on. Improbably enough, there's a gold nugget right in front of the burro's nose and the prospector is now rich. Imagine that!

His new found wealth is awfully short-lived however. A shady character comes around and does him in. Seems this new guy wants it all for himself. (Don't they always? At least my mommy taught me how to share). Anyway, the aforementioned boy and his mountain lion-hunting uncle enter the picture and try to track down the person responsible for murdering the old man. End of plot.

What you really have to love about this film is how they actually have the nerve to call burros "sacred" and they go on even further by stating that the spirits of some animals live on after they have passed away. Um...that would honestly be all fine and good except that the uncle in this movie MAKES A CAREER OUT OF KILLING MOUNTAIN LIONS. Why is a burro sacred and a mountain lion deserving of being blown to bits? Sadly, this film doesn't bother tackling that tricky subject.

The sole bright spot is the beautiful location shooting. It's just a real shame that it wasn't in a more deserving movie.

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: A great family film? No way!
Review: There's hardly any substance to "Brighty". It's ostensibly about a boy and his burro but they literally spend only a few minutes together during the entire film!

An old man stumbles across the burro and befriends him. Well, the guy is looking for gold and wouldn't you just know it...the burro helps him find some. The burro is inspecting a nearby lizard and the old guy goes over to take a look at what's going on. Improbably enough, there's a gold nugget right in front of the burro's nose and the prospector is now rich. Imagine that!

His new found wealth is awfully short-lived however. A shady character comes around and does him in. Seems this new guy wants it all for himself. (Don't they always? At least my mommy taught me how to share). Anyway, the aforementioned boy and his mountain lion-hunting uncle enter the picture and try to track down the person responsible for murdering the old man. End of plot.

What you really have to love about this film is how they actually have the nerve to call burros "sacred" and they go on even further by stating that the spirits of some animals live on after they have passed away. Um...that would honestly be all fine and good except that the uncle in this movie MAKES A CAREER OUT OF KILLING MOUNTAIN LIONS. Why is a burro sacred and a mountain lion deserving of being blown to bits? Sadly, this film doesn't bother tackling that tricky subject.

The sole bright spot is the beautiful location shooting. It's just a real shame that it wasn't in a more deserving movie.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Classic Family Story
Review: This is a classic family adventure that was all shot in and around the Grand Canyon, with a great cast of actors. The photography alone is worth the price! The DVD has a number of extra content chapters, including a interview with the producer, which details the production logistics involved in shooting a feature film in the canyon. Brighty and some of the characters in the film are based on real historical people and events at the turn of the 19th century, in fact there is a life size bronze statue of Brighty at the south rim that was donated by the producer. A true timeless tale shot in the Disney fashion!


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