NATIONAL VELVET

NATIONAL VELVET is a classic 1945 movie about a British girl, Velvet Brown, who teams up with an ex-jockey named Mi Taylor to train an unruly horse to become a winner at the Grand National. With her mother’s support, Velvet convinces Mi to train Pie, the horse, which tests Mi’s intentions, as they may have ulterior motives. It is up to Velvet and Mi to ensure Pie wins the race while still being true to themselves.

NATIONAL VELVET begins with Mi Taylor’s arrival in the quaint countryside town of Sewels, England, where he meets Velvet Brown and her family. Velvet’s mother allows Mi to stay the night. Mi and Velvet meet an untamed horse, which Velvet immediately falls in love with. One day, the horse escapes its enclosure, forcing the owner to raffle it. With the help of Mi and her family, Velvet wins the raffle and names the horse Pie. With her mother’s money from her swimming days, Velvet enrolls Pie into the Grand National, and her mother tells her not to worry about winning or losing, but to focus on each thing that life brings you, one event at a time.

Mi leaves with money from the Browns to cover his expenses and enroll. He gets drunk at the bar with the people he is supposed to meet, but upon realizing they only wanted to take the money for themselves instead of enrolling Pie, Mi takes the money and leaves, saying that Velvet trusts him. He returns to Sewels and secures a jockey for the race. He and Velvet leave for the race only to find out that the jockey Mi hired only cares about the money. After a moment of confidence where Mi rides Pie, he goes to tell Velvet that he wants to race, only to discover that Velvet wants too as well. Mi relents and Velvet, pretending to be a boy, participates in the race, wins, gets disqualified, but gains her town’s recognition. Instead of fame and fortune, she chooses Pie and her family.

This movie is a beautiful and inspiring sports drama with breathtaking cinematography, including sweeping shots of the countryside as you see Pie galloping, and the race sequences are fun to watch. As far as performances go, Mickey Rooney, Elizabeth Taylor, and Anne Revere deserve to be singled out for praise as each showcases different ranges of emotion and delivers long speeches in a believable, real way. Despite a couple of matte paintings, they do not distract from the experience as the production value is quite high in every other area, from the costume design to the sets.

There are references to God and prayer, with Mrs. Brown encouraging Velvet to pray, Mr. Brown saying God bless to Mi, and telling Malvolia to pray before excusing herself from the table. There is a mild, moral worldview of following your dreams and being okay with the outcome when pursuing said dreams, when Mrs. Brown encourages Velvet to do this. There is a clear distinction between right and wrong. Even if implied, doing God’s will is taught in the household. Mr. and Mrs. Brown show proper parental correction to their children in several scenes. The movie contains some minor questionable elements. MOVIEGUIDE® recommends media-wisdom to discuss.