National Velvet

Starring:Mickey Rooney, Donald Crisp, Elizabeth Taylor, Anne Revere, Angela Lansbury, Jackie 'Butch' Jenkins, Juanita Quigley, Arthur Treacher, Reginald Owen, Norma Varden, Terry Kilburn, Arthur Shields, Aubrey Mather, Alec Craig, Eugene Loring, Dennis Hoey, Matthew Boulton, Gerald Oliver Smith, Murray Coombs, George Kirby
Director: Clarence Brown
Studio: Warner Home Video
Product Type: DVD

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

Description

Enchantingly beautiful Elizabeth Taylor became a movie star at age twelve after starring in this classic about a girl and her jockey pal (Mickey Rooney) who transform an unruly horse into a champion.

Customer Reviews:

Love this movie, but the quality is not remastered..........2007-07-01

Love this story about a girl who won a national horse race in England, but why did Warner release a movie like this to DVD without cleaning it up? It has white dots, squiggles, and even green rings in the picture. A couple of times I even saw a black line in the film, which was distracting. This is the movie that made Elizabeth Taylor a star; it deserved a respectable cleanup before its release.

Belief in a Dream.......2007-06-24

To illustrate the power of the film and especially of Elizabeth Taylor's special quality of illuminosity she brought to it, I read somewhere that a returning WWII GI had come home emotionally depressed and empty from his war experience. He wandered into a movie theater to see this film and came out with at least some sense of his faith in the world and in himself restored based on watching this child's still intact ability to dream and hope.

Film making and story telling at its best!!!.......2007-06-05

It's been years since I've seen this film, and I'd have to say that I was a kid when I first saw this on an old black and white TV. When it was released on a DVD, my wife and I sat down and really enjoyed this fabulous film. We didn't find that it was made poorly. Just the opposite. It had all the earmarks of a fine film - joy, suspense, love, action, drama, comedy, and the like. We didn't find we liked Mickey Rooney's character at first, but he grew on us, and Elizabeth Taylor was simply marvelous, as were her parents. Thoe whole ensemble cast was terrific. And then we get to the horse race and that whole business. I can't say enough about it!! There's a scene in the film where Mickey Rooney tells a tale to the young boy, and it's done without any fanfare of the what the future might hold, but had there ever been plans of making a movie called "The Black Stallion," then this little scene in this film was the precursor.

A fine family film!! We need more like these today!! Highly recommended.

They just don't make 'em like this any more...........2007-05-25

I have probably seen this movie a dozen times from start to finish and each time I come away with a renewed appreciation for hope, hard work, dreams and - yes - folly. This movie, while without question dated and at times a little bit silly, stands the passage of time by virtue of its pure heart and strong moral messages. Velvet Brown - the 12 year old daughter of a butcher in the small town of Sewels in England - wins her gelding, The Pie, in a one-shilling-per-ticket raffle. Mi Taylor, a young American lad walking the roads and lanes of England, comes to visit the Browns and ends up staying and training Velvet and The Pie for the Grand National - the Greatest Horse Race In The World, according to ex-jockey Mi Taylor. My favorite character in the film is hands down Mrs. Brown, the mother, played by the inscrutable Anne Revere. She is wise, gentle, strong - at 20 she swam the English channel - her trainer was Mi Taylor's fater, Dan Taylor - as she says, "there was greatness in him". There is greatness in her. Watch out for the speech she gives her daughter up in the attic when she tells Velvet that she will back her crazy dream to enter the Pie in the Grand National - she believes that "everyone is intitled once in their life to a breathtaking piece of folly". She explains to her daughter that this dream must last her for her whole life- that she must know when it is over and to move on. There is a time for everything in life, she explains - a time for riding a horse in the Grand national, a time for marriage, children, yes even for dying. IN these crazy times when we all want everything fast, now, right away - Mrs. Brown's calm and sensible pacing make the world make sense. Enjoy the film's many mealtimes and small moments. One oddity though - in a family that appears to be English, living in England, the casting directors saw fit to put a very American actor in the part of the youngest Brown child, Donald. Go figure!

ONE OF FINEST FAMILY FILMS, ONE OF MOST EXCITING RACES.......2007-04-29

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

National Velvet/The Story of Seabiscuit/Black Beauty

Average customer rating:

National Velvet/The Story of Seabiscuit/Black Beauty
Starring: Shirley Temple , Barry Fitzgerald , Lon McCallister , Rosemary DeCamp , and Donald MacBride
Director: David Butler , Clarence Brown , and Caroline Thompson
Manufacturer: Warner Home Video
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

General | Drama | Genres | DVD | Video

General | Kids & Family | Genres | DVD | Video

DVDs Under $7.49 | Today's Deals in DVD | Special Features | DVD | Video

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ASIN: B000HT38IA
Release Date: 2006-11-07

Description

Adventure gallops home in three films featuring the speed, power and grace of majestic horses. In two-time Academy Award winner* National Velvet (Disc 1/Side A), Elizabeth Taylor poses as a boy in order to ride her beloved steed in the Grand National. Mickey Rooney co-stars in this all-time thoroughbred of a family-film winner. Real-life racing footage of the legendary "the Biscuit" adds to the drama of The Story of Seabiscuit (Disc 1/Side B), starring Shirley Temple. And the heroic colt in Black Beauty (Disc 2) triumphs over adversity and changes lives as he passes from owner to owner. David Thewlis and Sean Bean lead the two-legged cast members in this splendid version of Anna Sewell's famed tale. Time to ride!

The Elizabeth Taylor Signature Collection (National Velvet / Father of the Bride / Cat on a Hot Tin Roof / Butterfield 8)

Average customer rating:

A nice fan for Lizzy
Fine collection

The Elizabeth Taylor Signature Collection (National Velvet / Father of the Bride / Cat on a Hot Tin Roof / Butterfield 8)
Starring: Mickey Rooney , Donald Crisp , Elizabeth Taylor , Anne Revere , and Angela Lansbury
Director: Clarence Brown , Vincente Minnelli , and Daniel Mann
Manufacturer: Warner Home Video
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

General | Drama | Genres | DVD | Video

Classics | Drama | Genres | DVD | Video

Signature Collections | Classics | Genres | DVD | Video

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Similar Items:

The Hepburn & Tracy Signature Collection (Woman of the Year / Pat and Mike / Adam's Rib / The Spencer Tracy Legacy)
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The Judy Garland Signature Collection (A Star is Born / The Wizard of Oz / The Harvey Girls / Love Finds Andy Hardy / In the Good Old Summertime / Ziegfeld Girl / For Me and My Gal)
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ASIN: B0002Y4TNI
Release Date: 2004-10-12

Customer Reviews:

A nice fan for Lizzy.......2007-03-09

Four excellent DVDs are contained in this box, This is Elizabeth Taylor's box, and although our fascination goes more to the boxed set of the Legendary Duo: Taylor/Burton, this nevertheless is a must buy too.

It covers almost thirty years of Liz Taylor's career, starting with "National Velvet" in 1944, followed by "Father of the Bride", the original version of 1950 which actually has Spencer Tracy starring in it, Elizabeth just having a secondary role there, cued by the mythical "Cat on a Hot Tin Roof" (1958) and ending with the melodrama "Butterfield 8", the only one in which Liz played opposite her own then husband: Eddie Fisher and co-starring Laurence Harvey in 1960.

The first two come in a full screen presentation (Cinemascope and Panavision widescreen presentations were only introduced in 1953). The other two come in their correct theatrical ratio.

There are no frills here, like specials, interviews or some other fluff, but the movies were decently transferred and the sound, although mono on all four, is fairly crisp and well polished.

Well worth its price if you asked me, and you did not...

Fine collection.......2005-04-21

What a great way to view the first half of her career all in one fell swoop. In National Velvet, of course, she plays young Velvet Brown, the most beautiful little girl ever born, with a love for her horse that knows no bounds. What a shame injury prevented her from playing in International Velvet for Bryan Forbes many years later, though Nanette Newman was very good in the part as well. In FATHER OF THE BRIDE, Taylor is all of a sudden very grown up, and Vincente Minnelli really showcases her youthful beauty and high spirits and passionate nature. The movie is wonderful with details, and although it is really Spencer Tracy's story, both Taylor and her look-alike movie mom, Joan Bennett, have some great scenes and both look ravishing. Yes, Liz was all grown up but the movie doesn't really go to the place of sexuality in the same way that Richard Brooks' CAT ON A HIT TIN ROOF does. Taylor kind of wears that white slip, otherwise it looks like it's falling off of her, and Paul Newman seems suitably aroused, and yet the whole premise of the picture is that for some reason, and what could it be, he's just not up to having sex with her. It's a very funny movie despite its torrid plotline and the sterling performances of all concerned. While Taylor received the Oscar for BUTTERFIELD 8, the final movie of our quartet, she really should have been handed the statuette for her superior work in CAT. As Maggie she created an indelible image that ranks with her finest work (such as PLACE IN THE SUN and WHO'S AFRAID OF VIRGINIA WOOLF).

This DVD set is a good bargain and the films themselves have rarely looked better, though there is some flaking around the edges during early reels of BUTTERFIELD 8.

Average customer rating:

National Velvet/Black Beauty
Starring: Mickey Rooney , Donald Crisp , Elizabeth Taylor , Anne Revere , and Angela Lansbury
Director: Clarence Brown , and Caroline Thompson
Manufacturer: Warner Home Video
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

General | Drama | Genres | DVD | Video

( N ) | Titles | Features | DVD | Video
ASIN: B0000E6FPO
Release Date: 2003-11-18

Amazon.com

National Velvet
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

Amazon.com

Customer Reviews:

Love this movie, but the quality is not remastered..........2007-07-01

Belief in a Dream.......2007-06-24

Film making and story telling at its best!!!.......2007-06-05

They just don't make 'em like this any more...........2007-05-25

ONE OF FINEST FAMILY FILMS, ONE OF MOST EXCITING RACES.......2007-04-29

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