International Velvet

It isnt a very good movie, but it will be on today at 10 am central on TCM. It does have a little footage of big riders of the 70s. And how many movies are written about eventing? Only 2 that I know of.

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Thanks for the heads up!

It’s on at 11:00 AM (EST) - right now they are running “The Story of Seabiscuit” on TCM - it’s from 1949 and stars Shirley Temple (among others); they just ran the more recent Seabiscuit on another channel.

Agree about it “not being a very good movie” thing - LOL!, Ugh, Tatum O’Neal drove me nuts with her breathy, little girl portrayal (not coming across as a “serious horsewoman” in the least), but Christopher Plummer! :heart:, and the woman who played the original Velvet was wonderful as well.

The best part was of course the classic footage from the time! Very cool, and makes the movie worth watching for eventers - especially those of us “of a certain age.” :wink:

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not Plummer, but Hannibal Lector himself!

Of course – had forgotten that Anthony Hopkins was in this as well! Just started watching it now; they are “retiring the Pie from stud” - yet another one of these movie inconsistencies since The Pie was a gelding IIRC. Also, wasn’t he a chestnut with chrome? They are retiring a dark bay :thinking:

Anyway, they obviously could not have had the movie without him siring the foal who would become the Olympic event horse for Tatum O’Neill.

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I highly suggest that you suspend disbelief, forget about internal consistency or canon, and pretend you are a 14 year old girl with stars in her eyes. Velvet and her partner are hilarious, and Anthony Hopkins delivers great speeches and one-liners, e.g. " And since horses are only marginally less stupid than some of the people who ride them
" If you’ve seen it before, be ready with the fast forward button for a couple of scenes. See? So easy to enjoy :laughing:

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he just said my favorite line-‘you’re not too bad
for a cowboy!’

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Oh yes, definitely!

Suspending disbelief – this should be a “disclaimer” at the beginning of the movie :smile:

Yes, I had forgotten how amusing Velvet and her husband were! British actors are just the best :blush:

Anthony Hopkins is great at chewing a little scenery; love it.

They are showing the tragic scene of the horse having to be euthed in the plane en route (which actually happened, alas); as usual, the horse was whinnying its head off which all horses seem to do in Hollywood - and for no legitimate reason.

I love seeing the old horse boxes/vans!

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I remember watching this movie at a childhood sleepover birthday party, and this scene made me so distraught I had to call my parents and ask to go home! :sob:

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It was definitely traumatic - especially for young horse loving girls :disappointed_relieved:

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still traumatic! watching the xc. It is a bit excting.

Even at 14, I was wondering how The Pie - a chestnut with loud chrome - turned into a plain bay horse.
14 Year old me was VERY disappointed and confused.

Which of course differed from the book, in which he was piebald!

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I’ll look for it on my streaming app.
For anyone who never saw the original Liz Taylor version, I cannot recommend it enough.
As for The Pie as a chestnut, that’s where my belief is suspended.
Pie was for piebald, Enid Bagnold’s horse was a B/W piebald.
& Though I understand how technically, this wouldn’t work for the 1940s film, still rankles me a bit.

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I missed it but I did get to watch the original Seabiscuit which I enjoyed so much more than the re-make. Not really a fan of Inernational Velvet for a bunch of reasons, mostly because of Tatum O’Neil. Plus the Plane scene. I knew someone that lost a horse that way, she was on the flight.

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I love International Velvet. The cringe is part of the charm.

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I love it too. I just don’t pay attention to any mistakes, just go with the flow. I kept trying to identify real competitors in the eventing sequences, but no luck. I do know that Marcus Aurelius was supposedly in some of the shots, but couldn’t find him.

A little about making the film and training Tatum.

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Shortly after my Dad died and I was a total mess (he was the one who supported by horse craziness) I went to see the movie alone–needed to get away from everyone for a respite. When the movie got to that scene I quietly lost it.

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I remember going to see it in a theatre with a “horsey” friend when it first came out and we sat there and identified all the riders in the big cross country sequence. I would be clueless now!

ETA: typo

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Buck Davidson, Tad Coffin, Mike Plumb. Maybe more.

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Michael Plumb and the lovely Bally Cor - what a special mare! :heart:

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