National Velvet

Name: National Velvet
Genre: Drama, Sport, Family
Released: January 26, 1945
Duration: 123 min
Rating: 83
Cast: Angela Lansbury, Anne Revere, Arthur Treacher, Donald Crisp, Elizabeth Taylor

1945

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Universal acclaim based on 15 Critic Reviews

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Movie Details & Credits

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) | Release Date: January 26, 1945 | G

Starring: Angela Lansbury, Anne Revere, Arthur Treacher, Donald Crisp, Elizabeth Taylor, Jackie 'Butch' Jenkins, Juanita Quigley, Mickey Rooney, Norma Varden, Reginald Owen

Summary: A jaded former jockey (Mickey Rooney) helps a young girl (Elizabeth Taylor) prepare a wild but gifted horse for England's Grand National Sweepstakes.

Director: Clarence Brown

Genre(s): Drama, Sport, Family

Rating: G

Runtime: 123 min

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Critic Reviews

100

Lawrence O'Toole

No other child actor — nor adult one — has ever captured the pure, unconditional love between human and animal as Elizabeth Taylor does here. And few other films have caught the can’t-wait-another-second excitement of childhood fixation. Read full review

100

Dana Stevens

Though it’s often cited on lists of the greatest sports movies, or horse movies, or movies for children—all citations this magnificent film deserves—National Velvet is perhaps dearest to me for its lovingly detailed and precise portrait of this very particular mother-daughter relationship, and for the intertwined performances of the dry, laconic Revere and the tremulously radiant Taylor (who was already, at age 12, a sophisticated and sensitive actress). Read full review

100

The Observer (UK) Philip French

A children's classic and among the best family movies of all time. [19 Feb 2006, p.2]

TV Guide Magazine Staff (Not Credited)

Perhaps the only time Elizabeth Taylor's costar matched her visual scene stealing. He's a horse, albeit a gelding. One of MGM's most beloved films, NATIONAL VELVET was the picture that made a star out of Taylor. Read full review

Bosley Crowther

Indeed, in its simple comprehension of the faith and affection of youth it is likely more tender and affecting than even the story of Lassie was. And it certainly is more exciting in its vivid, dramatic display. Read full review

Don Druker

A good movie for kids and armchair Freudians (1944), with 12-year-old Elizabeth Taylor training her pet horse for the Grand National. Read full review

Josh Larsen

As the parents of a busy family in an early 20th-century English hamlet, Donald Crisp and Anne Revere save this treacly family drama from choking on its own sentimentality. Read full review

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