National Velvet (film)

National Velvet
Original film poster
Directed by	Clarence Brown
Produced by	Pandro S. Berman
Screenplay by	Helen Deutsch
Based on	National Velvet by Enid Bagnold
Starring	Mickey Rooney Donald Crisp Elizabeth Taylor Anne Revere Angela Lansbury Reginald Owen Terry Kilburn
Music by	Herbert Stothart
Cinematography	Leonard Smith
Editing by	Robert Kern
Distributed by	Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Release date(s)	December 14, 1944 (1944-12-14)
Running time	123 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$2,770,000
Box office	$5,840,000

National Velvet is a 1944 drama film, in Technicolor, based on the novel by Enid Bagnold, published in 1935. It stars Mickey Rooney, Donald Crisp and a young Elizabeth Taylor.^[1][2]

In 2003, National Velvet was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant."

Plot

National Velvet is the story of a twelve-year old girl, Velvet Brown (Elizabeth Taylor), living in Sewels, in Sussex, England, who wins a spirited gelding in a raffle and trains it for the Grand National steeplechase, aided by her father's (Donald Crisp) hired hand, a young drifter, Mi Taylor (Mickey Rooney), who claims to have found Mrs. Brown's name and address among his deceased father's effects. Mi loathes horses, because while a jockey in Manchester, he caused a collision which resulted in the death of another jockey. The horse is called "The Pie", short for Pirate, the epithet given him by the previous owner due to his misbehavior. Velvet wins The Pie in a raffle and convinces Mi to train them both for the Grand National. The night before the race, Velvet senses that the Latvian jockey hired to ride The Pie doesn't believe he can win. Rather than give up the race, Mi imagines he will overcome his fears and ride in the Latvian's place. Velvet has other ideas, and in the end masquerades as the jockey herself and rides the horse to victory. Exhausted by the exertion of the five-mile race, Velvet collapses from the horse shortly after the finish, and is disqualified for not staying in the saddle until reaching the enclosure. A doctor discovers the fallen jockey is, in fact, "an adolescent female", and Velvet becomes a media sensation. Velvet declines offers of 5,000 pounds to travel to Hollywood with The Pie to be filmed, as "he wouldn't like being looked at." In the final scene of the film, Velvet rides off to reveal to a departing Mi that his father was Mrs. Brown's coach in her contest-winning swim across the English Channel as a young woman.

The film differs from the book in countless respects, from the colour of the horse and its name (in the book the horse is a piebald, named "Piebald") to the appearance of Velvet and her mother, both of whom have been glamourised into very different people. Velvet, in the book, is plain, pale and sickly; her mother weighs 16 stone. The Brown family has also been made to seem more educated and richer in the film version: Mr. Brown is a prosperous butcher while Mrs. Brown, who keeps the books, has won 100 pounds for swimming the English Channel.

Cast

• Mickey Rooney as Mi Taylor
• Donald Crisp as Mr. Herbert Brown
• Elizabeth Taylor as Velvet Brown
• Anne Revere as Mrs. Araminty Brown
• Angela Lansbury as Edwina Brown
• Jackie 'Butch' Jenkins as Donald Brown
• Juanita Quigley as Malvolia "Mally" Brown
• Arthur Treacher as Race Patron
• Reginald Owen as Farmer Ede
• Norma Varden as Miss Sims
• Terry Kilburn as Ted
• Arthur Shields as Mr. Hallam
• Aubrey Mather as Entry official
• Alec Craig as Tim
• Eugene Loring as Ivan Taski
• Jane Isbell as Schoolgirl Jane

Production notes

An 18-year-old Gene Tierney, who was then appearing on Broadway, was offered the role of Velvet Brown in 1939. Production was delayed, however, so Tierney returned to Broadway.^[3] Much of the film was shot in Pebble Beach, California, with the most scenic views on Pebble Beach Golf Links, with some golf holes visible in the background.

Elizabeth Taylor was given "The Pie" as a birthday gift after filming was over.

Song

• "Summertime" - Elizabeth Taylor and MGM Studio and Orchestra Chorus Girls / Teacher

Reception

National Velvet currently holds a 100% 'Fresh' rating on Rotten Tomatoes.^[4]

Academy Awards

The film won two Oscars in 1945:^[5]

Wins

• Best Supporting Actress - Anne Revere
• Best Film Editing - Robert J. Kern

Nominations

• Best Director - Clarence Brown
• Best Art Direction (color) - (Art Direction) Cedric Gibbons and Urie McCleary; (Interior Decoration) Edwin B. Willis and Mildred Griffiths
• Best Cinematography - Leonard Smith

Other adaptations

• National Velvet was dramatized as a one-hour radio play on the February 3, 1947 broadcast of Lux Radio Theater, with Elizabeth Taylor, Mickey Rooney, Donald Crisp and Janice Scott.
• In 1960, the film was adapted into television series which aired on NBC.
• In 2003, a film version was made for television.

Sequel

In 1978, a sequel, International Velvet, was released. The film stars Tatum O'Neal, Christopher Plummer, Anthony Hopkins, and Nanette Newman, who plays Velvet Brown as an adult.

References

1. ^ Variety film review; December 6, 1944, page 14.
2. ^ Harrison's Reports film review; December 9, 1944, page 199.
3. ^ Tierney and Herskowitz (1978) Wyden Books. "Self-Portrait". pg.23
4. ^ National Velvet at Rotten Tomatoes
5. ^ "NY Times: National Velvet". NY Times. http://movies.nytimes.com/movie/34594/National-Velvet/details. Retrieved 2008-12-20. 

External links

• National Velvet at the Internet Movie Database
• National Velvet at the TCM Movie Database
• National Velvet at AllRovi
• National Velvet at Rotten Tomatoes