There are times when you just feel like you really want to watch a great old-fashioned family movie in glorious Technicolor that takes you all back to an age of innocence in idyllic surroundings. And if you have never seen it for any reason – then the 1944 movie that marked the start of Elizabeth Taylor’s career as an actress, “National Velvet” is really where it’s at.
The film is based on the novel of the same name by British author, the late Enid Bagnold (who, by the way, is great-grandmother to Samantha, wife of the UK Prime Minister, David Cameron). National Velvet is all about the greatest horse race in the world, the Grand National, held in Liverpool, England each Aril – so it’s a great time of year to watch it as the real thing will be held this year on April 5th. This is a tear-jerker of a movie with a happy ending. It’s an all-time classic all the family can enjoy at all ages.
It tells the tale of Velvet Brown – a young girl from a small coastal village called Sewells (fictional) on the south coast of England. Velvet is played by a young Liz Taylor in the movie that launched her career. Her older sister is a young Angela Lansbury. Velvet’s obsession is horses and whilst out walking one day she sees a runaway horse. As she watches it run across a field, she is joined by one Mi Taylor (played by Mickey Rooney), who is walking along the road.
The horse jumps over a wall and Mi exclaims that it has jumped over a height the equivalent of “Becher’s Brook”. Velvet asks what Becher’s Brook is and Mi explains that it’s the most famous single fence in the greatest horse race on Earth – the Grand National. Velvet becomes obsessed with the horse and with winning the race. Later, she wins the horse in a raffle and names him “The Pie” (because in the book, the horse was a piebald). We then learn that MI was on his way to see Velvet’s mother because his father helped train her to become the first ever girl to swim the English Channel. We also find out that Mi used to be a jockey and the two set about training The Pie up for the Grand National.
To find out what happens next, you’ll have to get hold of the movie – but it’s well worth it as this is a ripping fictional yarn – and a really great movie for the whole family.
Just watched The Black Stallion last night with Mickey Rooney. There is a scene of his old office and one of the framed photograph’s is a younger Rooney racing a horse. I believe it was from National Velvet.