National Velvet
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Movie Reviews of National Velvet
Movie Review: Belief in a Dream
Summary: 4 Stars
To illustrate the power of the film and especially of Elizabeth Taylor's special quality of illuminosity she brought to it, I read somewhere that a returning WWII GI had come home emotionally depressed and empty from his war experience. He wandered into a movie theater to see this film and came out with at least some sense of his faith in the world and in himself restored based on watching this child's still intact ability to dream and hope.Movie Review: Film making and story telling at its best!!!
Summary: 5 Stars
It's been years since I've seen this film, and I'd have to say that I was a kid when I first saw this on an old black and white TV. When it was released on a DVD, my wife and I sat down and really enjoyed this fabulous film. We didn't find that it was made poorly. Just the opposite. It had all the earmarks of a fine film - joy, suspense, love, action, drama, comedy, and the like. We didn't find we liked Mickey Rooney's character at first, but he grew on us, and Elizabeth Taylor was simply marvelous, as were her parents. Thoe whole ensemble cast was terrific. And then we get to the horse race and that whole business. I can't say enough about it!! There's a scene in the film where Mickey Rooney tells a tale to the young boy, and it's done without any fanfare of the what the future might hold, but had there ever been plans of making a movie called "The Black Stallion," then this little scene in this film was the precursor.
A fine family film!! We need more like these today!! Highly recommended.
Movie Review: They just don't make 'em like this any more....
Summary: 5 Stars
I have probably seen this movie a dozen times from start to finish and each time I come away with a renewed appreciation for hope, hard work, dreams and - yes - folly. This movie, while without question dated and at times a little bit silly, stands the passage of time by virtue of its pure heart and strong moral messages. Velvet Brown - the 12 year old daughter of a butcher in the small town of Sewels in England - wins her gelding, The Pie, in a one-shilling-per-ticket raffle. Mi Taylor, a young American lad walking the roads and lanes of England, comes to visit the Browns and ends up staying and training Velvet and The Pie for the Grand National - the Greatest Horse Race In The World, according to ex-jockey Mi Taylor. My favorite character in the film is hands down Mrs. Brown, the mother, played by the inscrutable Anne Revere. She is wise, gentle, strong - at 20 she swam the English channel - her trainer was Mi Taylor's fater, Dan Taylor - as she says, "there was greatness in him". There is greatness in her. Watch out for the speech she gives her daughter up in the attic when she tells Velvet that she will back her crazy dream to enter the Pie in the Grand National - she believes that "everyone is intitled once in their life to a breathtaking piece of folly". She explains to her daughter that this dream must last her for her whole life- that she must know when it is over and to move on. There is a time for everything in life, she explains - a time for riding a horse in the Grand national, a time for marriage, children, yes even for dying. IN these crazy times when we all want everything fast, now, right away - Mrs. Brown's calm and sensible pacing make the world make sense. Enjoy the film's many mealtimes and small moments. One oddity though - in a family that appears to be English, living in England, the casting directors saw fit to put a very American actor in the part of the youngest Brown child, Donald. Go figure!Movie Review: ONE OF FINEST FAMILY FILMS, ONE OF MOST EXCITING RACES
Summary: 5 Stars
National Velvet is one of the finest family films ever made, and it contains one of the most exciting races, perhaps second only to the chariot race in Ben-Hur. Directed by Clarence Brown (The Yearling, The White Cliffs Of Dover, Edison The Man), who was nominated for Best Director, and based upon Enid Bagnold's novel, it tells the story of a girl named Velvet Brown, who is in love with horses - portrayed passionately and innocently by Elizabeth Taylor. Her father, Mr. Brown - played with good-natured stubbornness by Donald Crisp - and mother, Mrs. Brown - infused with even-tempered wisdom and efficiency by Anne Revere, who won the Oscar for her performance - provide a lot of the entertainment with their constant and playful bantering. Her brother, Donald - played comically but with stone-faced seriousness by Jackie 'Butch' Jenkins - older sister Edwina - given typical teenage aloofness by Angela Lansbury - and younger sister Mally - made likable but somewhat forgettable by Juanita Quigley - round out the family.
The real story is about the relationship between Velvet and a young itinerate named Mi - one of Mickey Rooney's most memorable performances. Mi's father knew the family, and now the son shows up on their doorstep with the idea of robbing them. But he changes his mind after realizing there is something about this family he would like to get to know. Velvet overwhelms him with her obsession over horses, especially since he dislikes them - apparently because of some bad experience. But he changes his mind when quite by chance she wins the county's finest stallion in a lottery. Mi realizes the horse's potential when he jumps a six foot wall, and helps Velvet train him for the Grand National - the most gruelling and dangerous steeplechase in terfdom, full of treacherous jumps and water hazards.
Besides the nomination for director Clarence Brown and the win for actress Anne Revere, the film was also nominated for its lush cinematography and delightful art direction, and won for its masterful editing. Much of this is due to editor Robert Kern's handling of the race, which forms the climax of the film. Except for the chariot race in Ben-Hur, I don't think there has ever been a more realistically staged or exciting race in a film. The stunt work is incredible. It would be a miracle if no men or horses were injured, because they go over those jumps pall mall, sometimes landing, apparently, on their heads, and often piling up on each other. Kudos to the stunt people, horses and trainers.
National Velvet warms and excites the heart, while leaving an impression of human nobility and spiritual values that will not soon be forgotten. And if someone isn't a horse lover at the end of this film, then there's no hope that they ever will be. Great directorial insight, intelligent writing, superb performances and top notch production values make this a small masterpiece.
Waitsel Smith
Movie Review: Just perfect!
Summary: 5 Stars
This is just a perfect film. It is beautifully photographed in wonderful color, showing the charming life of an English country village in the 1920's....the sea, the flowers, the little butcher shop, the country school, the family drinking tea around the hearth....it's all here. Who knows if life was ever this sweet? I hope so.
The cast is superb and we are lucky to have these special people still living. I agree that a DVD should be released with comments from the amazing Mickey Rooney, and Liz Taylor. Angela Lansbury, too...wow, what longevity in the business.
Mickey is billed as the star and he is really wonderful here as the down on his luck drifter who battles his own demons to come out strong and good to help Velvet win the National. But the movie belongs to the young, magical, lustrous Elizabeth Taylor, whose eyes shine with that special something that made her one of the all time great film stars ever.
She is so sweet without being cloying and ambitious without being bratty.
Perhaps the credit goes to the script or the director, but her character comes across as pure delight to watch.
We expect to see the story of a young girl's dream enabling her to do the impossible---win the National. We know this from the title and it does happen. But it's about more than winning and that's what's extra special about this movie (and undoubtably the book). The values of the family are extraordinary, the choices they make, from the beginning of taking in the sneaky suspicious kid (Mickey Roony's character), trusting him with what to them is an enormous sum of money, to their decision later not to exploit the fame of the girl and the horse..are really terrific in this day of "winning is everything."
This isn't at all preachy, though. It's pure entertainment from beginning to end.