One of my all time favorites.

A Major Disappointment

Not sure how, but this is easily one of the best movies all summer. Multiple levels of funny, never takes itself seriously, super colorful, and creative.

While it is a pity that the story wasn't told with more visual finesse, this is trivial compared to our real-world problems. It takes a good movie to put that into perspective.

A jaded former jockey (Mickey Rooney) helps a young girl (Elizabeth Taylor) prepare a wild but gifted horse for England's Grand National Sweepstakes.An 18-year-old Gene Tierney, who was then appearing on Broadway, was offered the role of Velvet Brown in 1939. Production was delayed, however, so Tierney returned to Broadway. Much of the film was shot in Pebble Beach, California, with the most-scenic views on the Pebble Beach Golf Links (with golf holes visible in the background).Elizabeth Taylor was cast in Tierney's place, and it is interesting to note in retrospect that Taylor is by far the bigger star (with all due respect to Tierney). Allegedly, Taylor was given "The Pie" as a birthday gift after filming was over. Good for her. Her spirit and optimism really made this film. Although not necessarily my kind of movie, she played her role perfectly.

Elizabeth Taylor is one of my favorites, and this is her breakthrough performance, worth checking out simply for the chemistry between her and Mickey Rooney. Even in their youth, both stars had remarkable timing and charisma. Hard to believe that in just a few years innocent little Liz would be burning up the screen as Maggie the Cat!The racing sequences are both remarkably dated, and breathtaking for the danger they depict. Apparently 70 years ago horse racing was extremely dangerous- and from the looks of it, stuntmen and horses alike had some rough tumbles on the set of this movie. (Hopefully, nobody was seriously injured, but I wouldn't be surprised to learn otherwise.)

Velvet so beautiful. Rest of family pretty plain. Mickey very smart. Smart father swimming coach. Mother stern, strong, loving. Father stern; heart of gold -- gruff curmudgeon. Lansbury almost overlooked. Ants got a pretty big part. 1940s movie family at dinner table. Older daughter boy-crazy. Yes! "Meet Me in St. Lewis". Copycats. Velvet movie circa late 1920s, though; St. Louis movie 1903-1904. Interesting. Fathers in both movies trying to disapprove of the children's behaviors. Butch the youngest in Velvet; ant fetish. Tootie youngest in St. Louis movie; dead dolls fetish and stupid Halloween segments. WC Fields would not like to have shared scenes with these little moppet attention-grubbers. Difference Margaret O'Brien second billing; Butch further down the list. Back to Velvet movie: The Pie so beautiful. No stereotypical English plough horse. So lithe. So daring. Jumped ever so gracefully. Or was that a stand in for the long shots? I imagine the same stand-ins for Liz and Mickey, too. Mickey loved Judy so much. I never heard him reminisce about Elizabeth Taylor. Brown's Meat Pies. Reminds one of Sweeney Todd. Father butcher for a trade...wanted Pie to be used for cat food. Horrible. Mother world class swimming champion. Looks like she hid that news forever. Elizabeth so beautiful, riding Pie alongside when Mickey was on the train. This is the scene remembered by a lot of people.Scenery looked like matte paintings, sets, etc. I know this is a way to control costs, plus the daylight. Racetrack buildings looked real.

Sewels butcher Herbert Brown wants daughter Velvet's one-shilling "pirate horse" to be rendered for cat food, but Velvet has other ideas. Her head is full of fantasy, and why not? Most of her household sport Faerie names. Mom Araminty keeps heaps of gold she won as the first woman to swim the English Channel in the attic. Eldest sister 'Dwina is trying to find a MANCHURIAN CANDIDATE. Middle sis Malvolia brings origami birds to life. All the while stable boy Mi is lurking in the background, looking for a vector into the Brown family fortune, like some disinherited leprechaun. Fearing tins for Kitty will be her pet's fate, Velvet shortens pirate to The Pie to better fit his finale. But this girl is psychic, as well. When her Pie's fortune seems likely to soar from becoming cat litter to catnip, with a fortune to be earned by her and Pie in American movies, Velvet blurts out that the Pie cannot do comedy, and nixes the whole idea when this jingle from a few decades hence gets stuck in her brain: "A horse is a horse, of course, of course, and no one can talk to a horse, of course, . . . "