Plot summary
National Velvet
is the story of a 14 year old girl, Velvet Brown, who rides her horse to victory in the
Grand National steeplechase. The fictional
horse which Velvet trains and rides in the Grand National is named The Pirate, whom she calls The Pie for short.
Velvet is a teenager in the late 1920s, living in a small
English coastal village of Sewels in Sussex, dreaming of one day owning many horses. Her mother is a wise, taciturn woman who was once famous for swimming the
English Channel; her father is a butcher.
Meeting her father's future assistant, Mi Taylor, on the road to Sewels, they both watch a fast, magnificent
piebald gelding, running in a field. Velvet is immediately taken by the horse. But suddenly, he jumps the stone fence. Mi says, in passing, that a horse like that could win the National. Velvet becomes obsessed with winning the horse in an upcoming raffle and riding him to greatness.
Velvet actually does win the dream horse she has fallen in love with. And together with Mi, she starts dreaming of winning the Grand National steeplechase at Aintree race course.
After being given her mother's winnings (in gold) from swimming the English Channel for the entry fee, Velvet and Mi take the trip to compete in the race. She gets through the jockeys' changing and weighing rooms, disguised as a Latvian jockey, and actually wins the race, but is sadly disqualifed.
Velvet unfortunately slips off The Pie after the winning-post due to exhaustion, and her gender is discovered in the first-aid station. The racing world is both dismayed and fascinated by a young girl's winning its toughest race and Velvet and The Pie become a nine-day wonder, with Velvet and her family nearly drowning in notoriety (which echoes her mother's unsought fame after swimming the English Channel). The National Hunt Committee exonerates all involved, and Velvet and her family return to their ordinary lives as she declines all appearance offers for fear The Pie will be uncomfortably "stared at."
Film Adaptation
The novel was made into a faithful,
highly successful film version in 1944, starring twelve-year-old
Elizabeth Taylor and
Mickey Rooney. In June 2008, AFI revealed its "Ten top Ten"—the best ten films in ten "classic" American film genres—after polling over 1,500 people from the creative community.
National Velvet
was acknowledged as the ninth best film in the sports genre.
[1] [2]
Cast
- Velvet Brown
- Elizabeth Taylor
- Mi Taylor
- Mickey Rooney
- Mr Herbert Brown
- Donald Crisp
- Mrs Araminty Brown
- Anne Revere
- Edwina Brown
- Angela Lansbury
- Malvolia ' Mally ' Brown
- Juanita Quigley
- Donald Brown
- Jackie Jenkins
- Farmer Edes
- Reginald Owen
- The Race Patron
- Arthur Treacher
- The Pi
- "King Charles", grandson of Man o' War
Television Adaptation
From 1960 to 1962, there was a half-hour B&W American
television series, with her horse named
King
, airing on
NBC for 54 episodes.
Cast
- Velvet Brown
- Lori Martin
- Martha Brown
- Ann Doran
- Mi Taylor
- James McCallion
- Herbert Brown
- Arthur Space
- Edwina Brown
- Carole Wells
- King
- "Blaze King"
Film Sequel
A 1978 film sequel,
International Velvet
, was made starring
Tatum O'Neal as
Sarah Brown
, a young orphaned American living in England with her aunt
Velvet Brown
. Sarah and her aunt purchase the offspring descendent of the horse Velvet rode years ago in
The Grand National Steeplechase
. They name him
Arizona Pi
after Sarah's home state. Working with the horse, Sarah decides to represent
Britain in the equine
Three Day Olympic Event
. While working with the horse with trainer Capt Johnson (Hopkins), she falls for an American competitor. Though distracted by him, she wins the event. Later, back in America, Sarah sends the medal to her aunt Velvet as a keepsake and remembrance.
Cast
- Sarah Brown
- Tatum O'Neal
- Velvet Brown
- Nanette Newman
- Scott Saunders
- Jeffrey Byron
- John Seaton
- Christopher Plummer
- Captain Johnson
- Anthony Hopkins
References
- AFI Crowns Top 10 Films in 10 Classic Genres
- Top 10 Sports