For child star Donna Corcoran, it must have been nice and light and fluffy making this one, after doing "Don't Bother to Knock" with MM. That was SO dark and weird. In this one, family finances are making it impossible to keep her horse, so they will need to sell the horse to someone with a short-tempered trainer . Usually it's the child stars that are so precocious, but in this case, it's the (trained) horse that is the precocious one. Co-stars Ward Bond as "Dad". He was known for so many westerns over the years. This one is more for the kids. Everyone does a fine job, but it's pretty serious drama. Only 162 votes on imdb so far, so TCM must not show it very often. meh. It's ok. Directed by Andrew Marton, who had come from come over from Europe several times.

I give it a ten. Spoilers. Conflicts get resolved. Girl gets horse back. Rain falls. Father gets the reward. Cadillac-guy gives girl's father the reward, plus with a sly eye lets the original family keep Gypsy. Bad trainer gets his jacket removed by the horse, but earlier I was hoping that the horse would attack him and give him what-for. Mexican boy very nice to get water to give to Gypsy. Plus, later, he helps the horse get away. Motorcycle guys a laugh riot. They almost caught the horse, but he got away. Their crash scene was hilarious. I never heard of this film, but it reminded me of Lassie Come Home plus Black Beauty. It was a very pleasant movie. 10/10

Yes, I thought I had seen this plot before. But it is minus the excessive sentiment of the first film. Here, little Donna Corcoran (a cute young actress with a very natural presence) is the proud pal of Gypsy, a horse that takes her to school (dropping her off right at the window), picks her up right at 3:00 (often to the amusement of the children as he greets the teacher with a kiss), and makes sure she gets safely home. He's also a bit of a prankster, taking her quilt in the wee hours of the morning, only because he's in the mood to play. They can't function without each other, and when her poor farmer father (Ward Bond) must sell him to racing horse owner Larry Keating, Ms. Corcoran is beside herself. But the rather cruel trainer Lee Van Cleef, who seems more interested in breaking Gypsy's spirit rather than training him, isn't good to Gypsy, who keeps running away. Finally, Gypsy escapes from a racetrack 500 miles away from where Bond and wife Frances Dee live, and must try and make his way back to the grieving little girl.This is truly an enjoyable film that while a re-tread of the famous "Lassie" film is entirely entertaining, sweet natured and very funny. There are moments when it appears Gypsy may not make it; There is a $1000 reward for his return, briefly attracting a "Wild Ones" group of bikers who chase him into the canyon desert where he collapses in exhaustion and finally the Mexicans who try to get their friend drunk to go down in the price from $80 to $35, not realizing that the little Mexican boy who discovered Gypsy in the first place has no intention of letting them get their hands on him. Then there is Van Cleef, long before his series of Spaghetti Westerns, and playing a character so mean spirited you can't wait until the payoff where Gypsy gets his revenge.The scene stealer's of this film are Corcoran, Bobby Dominguez as the sweet little Mexican boy and the titled Gypsy as himself, a horse so kind-hearted that you might be tempted to go out and buy a colt yourself. At just over 70 minutes, the film speeds along, and is filmed in beautiful color to show off Gypsy's beautiful coat and the lovely scenery. Corcoran, who stole scenes from Donald O'Connor in "I Love Melvin" and Esther Williams in "Dangerous When Wet", is an adorable, non-precocious child, and certainly not as weepy as some of the child stars who proceeded her.

In the 50's, choices for kids' movies weren't quite what they are today. Gypsy Colt was a real favorite of exhibitors at the time -- entirely clean content and a short running time. It's corny by modern standards but still very charming in its own way. Interesting to see some of the same MGM props that turned up in some of their other films, War of the Worlds is one. If you love horses and a warm, fuzzy, sentimental feeling, Gypsy Colt is a winner. Although, Lee Van Cleef sure plays a real mean guy here.