Talking to an old friend, Kelli Thompson, who worked as a publicist on the Black Stallion film about some of our experiences I thought you might like to hear some more “behind the scenes” stories. Those days in the 70s – 80s had some great times, people and places! Thanks for putting together this stroll down memory lane Kelli!!
By Kelli Thompson
I helped work on publicity and marketing for the movie THE BLACK STALLION. Part of my job included working closely with actor Kelly Reno (Alec, in the film) and his parents, Bud and Ruth Reno. I escorted them all around Los Angeles as I took Kelly to different talk shows and interviews. It was also arranged for Cass Ole (credited as Cass-Olé in the movie), the magnificent Arabian horse that starred as The Black in the film, to come to California for various publicity events.
I had Kelly as a guest on The Mike Douglas Show and Cass Ole was brought out in front of the audience for a bit. His trainer had him rear up and do tricks and the audience was thrilled being so close to the horse. Mike Douglas was concerned at having such a large animal on his set with its slippery floor so Cass Ole’s performance was cut short. The actor George Kennedy was another talk show guest that day. Mr. Kennedy was so kind and decent to Kelly and proclaimed, on air, that Kelly deserved an Academy Award nomination for his acting in the movie.
Perhaps one of the bigger publicity events at the time was The Black Stallion Day at Hollywood Park Racetrack. The racetrack printed out 10,000 t-shirts that proclaimed “Hollywood Park Presents the Black Stallion”. The t-shirts were given to everyone in attendance at the racetrack that day. Kelly was scheduled to ride Cass Ole on a section of the track, parading in front of the crowd between races, while wearing his racing silks from the movie. Teri Garr, who portrayed Kelly’s mom in the movie, was also in attendance. Kelly and his parents flew out to California and when I met them Ruth was worried because the airline had lost the suitcase that had Kelly’s racing silks (the originals from the movie) in it. She was also concerned that Kelly had grown so much they might not even fit anymore. Fortunately, shortly before Kelly was due to appear at the racetrack, the racing silks showed up. He hurriedly changed into them and luckily they still fit and his appearance went off without a hitch.
I brought my camera with me that day which I generally never did. I took some photos with it and also handed it off to other people to take photographs of me with folks I’d been working with so much.
Kelly, his parents, and I spent time before and after his appearance in the racetrack’s private club house. I was standing there, chatting with people, when a man walked up behind me. I turned around and much to my surprise it was the actor Cary Grant. Grant smiled and gestured at Kelly, asking for an introduction. It was my immense honor to introduce them both. I turned to Kelly and said “Kelly, there is someone here who would like to meet you.” Now, Kelly was maybe 12 or 13 at the time so I’m still not sure if he really knew who Grant was. Kelly was immediately gracious and respectful. Grant was so genuine and complimentary to Kelly, telling him how much he admired his work in the film. I managed to grab my camera and take a photo of the two when they posed for journalists that were there. You can see in my photo that Grant is looking at the reporters but Kelly is looking at me (because he knew me). Behind them on the right you can partially see Ruth Reno beaming at them both.
It turns out that Mr. Grant was on the racetrack’s Board of Directors and spent many years at Hollywood Park. A casino at the racetrack was later named after him.
Considering this was Kelly’s first time doing movie publicity I was very impressed by his professionalism. He was still a kid but he was relaxed and natural in every appearance he made. Bud and Ruth Reno were good people all the way around and made my job easier. For a few years after the film came out I got Christmas cards from them. It was such a nice gesture and I’ve kept all the cards I received from them.
I am forever grateful that others there that day managed to get a couple of photos of me introducing Grant to Kelly. This was decades before cell phones so it’s kind of a miracle that I have any records of that day, outside of what I photographed. In the photo of Grant shaking hands with Kelly, Ruth and Kelly’s aunt (I believe that’s his aunt) can be seen at the table behind them while I am standing next to Grant.
Kelli Thompson worked in film and television in publicity and production for many years. Her credits include publicity work on THE BLACK STALLION, ESCAPE FROM NEW YORK, ALIEN, COAL MINER’S DAUGHTER, ROCK ‘N’ ROLL HIGH SCHOOL, and FLASH GORDON. Her other credits include work on STAR TREK, THE NEXT GENERATION, STAR TREK-GENERATIONS, MURDER SHE WROTE, KNOTS LANDING, THE HOWLING, HARD RAIN, BUFFALO SOLDIERS, BLACK CAT RUN, and MALCOLM IN THE MIDDLE. She is currently a photographer specializing in fine art photography and photojournalism. www.Kelli.photo
