| Brighty of the Grand Canyon (film) | |
|---|---|
| Directed by | Norman Foster |
| Produced by | Stephen F. Booth Productions |
| Written by | Marguerite Henry Norman Foster (teleplay) |
| Starring | Joseph Cotten Karl Swenson Pat Conway Dick Foran Dandy Curran |
| Distributed by | Feature Film Corporation of America |
| Release date(s) | July 1967 |
| Running time | 89 min. |
| Language | English |
| Brighty of the Grand Canyon (novel) | |
|---|---|
| Author(s) | Marguerite Henry |
| Illustrator | Wesley Dennis |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Publisher |
Rand McNally (1953) |
| Publication date | November 1953[1] |
| Pages | 222 |
| ISBN | 978-0689714856 (second printing) |
| OCLC Number | 305533 |
Brighty of the Grand Canyon is a 1967 film based on a 1953 children's novel of the same name by Marguerite Henry, a fictionalized account of a real-life burro named "Brighty", who lived in the Grand Canyon of the Colorado River from about 1892-1922.[2]
Originally named "Bright Angel" after a creek that flowed into the Grand Canyon from his summer dwelling on the North Rim, Brighty spent summers carrying water from a spring below the rim to accommodate tourists coming to the canyon, located in northwestern Arizona. He was smart—he would kick a man he thought dishonest. He was gentle—children could ride endlessly on his back without his being provoked.[3]
Brighty was the first to have crossed the suspension bridge built over the Colorado River at the base of the canyon, having even helped in the building of the structure. The burro hunted mountain lions with former U.S. President Theodore Roosevelt, an avid student of the American West who once operated two ranches in South Dakota.[4] The role of Roosevelt is portrayed in the film by Karl Swenson, later cast as the Scandinavian Lars Hanson on Michael Landon's NBC television series, Little House on the Prairie.[5]
Henry penned her novel after she read an article about the original Brighty in Sunset Magazine, which was given to her by a friend. Brighty camouflages himself against the gray rock when a stranger approaches. When only his friends are nearby, he is known to fill the canyon walls with bellows of his laughter. Thomas McKee, the former manager of Wiley's Camp on the North Rim of the canyon, read Henry's novel and wrote to express his interest in the book. McKee told Henry that his son, Bob, was Brighty's closest companion. He sent Henry a photograph of young Bob McKee sitting on Brighty's back. The youngster hence became the composite character Homer Hobbs,[4] played in the film by Dandy Curran in his second and last acting role.[6]
The other film characters are Old Timer, a prospector played by Dick Foran (1910–1979), a former star of matinee films. Versatile actor Joseph Cotten played Uncle Jim Owen.[6] Pat Conway, who portrayed the lead role of the fictitious Sheriff Clay Hollister in the syndicated western television series Tombstone Territory from 1957–1960, appears as Jake Irons, who murders Old Timer for his copper ore. Uncle Jim then proceeds to help bring Irons to justice.[7] Conway, who died in 1981, was a maternal grandson of the silent film star Francis X. Bushman.[8]
The book Brighty of the Grand Canyon won the 1956 William Allen White Children's Book Award.
Brighty is honored with a bronze statue in the lobby of Grand Canyon Lodge on the North Rim,[4] accessible through southern Utah. Grand Canyon Lodge[9] is a National Historic Landmark,[10] located near Arizona State Route 67 some forty-three miles south of the junction with U.S. Route 89 alternate route. The monument of stone walls and high timbers has a memorial inscription written by Marguerite Henry: "the artist captured the soul of Brighty, forever wild, forever free."[4]