Claim: Mickey Rooney played roles.

National Velvet is a 1944 American Technicolor sports film directed by Clarence Brown and based on the novel of the same name by Enid Bagnold , published in 1935 . It stars Mickey Rooney , Donald Crisp , and a young Elizabeth Taylor . 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 . ''