National Velvet (1944)

Directed by Clarence Brown. Starring Elizabeth Taylor, Mickey Rooney, Donald Crisp, Anne Revere, Angela Lansbury, Arthur Shields, Reginald Owen, Jackie Jenkins, Norma Varden, Juanita Quigley, Terry Kilburn, Arthur Treacher.

A horsey picture rendered as treacly kids’ play, this sodden family drama may be a classic to some, but is a long haul even for a high-stamina thoroughbred. Story concerns the dewy-eyed, horse-crazed youngest daughter in an English family; she’s named Velvet (Taylor), and after winning a Chestnut in a raffle, she intends to train the gelding to race in the Grand National with the help of a jockey-turned-drifter played by Rooney. Director Brown appears overmatched here, struggling to steer through instances of heavy melodrama and sentimental saccharine, and unable to make the horse at the center of the story come across as anything more than a noble and spirited prop. At least the big race is well-shot. Rooney was once a big star, and Taylor would soon become one, but neither of them are very good here (Taylor’s voice is downright grating when she gets to talking at length); the more nuanced older folks fare better, notably Velvet’s parents played by Crisp and Oscar-winner Revere. Based on Enid Bagnold’s popular children’s novel. Followed over thirty years later by International Velvet.

49/100