The Rocking Horse Winner

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The Rocking Horse Winner

1949

1h 31m

Drama

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Tomatometer

Popcornmeter

83%

Tomatometer

6 Reviews

71%

Popcornmeter

1,000+ Ratings

Shy, young Paul (John Howard Davies) escapes his mother's incessant whining about his family's lack of wealth by riding his rocking horse. While rocking at a lightning speed, Paul discovers he has the ability to pick winners at the racetrack. By exploiting Paul's talent, his family soon grows rich but squanders the money as quickly as they make it. Paul soon grows exhausted, and his riding ultimately results in devastating consequences for both him and his family.

Emanuel Levy

EmanuelLevy.Com

07/02/2005

2/5

Ken Hanke

Mountain Xpress (Asheville, NC)

01/29/2004

4/5

Odd, disturbing version of the Lawrence short story doesn't compromise its source.

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Matt Langdon

Filmcritic.com

11/05/2003

4/5

Mark Robison

Reno Gazette-Journal

01/20/2003

A-

DVD is a treatise on the famed D.H. Lawrence short story.

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Jeremiah Kipp

ToxicUniverse.com

11/18/2002

4.5/5

Pelissier's bold expressionistic cinematography during the [rocking horse] sequences taps into the nightmare logic of a child's dreams, spinning into delirium.

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Justin T

@RT20830295 May 21

A small gem of a film with a stunning script and performances that capture the disturbing nature of Lawrence's short story and then some. Highly Recommended.

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Russ G

@RT78760655 03/15/2025

I'll put it politely; balderdash.

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S R

@ScottR 01/22/2024

A different, almost bizarre movie involving horse racing, premonitions, gambling and an English setting. I did enjoy it though for its Christmas side and its English character. Saw on TCM.

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isla s

@RT89656869 09/03/2022

This is quite a charming film. Its a bit slow for the plot to build up but I found it an easy, light watch regardless. I admit I found the dialogue (especially that of the young boy, Paul) amusing due to how 'awfully correct' it was. Its almost admirable how positive and upbeat the child of a somewhat struggling family/parents appears to be. Its a nice story - a rather naive one but perhaps thats to be expected considering its age (it dates from 1949). Not a bad watch - in fact John Howard Davies depiction of Paul riding said rocking horse is somewhat memorable, in a slightly sinister sense - there is definitely a sinister aspect to this film, towards the end. Its a curious old fashioned film - half way through I really wasn't sure about it but once the plot developed, it became much more interesting. Its hard to explain much without giving away spoilers but I'd recommend it. Also, I felt it made good use of the musical score to build a real sense of tension.

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08/30/2020

A good movie from the 40's. Following the original story quite well. Watch it recently with my girlfriend and she was impressed.

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Simon T

@MovieTart 02/11/2019

One of the great post-war British movies, bizarrely neglected. A study of obsession and the emotional cul-de-sac of materialism, Pelissier's beautifully photographed and designed melodrama is unlike anything you've seen: an expressionist ghost story, a claustrophobic family tragedy. The final image of the rocking horse in flames is as extraordinary as Citizen Kane's Rosebud.

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Anthony Pelissier

Director

Valerie Hobson

Hester Grahame

John Davies

Paul Grahame

John Mills

Bassett

Ronald Squire

Oscar Cresswell

Hugh Sinclair

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Synopsis

Shy, young Paul (John Howard Davies) escapes his mother's incessant whining about his family's lack of wealth by riding his rocking horse. While rocking at a lightning speed, Paul discovers he has the ability to pick winners at the racetrack. By exploiting Paul's talent, his family soon grows rich but squanders the money as quickly as they make it. Paul soon grows exhausted, and his riding ultimately results in devastating consequences for both him and his family.

Director: Anthony Pelissier
Genre: Drama
Original Language: English
Release Date (Streaming): May 22, 2017
Runtime: 1h 31m

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