Customer Reviews

National Velvet

5 star:		(54)
4 star:		(13)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

National Velvet is a classic film, enjoyable and entertaining for the whole family. I give the film itself 5 stars for this reason alone. They just don't make 'em like this anymore!!!

...And now for the real nitty gritty...Warner (and previously MGM DVD) should be ashamed of themselves for putting out such an atrocious transfer of this great Technicolor classic! While the colors show up well in most of the film, the main problem with this DVD is that the source print was VERY DIRTY!!!!

Expect to see PLENTY of scratches, dust, and out-of-focus shots throughout the 124 minute running time.

Overall, this is a complete disgrace because Turner Classic Movies runs a fantastically restored PRISTINE print of National Velvet on their network...free of scratches and dust.

Also, I have another word to the folks at Warner: LOSE THE CHEAPIE SNAPPER CASE PACKAGING!!! AMARAY KEEP CASE ALL THE WAY!!!

5 stars for the film....1 star for the lousy treatment on DVD!!!

Warner Brothers obviously doesn't care about their film library. This fact shines when you consider their DVD of "National Velvet". This wonderful film features beautiful early color photography, outstanding performances from the likes of Donald Crisp, Mickey Rooney and the young Liz Taylor, a stunning score and a faithful adaptation of a beloved children's book. WB celebrates this gem, which any other studio would love to have in their archive, by releasing an overpriced, no-frills DVD which was struck from the WORST print imaginable: scratches, drop-outs, discoloration, out of focus footage etc... abound, in addition to a muted, garbled soundtrack + no special features (not even the Theatrical Trailer promised on the box!), even though the two stars are still alive!!

Shame on WB. This edition is thankfully out of print. Here's hoping for a special edition with a commentary before Taylor and Rooney have passed on.

This is another of those classic horse movies that is STILL great today! I have seen it a hundred times, and I still enjoy it just as much as the first time. :)

The story is basically a poor, horse-crazy girl named Velvet Brown (Elizabeth Taylor) ends up with an unruly, but talented horse she calls The Pie. He's known for jumping out of pastures and being a nuisance! A young boy (Mickey Rooney) ends up staying with her family for awhile, to help out with the family business. He happens to know about horses and helps Velvet train The Pie. They end up entering the horse in the most prestigious steeplechase event in the world, the Grand National. The rest I'll keep a secret!

The story is so heart warming and special... the characters are funny and sympathetic. The acting is superb! A very young Angela Landsbury has a part as Velvet's beautiful older sister! And the race at the end is just brilliant - you really can't help but cheer The Pie on - to this day I find myself standing up and screaming along as he is leaping over those fences!

The movie followed the basic story of the book, but as with most movies they had to leave a lot out. The book is a classic in its own right though, and well worth reading if you haven't already. The story is so exciting and fun, its one I will never forget. I highly recommend seeing this movie, even if you're not a horse fanatic. :)

We first meet the Brown sisters, Edwina (Angela Lansbury), Mellie and Velvet (Elizabeth Taylor) on the last day of the school term. This is going to be a big day for Velvet. On her way home she meets Mike Taylor (Mickey Rooney) and sees a horse which she names the Pi (short for the Pirate).

Mrs. Brown (Anne Revere) was a famous channel swimmer. Mike's father was her coach. Mr. Brown (Donald Crisp) is the town butcher and hires Mike to work for him.

When the Pi escapes and runs rampant through town, his owner decides to raffle him off. Velvet gets the notion that she will win the horse; she's arranged it with God. When she loses the raffle, she is heart broken. She is so heart broken that she sees the whole town bringing her the Pi. But it's true. The number drawn hadn't been sold and the next number was Velvet's.

Then Velvet gets the idea to enter the Pi into the Grand National Steeplechase. And finally, she decides to race the horse herself.

This was Liz's second starring role - fourth film. You could see from this her true charisma was showing early on. This was also an early role for Angela Lansbury. This film she played a girl about her own age, a rarity for Lansbury. Rooney was the veteran. This was his 50th film. But this was Mickey in transition. He wanted to get away of being Andy Hardy, Judy Garland's boyfriend or the younger brother of the star of a film. All proved they had the talent to go far.

The rest of the cast included many of MGM's greatest character actors. But it was Anne Revere as the center rock of the Brown family that won the Oscar. She gave a great performance that would be the standard and copied to this day.

The production values are the best of MGM's toughest standards. You cannot fault any of the production values.

This is a perfect escapist family fare.

DVD EXTRAS: None - They should get Liz, Angela and Mickey together to do a commentary track!

National Velvet is a true classic. The problem is with the existing condition of the movie. It is in desperate need of restoration. The out-of-focus look of the film is due to the 3-strip Technicolor transfer. One or more of the 3 strips has aged to the point where they have literally shrunk. So when this version was printed the colors no longer lined up properly. This is a common problem with Technicolor films. It almost happened to "Gone With The Wind". Whoever owns the rights to the film needs to start a full restoration project. This movie is more than deserving the cost and effort.

It had been years since I'd watched National Velvet starring Elizabeth Taylor and Mickey Rooney, until picking up this DVD recently. The film was as good as I remembered, if not more so now that I can view it with some measure of nostalgia for youthful innocence and the power of dreams.

As Velvet Brown, an 11-year-old Elizabeth Taylor glows on screen and brings to the role of a girl in love with horses all the wistfulness and energy that could be desired. Mickey Rooney is also excellent as a young wandering man (Mi Taylor) whose tragic backstory eventually reveals itself in an emotional, if somewhat overwrought, scene between these two characters. The chemistry between Rooney and Taylor is unmistakable and gives weight to the trust and friendship that develops between Velvet and Mi. Although Velvet is too young to be concerned with boys in a romantic sense, the viewer gets the sense that these two are equals and truly respect each other. It's refreshing to see a friendship between a boy and girl portrayed so well.

This film succeeds in telling a heartwarming and life-affirming story of how a dream come true can change a life forever. For Velvet's mother, it was swimming the English Channel as a young woman. For her daughter, Velvet, it is winning a spirited horse, the Pie, and training him (with Mi's guidance) to race in the Grand National Steeplechase. In fact, some of the film's most poignant and graceful scenes occur between Velvet and her mother, played by Anne Revere. Mrs. Brown is a fount of wisdom for Velvet and shows great love and support for her daughter's dream by supplying the needed entry money for the horse race from her own winnings from her swim across the Channel years before.

This is a film to love for its many pleasures, such as a memorable cast (including a young Angela Lansbury as Velvet's older, boy-crazy sister), pastoral setting, and beautifully told story. It's a true classic and not one to miss. However, this DVD release is not quite worthy of the film. It deserves a cleaner transfer. One scene in particular is out of focus. There are no extra features or commentary that would make viewing the film a richer experience. But, for the price, it is worth picking up to watch for now, while we hope and wait for a better release someday.

I thought that I wouldn't like this movie when my grandmother reccomended it. I WAS WRONG! I loved this movie so much! National Velvet is the story of Velvet Brown, a young girl who is obsessed with horses. On the way home from school one afternoon, Velvet runs into a boy named Mi Taylor. He comes home with Velvet, and Mrs. Brown says that he can stay and work with Mr. Brown. Velvet is delighted! One day while delivering meat with Mi, Velvet sees their neighbor's new horse jump the fence. Mi is astonished! The neighbor's horse that Velvet calls 'Pie' has jumped a six foot fence! This is the perfect horse for the Grand National race! Velvet wins the horse and she and Mi train him for the Nationals. This movie is so exciting and I love it! If you like horses, you'll love National Velvet!

After young Elizabeth Taylor proved herself in "Lassie Come Home", MGM felt confident to star her in this delightful film. Shot in glorious early technicolor, the camera already loves Liz, then just twelve. Rooney was made for the role of jockey Mi Taylor, and actress Anne Revere stands out as Velvet's understanding mother, winning an Oscar. As timeless family fare goes, "National Velvet" is solid gold, and a must for girls, whether they like horses or not.

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.

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