National Velvet (1944)

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

Director:

Clarence Brown

Writers:

Enid Bagnold (based on the novel by), Theodore Reeves (screenplay),

Stars:

Mickey Rooney, Donald Crisp, Elizabeth Taylor

Won 2 Oscars. Another 1 win & 3 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
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

Storyline

Mi Taylor was a young wanderer and opportunist whose father had given him "all the roads in the Kingdom" to travel. One of the roads, and a notation in his father's journal, leads him to the quiet English country-side home of the Brown family. The youngest daughter, Velvet, has a passion for horses and when she wins the spirited steed Pie in a town lottery, Mi is encouraged to train the horse for the Grand National - England's greatest racing event.

---

Plot Keywords:

horse | england | jockey | raffle | butcher | 

---

Taglines:

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

---

Genres:

Drama | Family | Sport

---

Certificate:

G

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

26 January 1945 (USA)

Also Known As:

Fuego de juventud

Filming Locations:

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

Company Credits

Production Co:

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)

Technical Specs

Runtime:

123 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Sound System)

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

After production was completed, arrangements were made to allow Elizabeth Taylor to keep the horse.

---

Goofs

The story takes place in the late-1920s, and the Browns pay the entry fee with "100 gold sovereigns" which ceased to be used as money in England in 1918. However, this is consistent with a detail from the novel, in which Mrs Brown insists the entry fee be paid with the sovereigns she won swimming the English Channel, which occurred prior to 1918.

---

Quotes

Donald Brown: I was sick all night!
Mr. Herbert Brown: Donald, you told a story, didn't you?
Donald Brown: Yes, sir, it was a story.
Mr. Herbert Brown: Well, you know what to do.
Donald Brown: What?
Mr. Herbert Brown: You say you're sorry.
[Donald puts his head on his hand]
Mr. Herbert Brown: Well?
Mrs. Brown: He's thinking.
Mr. Herbert Brown: [to Donald] Well, make up your mind.
[...]

---

Crazy Credits

A frame, with music, was added to the film at the end: "To families of servicemen and women: Pictures exhibited in this theater are given to the armed forces for showing in combat areas around the world. [signed] War Activities Committee/Motion Picture Industry"

---

Connections

Featured in AFI's 10 Top 10: America's 10 Greatest Films in 10 Classic Genres (2008)

---

Soundtracks

"Rule Britannia!"
(1740) (uncredited)
Music by Thomas Augustine Arne
Words by James Thomson

User Reviews

"By Knowing The Pi Can Win And Telling Him So"

One of the enduring classics from MGM came out in the closing years of World War II, it's the film that made young Elizabeth Taylor a star. She had done a few films as a child actress before National Velvet, but when it came out her place in the movies was assured. Ironically enough biologically she'd be growing up fast enough after National Velvet was out and her next struggle as an actress was to get substantial adult roles because casting directors only saw her as innocent little Velvet Brown who loved her jumping horse.

I'm not sure of how this would work because steeplechase horses have to have confirmed bloodlines and the Pi's are a subject not dealt with in National Velvet. All we know is that he's a reckless and untrainable horse in the hands of Reginald Owen and after he breaks free and causes considerable damage, Owen gets rid of him for a nominal price to the local butcher Donald Crisp.

At the same time as these things are happening, Mickey Rooney comes wandering into the lives of the Brown family which consists of Crisp, wife Anne Revere, and daughters Angela Lansbury, Juanita Quigley, and Elizabeth Taylor and their little brother Butch Jenkins. Rooney is a former jockey who's now on the open road and heading for the Brown family where his father was once a horse trainer for Anne Revere's family. It's he who sees the potential of the Pi (short for pirate) as a steeplechase jumper and it's Elizabeth who convinces Crisp not to pass up this chance.

Elizabeth Taylor was so sweet and innocent in National Velvet. The Good Book says you have to have faith like a child and she has it to spare. She infuses Rooney with it, to have faith in the heart and ability of the Pi and to leave a little over for himself.

Anne Revere won a Best Supporting Actress Award for National Velvet. She's a very wise mother who has hidden depths to her that the audience doesn't suspect. It turns out that back in her youth she had a taste of fame and glory swimming the English Channel and her prize money, saved all these years, she gives to her daughter. That scene is probably what won her the Oscar. National Velvet also won one other Academy Award, for Film Editing.

Over 60 years after it made its debut National Velvet as a family classic hasn't lost a thing. Its depiction of life between the World Wars in Great Britain is still a standout. And National Velvet launched a movie legend. Can't do much better than that for high regard.