Customer Reviews:
A Classic Tale of a Girl, her Horse, a young Jockey and Mom.......2004-09-21
Somehow I never got around to see this movie until I was 40 years old. I guess it was because I was never really an Elizabeth Taylor fan, although I have always enjoyed "The Taming of the Shrew" and "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?" But I was at the library and I had always heard good things about it and so I checked in out and took it home and watched it and feel in love with it.
The plot line involving Mike (Mickey Rooney) starts off as somewhat melodramatic, the standard story (literarly in this case) of the guy who has to get back on the horse. The twist is that when he does our young heroine has decided she is the only one who can ride the Pie to victory. The twist is the Rooney achieves his victory without winning (anticipating "Rocky" in that regard when you stop and think about it).
The focus of the film is on Taylor and Rooney, but the heart and soul of the film is the relationship between Velvet and her mother. Anne Reeve won a Best Supporting Actress Oscar for her portrayal of the mother, and while her scenes with husband Donald Crip are small gems scattered throughout the film (they call each other "Mr. Brown" and "Mrs. Brown" and you can tell how much they love each other every time they do it), it is the scenes with her daughter that bring home the film.
Mrs. Brown uses the money from her swimming the channel to fund Velvet's dream of racing the pie in the Grand National. But for Velvet the payoff is not when she wins the race and becames a front page story, but when she arrives home and immediately runs to her mother and says, "We won, Mother. We won." Her mother already knows. All of England knows. But all that mattered was telling her mother. It is a neat scene and an ellegant payoff to the film, more so than her running off to fetch make Mike.
This 1944 film was directed by Clarence Brown and is based on the novel by Enid Bagnold. Final Warning: And if after you have watched and enjoyed this classic film with your children and you screen the sequel "International Velvet" which only leaves a bad taste in your mouth, you have only yourself to blame.
Customer Reviews:
A Classic Tale of a Girl, her Horse, a young Jockey and Mom.......2004-09-21
Somehow I never got around to see this movie until I was 40 years old. I guess it was because I was never really an Elizabeth Taylor fan, although I have always enjoyed "The Taming of the Shrew" and "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?" But I was at the library and I had always heard good things about it and so I checked in out and took it home and watched it and feel in love with it.
The plot line involving Mike (Mickey Rooney) starts off as somewhat melodramatic, the standard story (literarly in this case) of the guy who has to get back on the horse. The twist is that when he does our young heroine has decided she is the only one who can ride the Pie to victory. The twist is the Rooney achieves his victory without winning (anticipating "Rocky" in that regard when you stop and think about it).
The focus of the film is on Taylor and Rooney, but the heart and soul of the film is the relationship between Velvet and her mother. Anne Reeve won a Best Supporting Actress Oscar for her portrayal of the mother, and while her scenes with husband Donald Crip are small gems scattered throughout the film (they call each other "Mr. Brown" and "Mrs. Brown" and you can tell how much they love each other every time they do it), it is the scenes with her daughter that bring home the film.
Mrs. Brown uses the money from her swimming the channel to fund Velvet's dream of racing the pie in the Grand National. But for Velvet the payoff is not when she wins the race and becames a front page story, but when she arrives home and immediately runs to her mother and says, "We won, Mother. We won." Her mother already knows. All of England knows. But all that mattered was telling her mother. It is a neat scene and an ellegant payoff to the film, more so than her running off to fetch make Mike.
This 1944 film was directed by Clarence Brown and is based on the novel by Enid Bagnold. Final Warning: And if after you have watched and enjoyed this classic film with your children and you screen the sequel "International Velvet" which only leaves a bad taste in your mouth, you have only yourself to blame.
UK DVD:
- Nelly And Mr Arnaud [1995]
- Noce Blanche [1989]
- One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest : The Movie & More (2 Disc Special Edition) [1975]
- Paperhouse [1989]
- Paradise Now [2005]
- Playing The Field - Series 3 And 4
- Rocket Science [2007]
- Rock Follies - Series 1 [1976]
- Selena [1997]
- Shampoo
UK DVD List
UK DVD
![National Velvet [1944] (REGION 1) (NTSC)](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/31XYVPEG9HL.jpg)
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