I was sceptical about including this movie in my list as it is neither British or filmed at one of our racecourses (Uplifters Ranch in Santa Monica was used as a poor substitute for Aintree). However the fact that the movie focuses on the world famous Grand National, a British institution, and stars British born Elizabeth Taylor meant that it just got up in a photo finish.

National Velvet is based on a 1935 novel of the same name written by Enid Bagnold which centres around a day-dreaming young girl, Velvet Brown, who is passionate about horses. She meets an ex jockey called Mi Taylor and then wins a local unruly horse, "The Pie", in a raffle - a horse that they have both witnessed jumping over a 6ft stone wall. Velvet dreams of running The Pie in the Grand National and enlists Mi to help her train it for the grueling test of stamina and jumping. With the full support of her mother, who Mi's father (without him knowing) had trained to be the first women to swim the channel, Velvet gets the Pie entered into the big race but when her chosen jockey is not deemed suitable for the horse who will take the ride?

Elizabeth Taylor in her first major role is simply adorable as the "lit up" 12 year old Velvet Brown and she connects really well with Mickey Rooney (Mi Taylor) and their acting is top class. Velvet's parents Mr Brown (Donald Crisp - star of How Green Was My Valley & Greyfriars Bobby) and Mrs Brown (Anna Revere who won an Oscar for Best Supporting Actress in this film) have a wonderful relationship and even refer to each other as Mr Brown and Mrs Brown - Mr Brown is colder with strong principles but eventually loosens up and Mrs Brown is more open and understanding of her daughters big dreams having fulfilled a major one of her own when she was younger. The film was shot in glorious colour in a stunning coastal location, although sadly not in Sussex as the fictional village of Sewel would have you believe - the film was made entirely in California. The original plan was to shoot the film in England but due to delays and the onset of World War Two the decision was taken to make the film in America using the Uplifters ranch as a fake Aintree. The movie also and also won an Oscar for film editing (Robert J. Kern) and it's obvious to see why.