National Velvet (1945)

After Elizabeth Taylor showed her beautiful face in 1943's Lassie Come Home, MGM put her in another animal movie, but this time gave her the lead role and let her shine. Usually, when casting children's roles, Hollywood tends to cast older actors, but in National Velvet, young Elizabeth was twelve when she played a twelve-year-old character. It's truly remarkable to see young children with great acting chops.In the film, Elizabeth plays Velvet, an English girl attached to her horse. Mickey Rooney drifts into town and is hired by Donald Crisp to work in his stables. As the family gets to know the newcomer better, they learn he used to be a jockey. As he bonds with the endearing little girl, she convinces him to train her horse for the races.National Velvet is so much better than The Story of Seabiscuit, just in case you saw that 1939 flop and assumed all old horse movies were that terrible. Both young leads have an enthusiastic energy that carries the story, and the iconic footage of Elizabeth Taylor on horseback is darling. This is a must-see for fans who want to see her first leading role.

Passion - all of us have it for something in our lives whether we know it or not. Everybody is different and will have to walk down separate paths. But I guarantee that throughout the duration of each and every life, there's always going to be something about life that each of us will have an undying love for. Take the main character of director Clarence Brown's charming 1944 family drama "National Velvet" for example. An English girl named Velvet Brown (Elizabeth Taylor) absolutely adores horses. One day, she comes across a wild horse named Pi who is gifted at clearing obstacles. She instantly adores Pi and eventually wins the horse at a raffle. She also meets a former jockey named Mi Taylor (Mickey Rooney) who detests horses because he caused the death of another jockey in a past race. Mi reluctantly agrees with Velvet's parents (Donald Crisp, Anne Revere) to help Velvet train Pi for the Grand National steeplechase, one of the most strenuous horse races in all the land. This picture basically follows Velvet and Mi's progress at training Pi for the big race. There's also time set aside in the story where we spend time with the rest of Velvet's family including her older sister Edwina (Angela Lansbury, in one of her earliest roles) and learn more about Mi's connection to Velvet's family. I feel that I should tell you a little bit more about me and my family before I keep going. My sister was really into horses when we were both younger. There was a barn near where we lived about 10-15 years ago where she could ride on horses and even do some work at the barn after school. Because I was fairly young and no one else was at home, my mom had to constantly drag me to the barn as well even though I didn't have much interest in doing so. The reason for my disinterest is that I didn't like how it interfered with my ability to play with my toys and friends at home during that time. The reason I bring this up is that when me and my sister watched "National Velvet" as young kids, guess which one of us seemed to like it more based on the fact that the DVD for this film is in their possession? That's right, none other than yours truly. Oh, how ironic. Helen Deutsch's script is probably the key ingredient that contributes to my high endorsement of "National Velvet". It manages to find a nice balance between respecting the intelligence of horse experts and welcoming those who know next to nothing about horses. Deutsch knew to keep the real fancy horse talk to a minimum and allow the audience to stay attached with the personalities and passion that these characters have. Because of this writing strategy, we can clearly see and identify with Velvet's passion and enjoyment of riding horses. We can also delve into how Mi's past is mentally distracting him in the present, and even make observations about the traits that all the Brown family members have in general. I'm particularly fond of Velvet's parents as played by Donald Crisp and Anne Revere. I like how the father strives to install discipline in the household and yet he does things that he specifically told his children not to do. He tells his children not to feed the dog at the table and yet within a few minutes he secretly feeds the dog and gets caught. There are other fun scenes with the father that show off his conflict with establishing continuity while unintentionally providing anything but that. The connection between Velvet and her mother is very strong. There's a sweet scene between them that reveals something about the mother and what she did in the past in which you truly feel as inspired as Velvet after seeing it. The way Velvet's mother tells her to continue following her dreams and live life to the fullest really feels sincere. In fact, sincere is really the only word I can use to describe Revere's dedicated performance as the mother. She won an Oscar for this role and it's completely warranted in my mind. Though this isn't the first role for either Elizabeth Taylor or Mickey Rooney, this was the film that really jumpstarted both careers and deservedly so. It's been reported that once filming for "National Velvet" wrapped up, MGM gave Ms. Taylor the horse as a birthday present. Considering the passion and dedication that Ms. Taylor puts into her role, it doesn't surprise me in the slightest. Mickey Rooney also does a stellar job at expressing his inner conflict between wanting to redeem himself and trying not to make the same mistake twice. Musical composer Herbert Stothart, who did the terrific musical score for "The Wizard of Oz" (1939), tops himself here with the picture's beautiful main theme. In the tradition of "The Adventures of Robin Hood" (1938) and "Gone with the Wind" (1939), here's another example of a film that proves just how visually breathtaking and bright the Technicolor process was during the late 1930s and early 1940s. There is truly beautiful cinematography present throughout this film. If in the unlikely chance that you should somehow end up not liking "National Velvet", all I can say is for you to consider this. In a time when high quality children's films are in short supply and finding classic films from video stores proves to be more strenuous, isn't it nice to revisit a film like this and be reminded of an era that was truly magical? Unlike most films today, "National Velvet" only needed some minimal things like a high quality script and great actors to make it great. And the effort that was put into it was enough to make it an undisputed family classic. Go see this film even if you don't have kids.

I am a teenager and first saw this film when I was just seven years old. I fell in love with it, and ever since it has been my favorite film!! When I saw it, I loved the rawness and pureness of the film and connected to the dreams Velvet Brown had. I grew up wondering who the young girl was, only knowing she was the girl in "National Velvet," to my sadness Elizabeth Taylor passed away last year, but her beauty and elegance will never be forgotten.National Velvet, is a story that will touch your heart, and make anyone at any age feel the emotions given through each performance. This is not just a horse movie, but a film about the love and drive of a young girl that changes views of those around her. While this film would not be first pick for someone my age in my generation or even the younger one, it is a classic film that I hope my children will enjoy as I have.I really hope future generations look back on these films and realize the beauty in them and how they remain treasures to those that love film.

National Velvet Owning a horse is basically comprised of feeding one end and cleaning up the other. However, the relationship between pony and person in this drama is much more involved than shoveling equine scat.After winning a lively colt in a raffle, the equally spirited Velvet (Elizabeth Taylor) begins breaking-in her beast for a national steeplechase.With a former jockey Mi (Mickey Rooney), Velvet and her steed, dubbed The Pi, perfect their steeple leaping performance.But when the jockey hired to ride The Pi at the Grand National backs out, it's up to Mi to put away his past and get back in the saddle - or is it?With Sussex, England serving as the pastoral setting of this girl-meets-horse tale, National Velvet is as much a visual treat as a narrative one.Unfortunately, when your horse can jump over fences and ditches, your corral has to be, like, 20-feet tall. (Green Light)vidiotreviews.blogspot.ca