Mi Taylor (Mickey Rooney) is a young wanderer and opportunist whose travels lead him to the quiet English country-side home of the Brown family. The youngest daughter, Velvet (Elizabeth Taylor), has a passion for horses and when she wins the spirited steed Pie in a town lottery, Mi is encouraged to train the horse for the Grand National - England's greatest racing event. This 1945 film adaptation of the Enid Bagnold novel made Elizabeth Taylor an overnight child star. Born in England, Taylor had the right accent, and under director Clarence Brown's patient guidance, she gave a performance of great spirit and charm. National Velvet won a total of five Academy Award nominations, including one for Brown as Best Director; and two Oscars - for Anne Revere as Best Supporting Actress as Velvet's understanding mother and Robert Kern for Film Editing. (Kern's work in the climactic race is still considered a classic of editing.)
›National Velvet was Elizabeth Taylor’s first major role after small parts in other movies. She was only eleven years old when production began and had to take riding lessons and jumping instruction for the role.
› The Enid Bagnold novel was first purchased by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer as a vehicle for Mickey Rooney, the studio’s most popular juvenile star, who was almost 25 at the time. Although he was a major character in the movie, the role of Velvet Brown made Elizabeth Taylor an overnight star.
› Offscreen Elizabeth Taylor loved animals and had many pets. Among them were a golden retriever, a cocker spaniel, a squirrel, a cat named Jeepers Creepers and a chipmunk named Nibbles. The latter became the subject of her first book, "Nibbles and Me."
› The horse that played The Pie in National Velvet (1944) was named King Charles and was the grandson of Man O'War, a champion racehorse. Elizabeth Taylor was so fond of The Pie that she begged Pandro S. Berman, the producer of National Velvet, to let her keep the horse after the film was completed and her request was granted.
› One of the most famous horse races in the world, the Grand National “officially” began in 1839 at the Aintree Racecourse outside Liverpool, England, although historians differ over the actual date of the first Grand National race which some sources insist was 1836.
› The Grand National is famous for its course which is almost two and a quarter miles in length and requires the competing horses to jump 30 fences followed by a 494 yard run which usually weeds out all but the final champion.
› The most successful race horse in the history of the Grand National has been Red Rum who won the event three times – in 1973, 1974 and 1977 – and came in second in 1975 and 1976.
› Although National Velvet was based on fictitious characters, the star horse was the son of the real race horse champion Battleship, which won the Grand National in 1938 and the American Grand National in 1934.
INTERNATIONAL VELVET (1978)
In this sequel to National Velvet, a former racing champ (Anthony Hopkins) helps turn a delinquent girl (Tatum O’Neal) into an Olympic rider.
CHAMPIONS (1984)
The inspirational story of Bob Champion is told in an uplifting biopic that stars John Hurt as the famed British jockey who competed in the Grand National Steeplechase race.
SEABISCUIT (2003)
Tobey Maguire, Jeff Bridges and Chris Cooper star in this true story of the Depression-era racehorse whose victories boosted America’s spirit in hard times.
THE STORY OF SEABISCUIT (1949)
Shirley Temple stars in this fictionalized account of the legendary racehorse's training and triumphs.
THE BLACK STALLION (1979)
A boy (Kelly Reno) and a horse forge a close friendship after being shipwrecked together in Africa.
MY FRIEND FLICKA (1943)
To teach him responsibility, a young boy’s parents give him a horse to care for and groom. Roddy McDowall stars.
FLICKA (2006)
16-year-old Katy McLaughlin (Alison Lohman) goes to work on her father's ranch in modern-day Wyoming and befriends a wild mustang in this remake of the original version.
NATIONAL VELVET (1945)
“Elizabeth Taylor stars in the 1944 family classic about a young gir, her beloved horse, and her determination to win the Grand National Steeplechase race.
