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Features: DVD
As long as young hearts endure, so will National Velvet and movies like it. In her starmaking role, Elizabeth Taylor plays Velvet Brown, a wide-eyed adolescent who, assisted by her jockey pal (Mickey Rooney), trains Pie, a horse she won in a raffle, for the Grand National Steeplechase. Of course, no girl can ride in the National, can she? Yet Velvet, posing as a boy, assuredly does. Superbly directed by Clarence Brown, this exciting winner of two Academy Awards co-stars a young Angela Lansbury and veteran Donald Crisp. Plus, the film has an off-screen postscript as winning as the on-screen finale: the studio gave Pie to Taylor after filming wrapped.
"One of the most likeable movies of all time." Pauline Kael, 5001 Nights at The Movies
Editor's Note
NATIONAL VELVET is the poignant family story that made a young Elizabeth Taylor a star. Taylor excels as Velvet Brown, a 1920s working-class girl whose dreams of owning her own horse become a reality when she wins Pie, a wild and unruly horse, in a raffle. With the help of Mi Taylor (Mickey Rooney), a skittish, gun-shy ex-jockey, Velvet trains Pie to be a race champion despite the wishes of her loving but cautious parents (Donald Crisp and Ann Revere). Velvet's determination pays off, and the Brown family (including Angela Lansbury as Edwina, Velvet's sophisticated older sister) pools its money and enters the family pride and joy in the prestigious Grand National race, only to have its hopes dashed when the rider renegs--leading Velvet to do something extraordinary. This uplifting adaptation of Enid Bagnold's novel features stunning photography of coastal England and acclaimed crosscut editing that heightens the tension in the famous race scene. Young costars Elizabeth Taylor and Mickey Rooney are fabulous together, full of youthful charm and exuberance, ably supported by a first-rate ensemble cast.
Plot Summary
When Velvet, a headstrong teenage girl, wins an unruly horse in a contest, she decides--against the wishes of her parents--to train the animal and enter it in England's most prestigious horse race: the Grand National Sweepstakes. But her friend, a jockey who gave up the sport, knows how dangerous the race can be with such an unpredictable animal.
| Features | Spanish Subtitles | | French Subtitles | | English Dolby Digital Mono | | French Dolby Digital Mono | | English Subtitles | | Interactive Menus | | Scene Access | | Theatrical Trailer |
| Technical Info
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Release Information
| | Studio: Warner |
| Release Date: 2/3/2004 |
| Running Time: 125 minutes |
| Original Release Date: 1944 | | Catalog ID: 65063 | | UPC: 00012569506329 | | Number of Discs: 1 |
Audio & Video
| | Original Language: English | | Available Audio Tracks: English [CC], English, French Dubbed | | Available Subtitles: English, French, Spanish | | Video: Color |
Aspect Ratio | | 4:3 |
| Cast & Crew
| Awards |
Oscar (1946) |  | Anne Revere, Winner, Best Supporting Actress | | Robert Kern, Winner, Best Film Editing | | | Cedric Gibbons, et al., Nominee, Best Art Direction--Interior Decoration, Color | | | Leonard Smith, Nominee, Best Cinematography, Color | | | Clarence Brown, Nominee, Best Director |
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| | Professional Reviews | Empire
5 stars out of 5 -- "Top-billed Mickey Rooney was never better as the horse trainer on the make, but even he is bested by the passionate conviction of exquisite, 12 year-old Elizabeth Taylor, utterly enchanting as Velvet Brown." 10/01/2008 p.175Leonard Maltin's Movie & Video Guide 10 of 10
Outstanding family film... Taylor is irresistible, Rooney was never better, and they're surrounded by a perfect supporting cast...
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