2 unidentified movies: carousel horses, jealous split personality?
June 28, 2021 7:27 AM Subscribe
I'm seeking 2 movie titles for people who only vaguely remember the content. The first one involves hiding carousel horses from wartime authorities so they don't get melted down, and the second one involves an actress who dates a man with a split personality, making his other personality jealous. Details below!
#MOVIE 1:
Viewed in a classroom circa 2002/3, on a video taped off a TV broadcast years before.
Content as remembered: Set during World War II. A European couple were hiding carousel horses made of lead from the military, so they wouldn't be melted down for ammunition in the war.
Details: In English, but can't remember if it was black-and-white or color. Not sure where in Europe it took place, but if they had to guess, they'd say Denmark or Austria.
MOVIE #2:
Viewed on rental video. Person says it was out in the 1990s, but I'm not sure if they mean it was new in the 90s, or it's just that they were able to rent the video in the 90s.
Content as remembered: it's a period piece, "back when they wore long dresses". A man has a split personality. He's in love with an actress, and he thinks she's cheating on him, but it's with his other personality.
Random details: Thinks it starred a famous/serious actor for the time, a la Liam Neeson, Daniel Day-Lewis, etc. He lived upstairs--"when he went home he had to go up all these stairs". The ending scene had her on stage and him in the front row. She remembers thinking at the time, "This is a strange title for that premise".
Any thoughts are highly appreciated!
#MOVIE 1:
Viewed in a classroom circa 2002/3, on a video taped off a TV broadcast years before.
Content as remembered: Set during World War II. A European couple were hiding carousel horses made of lead from the military, so they wouldn't be melted down for ammunition in the war.
Details: In English, but can't remember if it was black-and-white or color. Not sure where in Europe it took place, but if they had to guess, they'd say Denmark or Austria.
MOVIE #2:
Viewed on rental video. Person says it was out in the 1990s, but I'm not sure if they mean it was new in the 90s, or it's just that they were able to rent the video in the 90s.
Content as remembered: it's a period piece, "back when they wore long dresses". A man has a split personality. He's in love with an actress, and he thinks she's cheating on him, but it's with his other personality.
Random details: Thinks it starred a famous/serious actor for the time, a la Liam Neeson, Daniel Day-Lewis, etc. He lived upstairs--"when he went home he had to go up all these stairs". The ending scene had her on stage and him in the front row. She remembers thinking at the time, "This is a strange title for that premise".
Any thoughts are highly appreciated!
Could #1 be Miracle of the White Stallions about hiding actual horses so they wouldn't be eaten during WW2?
posted by jabes at 7:45 AM on June 28, 2021 [1 favorite]
posted by jabes at 7:45 AM on June 28, 2021 [1 favorite]
Best answer: Lead carousel horses make no sense - they would be much too heavy. More likely to be wood. I agree with jabes as I saw that movie (in color) when I was a kid.
posted by leaper at 9:03 AM on June 28, 2021
posted by leaper at 9:03 AM on June 28, 2021
Operation Cowboy. Another version of the rescue of the Lipizzaners in Austria during WW2. Google yields many hits on the same story.
posted by JimN2TAW at 9:58 AM on June 28, 2021 [2 favorites]
posted by JimN2TAW at 9:58 AM on June 28, 2021 [2 favorites]
Response by poster: BlahLaLa, thank you, that sounds extremely likely for film #2! What a deep cut. And you are so right about it being barely-seen...I'm having trouble even coming up with much in terms of synopsis or images. I'll be able to dig more effectively tonight when I'm off work.
Regarding the lead horses--right?! Just what you need on a ride engineered to spin around and up/down--an extraordinarily heavy metal horse. It's the first thing I thought, but I didn't mention it to her. I'll see what she thinks about the actual WWII horses, although the narrative point of melting down does seem pretty specific.
I'll also expand my horizons and see if it could possibly be something vaguely similar like equestrian statues.
posted by theatro at 11:15 AM on June 28, 2021
Regarding the lead horses--right?! Just what you need on a ride engineered to spin around and up/down--an extraordinarily heavy metal horse. It's the first thing I thought, but I didn't mention it to her. I'll see what she thinks about the actual WWII horses, although the narrative point of melting down does seem pretty specific.
I'll also expand my horizons and see if it could possibly be something vaguely similar like equestrian statues.
posted by theatro at 11:15 AM on June 28, 2021
OMG JimN2TAW what a story! I cried. With relief. Holy cow.
posted by Glinn at 11:15 AM on June 28, 2021
posted by Glinn at 11:15 AM on June 28, 2021
Response by poster: Thanks to the reminders about the non-starter idea of the heaviest carousel horses in the world, I changed my search terms more thoroughly, and am currently zeroing in on this made-for-TV movie from 1996. "The Little Riders":
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Little_Riders
Occupied Netherlands, old lead figurines of town freedom fighters on horseback in the clock tower, the Nazis find out they're made of lead and want to destroy them. Seems very likely, but I'll report back!
posted by theatro at 11:29 AM on June 28, 2021 [1 favorite]
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Little_Riders
Occupied Netherlands, old lead figurines of town freedom fighters on horseback in the clock tower, the Nazis find out they're made of lead and want to destroy them. Seems very likely, but I'll report back!
posted by theatro at 11:29 AM on June 28, 2021 [1 favorite]
(Also piping in to say that Voices has some vague element of truth to it -- Warlock/Heseltine was a real person.)
posted by BlahLaLa at 11:46 AM on June 28, 2021
posted by BlahLaLa at 11:46 AM on June 28, 2021
Response by poster: We have a big Yes on "The Little Riders"!
I haven't been able to get the proposed answer of "Voices"/"Voices From A Locked Room" to that person yet; I'm a bit impatient for the closure. Here's hoping!
posted by theatro at 6:09 PM on June 29, 2021 [1 favorite]
I haven't been able to get the proposed answer of "Voices"/"Voices From A Locked Room" to that person yet; I'm a bit impatient for the closure. Here's hoping!
posted by theatro at 6:09 PM on June 29, 2021 [1 favorite]
Response by poster: CONFIRMED! "Voices" is correct! Thanks again to everyone, your brains have helped enormously.
posted by theatro at 1:31 PM on July 2, 2021 [1 favorite]
posted by theatro at 1:31 PM on July 2, 2021 [1 favorite]
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The actor is Jeremy Northam, who never became a huge star but was famous-ish at the time (maybe still is?) -- he'd just been in The Net with Sandra Bullock.
posted by BlahLaLa at 7:41 AM on June 28, 2021 [1 favorite]