National Velvet [WorldCat Entities]

"Black Beauty"@en
"Story of Seabiscuit"@en
"National Velvet"
"Quiet, please"@en
"Spreadin' the jam"@en

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creator

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description

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"A young girl wins a horse in a raffle and is determined to train it to compete in the famed Grand National Race."@en
"A young English girl who wins an unruly horse in a raffle enters him in the Grand National Steeplechase."@en
"Story of two children, their passion for a horse, and their determination to train it and win the Grand National."
"Story of two children, their passion for a horse, and their determination to train it and win the Grand National."@en
"A young English schoolgirl dreams of riding in the Grand National Steeplechase."@en
"After winning a horse with a raffle ticket, Velvet Brown plans to put the horse's jumping talent to the test in the world's most grueling horse race, the Grand National Steeplechase."
""In the English coastal village of Sewels in Sussex, twelve-year-old Velvet Brown and her older sisters, Edwina and Malvolia, happily finish their last day of school before summer vacation. While walking home, Velvet meets young drifter Mi Taylor and strikes up a conversation with him. As the horse-crazy girl is talking to Mi, she sees a beautiful, rambunctious gelding being chased by its owner, farmer Ede, and is awestruck. When Ede then questions Mi about his business in Sewels in Sussex, Velvet, who is impressed by Mi's knowledge of horses, insists that he has been invited to dine with her family. That evening at dinner, Mrs. Brown asks Mi, whom she has never before met, about an address book with her name written in it, and he reveals that it belonged to his now-deceased father. Although Mrs. Brown is deliberately secretive about her relationship with Mi's father, she does invite Mi to spend the night in the stable. Velvet then tries in vain to convince her father Herbert, a butcher who prides himself on his thrift and self-control, to hire Mi as a delivery boy. When he and his wife discuss the matter later, however, the wise, persuasive Mrs. Brown easily changes his mind. Later, Velvet confesses to her mother that she has 'fallen in love' with the Pie and asks her about Mi's father. Mrs. Brown, a former swimmer, reveals that when she was twenty, Mi's father was her devoted trainer and inspired her to swim the English Channel, a feat never before accomplished by a woman. Mrs. Brown adds that she declined to tell the obviously embittered Mi about his father because she felt that it was not the proper time to do so. Unaware that he has just stolen all of her mother's savings from the kitchen, Velvet rushes to tell Mi the news about his new job and home. Mi covers up his theft and accepts the job, then, chagrined, sneaks back to the kitchen to return the money. Later, Velvet coaxes Mi into taking her on a delivery to farmer Ede's, and on the way, Mi states that he was once thrown by a horse and now hates them. As they are watching the Pie in the field, the horse jumps Ede's wall and dashes off toward town. After estimating the length of the horse's jump, the astounded Mi mutters that the Pie could jump 'Beecher's Brook.' The Pie's subsequent rampage through the village leads Ede to decide to raffle off the horse. Mr. Brown at first refuses to allow Velvet to participate in the raffle, but when Mi proudly announces that he has bought tickets for all of the children, Mr. Brown relents. Although Velvet confidently proclaims that her number, 62, is going to be selected, another number is drawn, and Velvet collapses with disappointment. Later, however, Velvet learns that when the winning number was not claimed, a second number, 62, was drawn, and she is awarded the Pie. Velvet then asks Mi about 'Beecher's Brook' and he reluctantly reveals that it is a difficult jump at the Grand National Steeplechase course. Velvet spends her first day with the Pie racing through the countryside, but her joy is cut short when her father insists that the horse earn his keep by pulling the delivery cart. As soon as he is hitched, however, the Pie bolts and destroys the cart, causing Mr. Brown to denounce Mi as a meddler. Later, Velvet reveals to Mi that she wrote away to the Aintree race course for entrance papers to the Grand National Steeplechase. Although Mi tries to discourage her, Velvet asks her mother for permission to enter the race, which includes a 100-pound entrance fee. After Mi admits that the Pie is good enough to win, Mrs. Brown gives Velvet the 100 pounds she earned for her Channel swim, which she has been saving in anticipation of a 'breath-taking piece of folly' like the Pie. Mrs. Brown and Velvet then entrust Mi to deliver the money to Aintree, and although he is tempted to abscond with it while in London, Mi carries out his assignment, impressing even Mr. Brown. When Mi tells Velvet that he was unable to find a jockey or a trainer in London, she persuades him to train the horse by promising him one-half of any Grand National winnings. Over the next several months, Velvet and Mi, a former jockey, rigorously train the Pie. During the winter, the Pie becomes seriously ill, and the entire Brown family worries as Mi struggles to save him. The Pie survives, and come spring, Velvet and Mi leave for Aintree. There they meet with Ivan Taski, a Latvian jockey whom Mi hired through the mail. Taski's lackluster attitude toward the race convinces both Velvet and Mi that they cannot win with him, and on the eve of the contest, they find themselves with no jockey. Velvet then tries to convince Mi to ride the Pie, but he tearfully refuses, explaining that during a race in Manchester, he pushed his horse too hard and caused a collision that resulted in the death of another jockey. Later, however, when Mi is alone with the Pie, he realizes he must challenge his fears in order to make Velvet's dream come true. After riding the Pie around the track, Mi rushes to tell Velvet that he wants to race, but discovers that she has donned jockey clothes and is determined to ride the race herself. Although Mi tells her that she will be disqualified, Velvet insists that Mi cut her hair and help her with her impersonation. Claiming not to speak English, Velvet convinces the officials that she is Taski and undertakes the arduous race, with the Pie at one-hundred-to-one odds. As horse after horse drops out, Velvet steadily gains ground and wins the race, cheered on by a joyful Mi. Just after finishing, however, Velvet collapses from exhaustion, and the track doctor soon discovers her true sex. As predicted, the Pie is disqualified, but Velvet is nonetheless heralded as a hero throughout England and earns the nickname 'National Velvet.' Later, back in Sewels in Sussex, Velvet is besieged by lucrative job offers, including one from a Hollywood film studio. Velvet is tempted by the offer until she learns that the studio also wants the Pie. Fearing that the Pie would be made into a sideshow, Velvet tells her father she is not interested. Mr. Brown is angered by Velvet's decision until Mrs. Brown explains that Velvet knows intuitively that her time in the limelight must be brief and dignified. Soon after, as Mi is packing to go, Mr. Brown admits that he always mistrusted him, but is now proud to have known him. Mi leaves the Brown home without saying goodbye, but a grateful Velvet races after him, sure that the proper time has come to tell him about his father"--AFI catalog, 1941-1950."@en
"Elizabeth Taylor is Velvet Brown, an English schoolgirl who has very big dreams. She falls for a thoroughbred rogue horse and with the help of Mi Taylor (Mickey Rooney), she trains him for steeplechase racing."
"Taylor stars as a young English girl who wins an unruly horse in a raffle and goes on to enter him in the Grand National Steeplechase."
"In her star-making role, Elizabeth Taylor plays Velvet Brown a wide-eyed adolescent who, assisted by her jockey pal (Mickey Rooney), trains Pie, as horse she won in a raffle, for the Grand National Steeplechase. Of course, no girl can ride in the National, can she? Yet Velvet, posing as a boy, assuredly does."
"A jaded former jockey helps a young girl prepare a wild but gifted horse for England's Grand National Sweepstakes."@en
"Driven to follow the example her mother set by attempting to swim the English Channel, young Velvet Brown trains a gelding to run in the Grand National Steeplechase, and then rides the horse herself. (Circulates)."
"Black Beauty: Faithfully based on Anne Sewell's classic novel, this horse story is told by its hero, the gallant Beauty, whose life takes him from a country squire's estate to London's hard, cobblestoned streets, through decades of owners both kindly and harsh."@en
"The story of a girl who rides to victory in the celebrated Grand National at Aintree, England."@en
"After winning a horse in a raffle, Velvet Brown with the help from her jockey pal poses as a boy to ride in the Grand National Steeplechase."
"A 14 year-old English girl wins a horse in a raffle, trains it and rides it in the Grand National even thought at that time girls were not allowed in the race."
"The Story of Seabiscuit: An Irish horse trainer and his niece come to Kentucky after her brother's death in a riding accident. While the trainer takes a liking to a yearling named Seabiscuit and tries to convince the owner that the ungainly little horse can become a champion, his niece begins a romance with a jockey but is haunted by memories of her brother's accident."@en
"In her starmaking role, Elizabeth Taylor plays Velvet Brown, a wide-eyed adolescent who, assisted by her jocky pal, trains Pie, a horse she won in a raffle, for the Grand National Steeplechase."
"A determined girl and boy and a spirited thoroughbred horse join forces to attain the seemingly impossible dream of winning the Grand National Steeplechase."
"A determined girl and boy and a spirited thoroughbred horse join forces to attain the seemingly impossible dream of winning the Grand National Steeplechase."@en
"National Velvet: A determined girl and boy and a spirited thoroughbred horse join forces to attain the seemingly impossible dream of winning the Grand National Steeplechase."@en