National Velvet

A film review by Christopher Null - Copyright © 2000 Filmcritic.com

A young Liz Taylor, standing eye to eye with an adult Mickey Rooney, stars in this classic children's fable at a girl and her horse, named The Pi. Rooney is a down-on-his-luck ex-jockey who encounters the Brown family, working as a general servant but taking to young Velvet (Taylor) when she comes into the ownership of a wild gelding. On sheer determination, she enters The Pi into the Grand National steeplechase, a grueling horse race in which she eventually rides herself (scandal!). Great fun for the youngsters among you, but I don't know how much "sheer determination" us adults can stand at once.

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Rating

3.5 out of 5 Stars

Cast and Crew

  • Director: Clarence Brown
  • Producer: Pandro S. Berman
  • Screenwriter: Helen Deutsch, Theodore Reeves
  • Stars: Mickey Rooney, Elizabeth Taylor, Donald Crisp, Anne Revere, Angela Lansbury
  • MPAA Rating: G