You did it! We figured this one out! It is a truth universally acknowledged (by me for certain) that the Bitchery pretty much knows everything, and really, it's true. Scroll down to see the solution for this HaBO - and many thanks!
This HaBO comes from Susana and is a little different. Instead of a romance novel, Susana is trying to track down a movie she watched, that may or may not be based on a book:
I need help finding a movie not a book. I saw it around 1997-1999 on HBO. I’m pretty sure I watched Muriel’s Wedding and Strictly Ballroom, which are favorites, around the same time. I recorded it on a VHS, but lost it when I move to Miami.
I got the feeling it was a based on a romance and, at the time, there was a lot of Harlequin movies. Remember those?
Definitely from New Zealand, the accent and scenery. The heroine has red hair and is a mute. Something happened when she was younger like an accident or her parents died. She loves horses. The hero has dark hair, blue eyes, and owns a stable. He got a new horse, but can’t train it. Somehow she gets there and helps him with the horse; she has an affinity for horses.
I’ve been going crazy trying to remember for the last five years without any Google or IMDB results. It’s also not the Scarlett Johansen and Redford movie.
It has a happy ending. The hero’s horse is running with his mare. He missed her so much, which was why he was behaving badly. The hero and heroine are happy and hugging, while watching them run.
I hope someone can help. The movie is probably not as good as I remember, but I have to see it again.
Any movie buffs remember this one?
Could it be Treacherous Beauties? It stars Emma Samms (red hair) and takes place at a horse farm.
They have that one on YouTube – no Australian accent, though, sop probably not it.
I’m kinda curious what it is!
Perhaps it’s one of these?
http://www.theequinest.com/movies-90s/
Mute and New Zealand automatically make me think The Piano, but none of the rest fit. I couldn’t find anything that met that description when searching New Zealand lists on Letterboxd. I’m curious to find out what it is as well.
There’s Wild Hearts Can’t Be Broken, she’s not a mute but doesn’t talk much when she first comes to live with the hero and his father. The heroine is played by an Irish actress but it’s set in the US and I don’t think she had an accent. The physical descriptions match, as does the wild horse she helps train. They have a traveling show and eventually she dives with the horse. I highly recommend it if you haven’t seen it.
Definitely not Treacherous Beauties or The Piano, or Wild Hearts Can’t Be Broken, which I totally forgot and love, and now I need to buy for my collection. 🙂
This is driving me crazy. I know I have seen the male actor in other American movies, usually playing villains. But for the life of me can’t remember his name or the other movies. It might be set in Australia but I pretty sure it was New Zealand. I remember being fascinated by that since I was living in Dominican Republic at the time.
And she does not talk in the begging because of some trauma with her parents deaths, but she talks a lot later. Another detail I forgot to mention is that she usually sleeps in the barn next to the horses.
Thank you everyone for your help.
Could this be it? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Rogue_Stallion an ozzie production but story is based in NZ – not sure about the colour of her hair though.
The heroine isn’t mute in The Man From Snowy River but I loved that movie back in the 1980s. I wonder if it holds up?
Second Chances (1998)
Second ChancesBased on a true story, Second Chances is about a young girl whose life changes after an auto accident that seriously injures her & kills her father. It takes the friendship of a lame horse named Ginger to help pull her from her sadnes
I know this one! It’s
I am 100% sure this is right as I love this film. After also seeing it a long time ago on TV, I tracked it down and bought a copy. It stars the fabulous Miranda Otto in one of her early roles. She’s not mute exactly, but after a trauma as a child she prefers to act and talk ‘horse’ whenever she feels threatened. This continues into her adult years and watching Miranda Otto prance around neighing is both endearing and hilarious. The movie is corny as hell but I love it anyway. Though I don’t know if it’s based on a book. If it is, I’d sure like to read that book.
Well, that link didn’t work right. Take 2: It is Daydream Believer (also called The Girl who Came Late).
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Daydream-Believer-DVD-Martin-Kemp/dp/B000FS9SZA
OMG It’s Daydream Believer, as soon as I read the name it came back to me. Seeing a young Otto and Kemp verify it. Even better I found a used copy on Amazon.
Thank you Nova!!
I just imdb’d Martin Kemp, and holy cow! he had an acting career after Spandau Ballet broke up. Who knew?
OK, catching up on the site, so I am a bit late to the party. But surely the cover for the DVD deserves some cover snark?!?
Quote “He’s the kind of guy women fall for. She’s the kind of girl men fall over.”
Like – really? Men fall over her often, she’s “that kind of girl”? Is she always lying around (reading books maybe?) in doorways or hallways or something?
Anyway, gave me a chuckle. Hope you all enjoy the movie. At £1.97 including delivery I am almost tempted myself.
I watched on You Tube and it’s as corny as I remember but fun. Not sure why I had the impression it was based on romance book.
Emma, Otto’s character suffers from the clutz trope. As in, it is not possibly to be more clutzy (made-up word bonus) than her. Hence… men fall over her.