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IMDb > National Velvet (1944)
National Velvet
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National Velvet (1944) More at IMDbPro »

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Overview

User Rating:
7.4/10   2,246 votes
MOVIEmeter: ?
Down 7% in popularity this week. See why on IMDbPro.
Director:
Writers:
Enid Bagnold (novel)
Theodore Reeves (screenplay) ...
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Contact:
View company contact information for National Velvet on IMDbPro.
Release Date:
26 January 1945 (USA) more
Genre:
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. full summary | add synopsis
Awards:
Won 2 Oscars. Another 1 win & 3 nominations more
NewsDesk:
(7 articles)
The Auteurs Daily: Elizabeth Taylor in Hollywood
 (From The Auteurs. 23 October 2009, 1:10 PM, PDT)

Elizabeth Taylor Assures Fans She's Fine
 (From PEOPLE.com. 9 October 2009, 5:15 AM, PDT)

User Reviews:

Cast

  (Cast overview, first billed only)
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Additional Details

Runtime:
123 min
Country:
Language:
Color:
Color (Technicolor)
Aspect Ratio:
1.37 : 1 more
Sound Mix:
Mono (Western Electric Sound System)

Fun Stuff

Trivia:
Ranked #9 on the American Film Institute's list of the 10 greatest films in the genre "Sports" in June 2008. more
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. more
Quotes:
Donald Brown: I want my insect bottle!
Edwina Brown: Shut up and stop being disgusting.
more
Soundtrack:
Rule Britannia more

FAQ

Was this Elizabeth Taylor's first screen role?
Where does this story take place?
Is "National Velvet" based on a novel?
more
12 out of 17 people found the following review useful.
Magic, 15 April 2003
Author: dbdumonteil

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.

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He Died on that Island!!!!! KatrinaW
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