National Velvet

MGM found a new star among its contract juveniles when Elizabeth Taylor gained weight and exercised her way into the role of horse-lover Velvet Brown. Originally, she had been told she was too short and frail-looking for a role once considered for Katharine Hepburn, Margaret Sullavan and Gene Tierney. Her performance as the girl who tries to turn a spirited gelding, “Pie,” into a national steeplechase champion caught everyone by surprise and marked the rise of one of MGM’s last great stars. Mickey Rooney gives one of his best performances as the trainer who helps her, and Anne Revere won a Best Supporting Actress Oscar for playing her surprisingly liberal mother. Donald Crisp co-stars as her father with Angela Lansbury as her boy-crazy sister. 

d. Clarence Brown, 124m, DCP

80^TH ANNIVERSARY PRESENTATION