(Clarence Brown, US 1944, 123 min., 35mm)
By the age of 12, British-born Elizabeth Taylor was under contract to MGM and had already appeared in several popular films, but it was this wonderful girl-and-her-gelding adventure that made her a major star. Taylor stars as Velvet Brown, a Sussex schoolgirl who, with the help of a young drifter (Mickey Rooney), is determined to enter her rambunctious horse The Pie in the Grand National Steeplechase. Proof that family entertainment need not be cutesy or bland, the film features some truly exciting race sequences and remains one of Taylor’s personal favorites. Cukor-Kondolf player Reginald Owen (best known as Admiral Boom in Mary Poppins) has a small role in the film, as does Centennial Club member Angela Lansbury.
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From Rochester, With Love
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From director George Melford, actor Norman Kerry, and actress Louise Brooks in the silent period, to musician Cab Calloway, writers Garson and Michael Kanin in Hollywood’s golden years, to more recent actors such as John Lithgow and Taye Diggs, Rochester has produced an impressive list of artists who have contributed to the art of cinema. This year, the Dryden Theatre will bring films featuring many of these artists to the big screen, opening up chapters of this city you may never have known.