My junior high school girl friends and I all went through the phase of being "horse crazy." Experts say that a lot of children go through this phase, and most of these are girls. The horse films we liked were usually run on a Pittsburgh television station on Sunday afternoons. Then, when we all returned to school on Monday morning, we would excitedly ask each other, "Did you see "My Friend Flicka?" Did you see "Gallant Bess?" And, "Did you see "National Velvet?" This film is a beloved memory from my childhood. It was all our dream to ride a horse in a great race and win it! I read Enid Bagnold's book, and the major change from book to movie was that "The Pi" was called that because he was black and white--a piebald--not because he was very high-spirited and hard to handle--a "pirate." However, I read somewhere that "King Charles," the horse portraying "The Pi," was a son of Man o' War and a chestnut like his sire--no Thoroughbred horse would ever be a piebald! Mickey Rooney played the part he played so many times and which he would make his own--a jockey or a trainer. Elizabeth Taylor was staggeringly beautiful, never more beautiful than she was in this film. Anne Revere is the wise, loving mother everyone wishes they had had. Velvet lives out her dream, and we lived it out with her. Whenever I see this film now (it never ages), I look back with nostalgia to those warm summer afternoons in the shadowy living room in front of the television, imagining myself as Velvet, winning the greatest steeplechase in the world on my beloved horse. A must-see for all children, especially girls!
Review of National Velvet
