Product Details

• Actors: Mickey Rooney, Elizabeth Taylor, Donald Crisp, Anne Revere, Angela Lansbury
• Directors: Clarence Brown
• Writers: Enid Bagnold, Helen Deutsch, Theodore Reeves
• Producers: Pandro S. Berman
• Format: Color, NTSC
• Rating: G (General Audience)
• Studio: MGM (Video & DVD)
• VHS Release Date: July 11, 1995
• Run Time: 123 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (57 customer reviews)
• ASIN: 6303443931
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #64,365 in Video (See Bestsellers in Video)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com essential video

This classic family film made a star of 12-year-old Elizabeth Taylor in the title role as spunky Velvet Brown, a girl who's determined to enter her horse, Pie, in the Grand National Steeplechase. Critic Pauline Kael called it "One of the most likeable movies of all time." Mickey Rooney costars as a young man who helps Velvet train Pie for the big race. At the last minute, Velvet herself has to ride Pie in the tournament and cuts her hair to pass for a jockey. Anne Revere won an Oscar as Velvet's mother, as did editor Robert J. Kern, who cut together a terrifically exciting horse race. Donald Crisp and Angela Lansbury are also featured as members of the Brown family. --Jim Emerson

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

30 of 30 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars BUYER BEWARE....ATROCIOUS DVD TRANSFER!!!!, May 20, 2006

By	Diane C. Lore "adychamp" (Staten Island, New York USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: National Velvet (DVD)

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!!!

24 of 25 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Top Notch!, December 11, 2003

By	Ashley Ellis (Ft Lauderdale, FL United States) - See all my reviews (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)

This review is from: National Velvet (DVD)

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. :)

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Up and Coming Stars Galore!!, January 12, 2006

By	Movie Mania "DVD Collector" (Southern Calfornia) - See all my reviews (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)

This review is from: National Velvet (DVD)

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!