The Rocking Horse Winner (1949)

User Rating:

7.5/10   

Director:

Anthony Pelissier

Writers:

D.H. Lawrence (story)
Anthony Pelissier (writer)

Release Date:

30 November 1949 (UK)

Genre:

Drama | Fantasy

Tagline:

"One of the finest portrayals of youthful distress that you are ever likely to witness." -- N.Y. TIMES

Plot:

A young boy receives a rocking horse for Christmas and soon learns that he is able to pick the winning horse at the races.

Plot Keywords:

Money | Horse | Horse Race | Boy | Debt

Cast

Valerie Hobson	...	Hester Grahame
John Howard Davies	...	Paul Grahame
Ronald Squire	...	Oscar Cresswell
John Mills	...	Bassett
Hugh Sinclair	...	Richard Grahame
Charles Goldner	...	Mr. Tsaldouris
Susan Richards	...	Nannie
Cyril Smith	...	Bailiff
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Anthony Holles	...	Bowler Hat (uncredited)
Melanie McKenzie	...	Matilda Grahame (uncredited)
Michael Ripper	...	Second Chauffeur (uncredited)
Johnnie Schofield	...	First Chauffeur (uncredited)
Caroline Steer	...	Joan Grahame (uncredited)

Directed by
Anthony Pelissier

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
D.H. Lawrence		story
Anthony Pelissier		writer

Produced by
John Mills	....	producer
Earl St. John	....	executive producer

Original Music by
William Alwyn

Cinematography by
Desmond Dickinson		(director of photography)

Film Editing by
John Seabourne Sr.		(as John Seabourne)

Casting by
Maude Spector

Art Direction by
Carmen Dillon

Makeup Department
Tony Sforzini	....	makeup supervisor
Vivienne Walker	....	hair styles supervisor
Trevor Crole-Rees	....	assistant makeup artist (uncredited)
Bob Lawrance	....	assistant makeup artist (uncredited)

Production Management
Andrew Allan	....	production manager
Phil C. Samuel	....	production supervisor

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Robert Asher	....	assistant director
Frank Ernst	....	third assistant director (uncredited)
Alec Gibb	....	second assistant director (uncredited)

Sound Department
George Croll	....	sound recordist
Harry Miller	....	sound editor
John W. Mitchell	....	sound recordist
Danny Daniel	....	boom operator (uncredited)
Peter Davies	....	first assistant dubbing mixer (uncredited)
Basil Fenton-Smith	....	sound recordist (uncredited)
Gus Lloyd	....	boom operator (uncredited)

Special Effects by
Francis Carver	....	special effects

Camera and Electrical Department
H.A.R. Thomson	....	camera operator (as Russell Thomson)
Reginald H. Morris	....	focus puller (uncredited)
Alex Thomson	....	clapper loader (uncredited)

Editorial Department
Anne V. Coates	....	assistant editor (uncredited)
Les Wiggins	....	second assistant editor (uncredited)

Music Department
Muir Mathieson	....	conductor

Other crew
Tilly Day	....	continuity
Doreen Dearnaley	....	production secretary (uncredited)
Ken Green	....	publicist (uncredited)

Production Companies

• Two Cities Films

Distributors

• General Film Distributors (GFD) (1949) (UK) (theatrical)
• Universal Pictures (1950) (USA) (theatrical) (as Universal-International)
• Eagle-Lion Films (1950) (Canada) (theatrical)
• Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) (1977) (USA) (TV)
• Home Vision Entertainment (HVE) (USA) (DVD)

Runtime:

USA:91 min

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Recording)

Certification:

Australia:G | Sweden:Btl

Filming Locations:

Denham Studios, Denham, Buckinghamshire, England, UK

Company:

Two Cities Films

Quotes:

[first lines]
Bassett: Are you looking for me?
Paul Grahame: You're Bassett, aren't you?

Movie Connections:

Version of The Rocking Horse Winner (1977) (TV)

A boy learns how to ride

This is a very intriguing British film, quite unlike most others from the period; it's a pretty dark Freudian tale, from a D H Lawrence short story, whose overt depiction of a schoolboy and his magic toy gets away with a strictly taboo subtext. The focus is on a well-to-do household of the period, in which the hierarchy of adults and children is strictly defined; the parents try to keep their son Paul, wearing short trousers even in the depths of winter, innocent of their adult concerns – in particular, their problems with money. After discovering that his rocking horse gives him secret powers when he rides it hard enough, with giddy camera-work showing how it feels when he 'gets there', the boy tries to usurp his father's role to provide his mother with what she needs. John Mills produced the film, and his interest was no doubt linked to his typecast image: he normally plays rather piously unimpeachable characters, so it's quite a shock to see him here directing the lad's first experience of 'riding'. The only slight difficulty is that the boy actor needed to be nearer his early teens to carry the weight of the story's darker implications.