National Velvet (1944)

User Rating:

7.4/10   

Director:

Clarence Brown

Writers:

Enid Bagnold (novel)
Theodore Reeves (screenplay) ...

Release Date:

26 January 1945 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Family | Sport

Tagline:

Simple Story Of A Boy . . . A Girl . . . And A Horse! Set to the thunder of the Grand National Steeplechase!

Plot:

A jaded former jockey helps a young girl prepare a wild but gifted horse for England's Grand National Sweepstakes.

Plot Keywords:

Horse | England | Jockey | Raffle | Mother Daughter Relationship

Awards:

Won 2 Oscars. Another 1 win & 3 nominations

Cast

Mickey Rooney	...	Mi Taylor
Donald Crisp	...	Mr. Brown
Elizabeth Taylor	...	Velvet Brown
Anne Revere	...	Mrs. Brown
Angela Lansbury	...	Edwina Brown
Jackie 'Butch' Jenkins	...	Donald Brown (as Jackie Jenkins)
Juanita Quigley	...	Malvolia Brown
Arthur Treacher	...	Race Patron
Reginald Owen	...	Farmer Ede
Norma Varden	...	Miss Sims
Terry Kilburn	...	Ted
Arthur Shields	...	Mr. Hallam
Aubrey Mather	...	Entry Official
Alec Craig	...	Tim
Eugene Loring	...	I. Taski

Runtime:

123 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Sound System)

Certification:

Brazil:Livre | USA:Approved (certificate #10321) | Australia:G | Canada:G | Finland:S | Sweden:Btl | UK:U | USA:G

Filming Locations:

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios - 10202 W. Washington Blvd., Culver City, California, USA

Company:

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)

Trivia:

One of the few films to be shown on commercial network television after being shown on local stations, rather than the other way around.

Goofs:

Factual errors: Mr. Brown, a butcher who should know better, authoritatively announces that one small-to-medium-sized lobster will provide a family dinner for six: A claw apiece for he and his wife, the entire tail (the meatiest part of the crustacean) for his picky young son who's a finicky eater and what's "in-between" (basically all of it’s inedible entrails) for his three teenage daughters--with some left over for the dog! In reality, a lobster of that size would hardly feed one hungry person.

Quotes:

[Mrs. Brown is talking with Velvet in the attic]
Mrs. Brown: We're alike. I, too, believe that everyone should have a chance at a breathtaking piece of folly once in his life. I was twenty when they said a woman couldn't swim the Channel. You're twelve; you think a horse of yours can win the Grand National. Your dream has come early; but remember, Velvet, it will have to last you all the rest of your life.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Pushing Daisies: Bitches (#1.6)" (2007)

Soundtrack:

Greensleeves

Magic

A lot of directors have broached childhood:Truffaut,Bunuel,Pialat,Comencini,Loach ,but no one did it as Clarence Brown used to do:his world is a rosy one ,a protected one where any dream can come true if you believe in it.Not realistic?Not that much :take "the yearling" for instance:the young hero's pal's death is not passed over in silence but Jody did tell him and us that somewhere in Heaven there are prairies full of coypus.In "National Velvet" ,the mother ,quoting the Book of Ecclesiastes ,tells her daughter that there's a time for everything,even a time to die.

Colors display something magic,closer to fairy tales than to a realistic story:this small town,with its colorful characters,its school where the teacher loves all of her students whom she's going to miss during the long holiday,its butcher's shop.The heroine's parents own it and their house suffuses with understanding,tenderness and love.The race is ,as far as Velvet is concerned , entirely implausible ,but it's nicely filmed.

A top-notch cast cannot fail to win over the audience:the couple Anne Revere/Donald Crisp are parents every child dreams of;Elizabeth Taylor has always been an underrated actress,to think that about 20 years later,she would be Martha in "who's afraid of Virginia Woolf?"!;Mickey Rooney 's pouty mouth and sullen expression avoid pathos and melodramatic effects.And there's also a young Angela Landsbury,long before "murder she wrote" ,on the threshold of a brilliant career.

It may not appeal to Today's children ,who got used to special effects and action-packed stories.But for the adults who've still got their child's soul,it's a true delight.