Search - National Velvet on DVD

MPAA Rating: G Content Advisory: Adult Situations, Child Classic Movie Release: 1944 DVD Release: 09/30/1997 Format: DVD - Pan and Scan Audio Tracks: English, French Subtitles: English, French, Spanish SwapaDVD Credits: 1 Number of Discs: 1 Run Time: 2 hrs 5 mins Studio: MGM Total Copies: 1 Genres: Children's/Family, Animal Picture, Childhood Drama See Also: National Velvet

Although National Velvet was the first starring role for 11-year-old Elizabeth Taylor, the early part of the film belongs to Mickey Rooney in the showier role of Mike Taylor, a headstrong English ex-jockey. Soured on life by a serious accident, Mike plans to steal from the country family that has taken him in, but his resolve is weakened by the kindness of young Velvet (Taylor). The two find a common bond in their love of horses. Velvet wins an "unbreakable" horse in a raffle, and enters the animal in the Grand National Sweepstakes. Though Mike is unable to ride the horse, he aids Velvet in her plan to disguise herself as a jockey; she wins the race...but the story isn't over quite yet. Co-starring as Velvet's mother is Anne Revere, who won a Best Supporting Actress Oscar for her performance. National Velvet is based on the novel by Enid Bagnold. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Elizabeth Taylor - Velvet Brown
Mickey Rooney - Mike Taylor
Donald Crisp - Mr. Brown
Anne Revere - Mrs. Brown
Angela Lansbury - Edwina Brown

Clarence Brown's family favorite National Velvet comes to DVD with a standard full-frame 1.33:1 image (as any film produced before 1955 should). English and French soundtracks are rendered in Dolby Digital Mono. There are no subtitles on this disc, but English closed-captions are available. There are no special features on this disc, but with the inexpensive list price, few people will complain. Fans of animal movies will most certainly want to see the equine classic. ~ Perry Seibert, All Movie Guide