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Four-star movie: National Velvet
Nov. 9th, 2014 04:36 pmNational Velvet
Director: Clarence Brown
Year: 1944
I had been looking forward to watching this, because I'm very fond of the book, and because I knew it was Elizabeth Taylor's first major role. It was a pleasant change from the usual run of four-star movie.
It's a beautiful Technicolor production, though the DVD I watched it on was clearly done on the cheap: the registration is a little off, and there are no extras, not even a preview. In some ways this is the ideal family movie: an engaging character goes after a worthwhile goal, with no angst to speak of.
As is inevitable with such things, there were some major plot changes made between the book and the movie. The biggest one was changing the character of Mi Taylor from an older mentor who lives in town into a former jockey who lost his nerve after being involved in a fatal pile-up, played by Mickey Rooney.
Director: Clarence Brown
Year: 1944
I had been looking forward to watching this, because I'm very fond of the book, and because I knew it was Elizabeth Taylor's first major role. It was a pleasant change from the usual run of four-star movie.
It's a beautiful Technicolor production, though the DVD I watched it on was clearly done on the cheap: the registration is a little off, and there are no extras, not even a preview. In some ways this is the ideal family movie: an engaging character goes after a worthwhile goal, with no angst to speak of.
As is inevitable with such things, there were some major plot changes made between the book and the movie. The biggest one was changing the character of Mi Taylor from an older mentor who lives in town into a former jockey who lost his nerve after being involved in a fatal pile-up, played by Mickey Rooney.
