National Velvet (1944)

“That’ll be a dispute to the end of time, Mr. Brown: whether it’s better to do the right thing for the wrong reason or the wrong thing for the right reason. ” – Mrs. Brown

Number of Times Seen – 1 (1 Aug 2018)

Brief Synopsis – A young girl wins a horse in a raffle and wants to prove to everyone that he is a racehorse and can win a horse racing tournament.

My Take on it – This is a film that I heard about years ago yet never had much interest in seeing until now.

This film was nominated for best director and for Best Supporting Actress that year and managed to win Supporting actress for Anne Revere who plays the mother.

The story is quite heartwarming and allows us to see the kind of bond that can form between a young girl and her horse.

This film brings some blatant analogies between the personalities of both and that helps strengthen the way that we see both of them.

Mickey Rooney is great in the lead role of a former horse trainer who became disillusioned after an accident and is slowly convinced by young Elizabeth Taylor to help her train her new horse and perhaps even ride her in order to win the horse race.

They do a great job of showing how in order to be the best, one must also give forth their best efforts even if you might not always succeed in your endeavors.

Taylor does a wonderful job as the young girl and gives the viewer a reason to care more about what happens over the course of the film.

This actually surprised me a bit that even at the age of 14 she had so much charisma and could show it on screen.

Bottom Line – Very interesting story about the connection between a young girl and her horse. The analogies between the two of them are quite blatant here and it’s easy to see why they have such a strong connection. Rooney is great as a former horse trainer that the young girl tries to convince to train and perhaps even ride the horse in the race. Heartwarming story about doing your best in order to get the best results.  Taylor is quite good here and I was surprised to see that even as a child actress she was able to make us care about her character. Recommended!

MovieRob’s Favorite Trivia – Elizabeth Taylor fell from the horse and broke her back during the filming of the racing scene. Although she recovered quickly, she suffered greatly later in life. (From IMDB)

Rating – Globe Worthy (7/10)

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