When Rachael Blackmore became the first female jockey to win the Grand National on 11 April, riding into the history books on Minella Times, many drew comparisons with Elizabeth Taylor’s turn in 1944’s National Velvet, which saw her character, Velvet Brown, triumph on her horse The Pie – albeit while disguised as a male jockey. The English-American actor was just 12 when she starred in the film, and as with all productions featuring Liz, what happened behind the scenes was often as fascinating as the plot.
From the on-set accident that would remain with Taylor for the rest of her life, to the surprising connection with a future love — British Vogue takes a closer look at the classic movie that birthed a cinematic legend.
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Elizabeth wasn’t the first choice for Velvet Brown
When RKO began production on a film based on Enid Bagnold’s 1935 novel of the same name in the late ’30s, 18-year-old Broadway actor Gene Tiernay was the first choice to star. But production was delayed, and with filming taking place in California (masquerading as Surrey, England), Tiernay returned to New York before the rights were sold to MGM and work resumed in 1941. Another young actor who auditioned for the role was the future British cabinet minister, Shirley Williams, who passed away earlier this week at the age of 90.
Taylor “willed” herself into the role
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Taylor’s mother, Sara, approached MGM bosses to insist that Velvet Brown was the perfect first leading role for her daughter, a keen equestrian. Filming is said to have been paused to allow the young Elizabeth time to get a little taller, and according to the determined actor, she willed on that growth spurt herself. “In three months, I’d grown three inches,” she’s recorded as saying in J Randy Taraborrelli’s 2006 biography, Elizabeth. “That single-mindedness, or stubbornness if you will, is as much a part of me as the colour of my eyes.”
She took a fall that stayed with her
A guaranteed future in Hollywood wasn’t the only thing young Elizabeth took away from the National Velvet set. She fell and broke her back during filming, an accident that left her plagued by spinal difficulties all her life. The tumble from the horse in the film might look like it was the work of a stunt double, yet it is Elizabeth taking the scripted — and very real — fall.
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