Coming up on Saturday at the Described Movies: National Velvet, and Bedknobs and Broomsticks.

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From this Saturday at 12am Eastern, that’s 5pm Saturday in NZ, 3pm in Sydney and 4am in the UK, and repeated every four hours throughout the day, it’s
The described movies National Velvet from 1944, and Bedknobs and Broomsticks from 1971.
National Velvet is a 1944 American Technicolor sports film directed by Clarence Brown and based on the 1935 novel of the same name by Enid Bagnold.
It stars Mickey Rooney, Donald Crisp, Angela Lansbury, Anne Revere, Reginald Owen, and an adolescent Elizabeth Taylor.
National Velvet is the story of a 12-year-old, horse-crazy girl, Velvet Brown, who lives in the small town of Sewels in Sussex, England.
She wins a spirited gelding in a raffle and decides to train him for the Grand National steeplechase.
In 2003, National Velvet was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant."
Directed by: Clarence Brown.
Screenplay by: Helen Deutsch.
Based on: National Velvet 1935 novel by Enid Bagnold.
Produced by: Pandro S. Berman.
Starring: Mickey Rooney, Donald Crisp, Elizabeth Taylor, Angela Lansbury, Anne Revere, Reginald Owen, and Terry Kilburn.
Cinematography: Leonard Smith.
Edited by: Robert Kern.
Music by: Herbert Stothart.
Production company: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer.
Distributed by: Loew's, Inc.
Release dates: 14 December 1944 (New York City), and 26 January 1945 (United States).
File Length: 123 minutes.
Country: United States.
Language: English.
Budget: $2,770,000.
Box office: $5,840,000.
Bedknobs and Broomsticks is a 1971 American live-action animated musical fantasy film directed by Robert Stevenson and produced by Bill Walsh for Walt Disney Productions.
It is loosely based upon the books The Magic Bedknob; or, How to Become a Witch in Ten Easy Lessons (1944) and Bonfires and Broomsticks (1947) by English children's author Mary Norton.
Combining live action and animation, the film stars Angela Lansbury, David Tomlinson, John Ericson, and introducing Ian Weighill, Cindy O'Callaghan, and Roy Snart.
During the early 1960s, Bedknobs and Broomsticks entered development when the negotiations for the film rights to Mary Poppins (1964) were placed on hold.
When the rights were acquired, the film was shelved repeatedly due to the similarities with Mary Poppins until it was revived in 1969.
Originally at a length of 139 minutes, Bedknobs and Broomsticks was edited down to just under two hours prior to its premiere at the Radio City Music Hall in New York City.
As with Mary Poppins, the Sherman Brothers composed the film's songs.
The film was released on 7 October 1971, to mixed reviews from film critics, some of whom praised the live action/animated sequence.
The film received five Academy Awards nominations winning one for Best Special Visual Effects.
This was the last film released prior to the death of Walt Disney's surviving brother, Roy O. Disney, who died two months later.
It is also the last theatrical film Reginald Owen appeared in before his death the next year in 1972; his last two acting credits were for television.
In 1996, the film was restored with most of the deleted material re-inserted back into the film.
A stage musical adaptation has been produced.
The musical had its world premiere at the Theatre Royal, in Newcastle upon Tyne, on 14 August 2021 before embarking on a UK and Ireland tour, until May 2022.
Directed by: Robert Stevenson.
Screenplay by: Bill Walsh, and Don DaGradi.
Based on: The Magic Bedknob & Bonfires and Broomsticks by Mary Norton.
Produced by: Bill Walsh.
Starring: Angela Lansbury, David Tomlinson, John Ericson, Ian Weighill , Cindy O'Callaghan, and Roy Snart
Cinematography: Frank V. Phillips.
Edited by: Cotton Warburton.
Music by: Irwin Kostal.
Production company: Walt Disney Productions.
Distributed by: Buena Vista Distribution.
Release date: October 1971.
File Length: 112 minutes.
Country: United States.
Language: English.
Budget: $6.3 million.
Box office: $17.9 million.
Any questions, comments, or ideas for future described movies: e-mail me: anthony at mushroomfm dot com (e-mail address written that way to cut down on
spam)
Enjoy the movies,