The Rocking Horse Winner (1949) User Reviews

No Kid's Film Here

[bkoganbing · 8/10 · 3 December 2008]

This particular D.H. Lawrence story has been done three additional times since this version came out in 1950. They would have to go some to compete with this film for drama and suspense.

I had never seen this film before tonight and the title is so incredibly deceptive. I expected a charming children's fantasy, but got something quite a bit different. One thing I would never do is allow small kids to see The Rocking Horse Winner. They will have nightmare's for years and will NEVER want to get on a rocking horse if you have one.

Hugh Sinclair and Valerie Hobson play a pair of post World War II self indulgent parents who are living way beyond their means, like a lot of folks are today on both sides of the pond. He gambles and she spends money on luxury items like there's no tomorrow. Her brother Ronald Squire bails her out a lot, but he's having no more of it.

All this is having an effect on the United Kingdom's best known child star of the time John Howard Davies. He's the oldest of the three kids and a withdrawn, but sensitive kid who knows there's something wrong.

Davies makes friends with the new handyman John Mills who is a wounded war veteran and before the war used to work as jockey in his youth. When Davies gets among other things a rocking horse for Christmas, Mills shows him how to ride ace-deuce, jockey style. Davies becomes obsessed with the horse and after a while he starts imagining the horse telling him about winning tips at the local track. When he's "really sure" these ponies have a habit of coming in.

Given these plot premises it sounds like you're setting up a comedy, but actually what we get is tragedy here, a stark a bitter tragedy.

Anthony Pellisier wrote and directed and John Mills produced this film for J. Arthur Rank. Pellisier used some unique and terrifying camera angles and makes the rocking horse an incredibly sinister figure. And he doesn't do too bad with his human players either.

The Rocking Horse Winner after almost 60 years still holds up well as one of the most sinister films I've ever seen. Don't be fooled by the title, definitely NOT one to have the kids view.

An intriguing portrayal of cause and affect... makes one think

[melissag-7 · 7/10 · 17 March 2009]

I saw this movie for the first time in 2008 and found it very intriguing. Indeed it is psychological, but also very thought provoking. It seemed to focus and reveal the evils of greed. The parents' greed for material things cause the destruction and eventually the demise of their son who is merely trying to help fulfill their insatiable desires. They are so consumed with their own wants they do not realize the devastating affect it is having on their son until it is too late. The rocking horse seemed to be a physical representation of greed while the parents were the embodiment of greed. Greed, or the rocking horse, was the root cause of the horrid tragedy. It trapped its victim, the little boy, and ruined him. At the end of the movie, the rocking horse it as much hated as a real murderer. It is sinister and unrepentant. The movie really makes you think about the consequences of our actions. At least, that's what I got out of it. No matter how you view the movie, though, it is definitely well worth the watch. The music, cinematography, plot line, everything, is fantastic and mesmerizing. I hope you get the privilege to see it.

A Dark Tale of Compulsion

[claudio_carvalho · 7/10 · 24 September 2006]

In London, the teenager Paul Grahame (John Howard Davies) lives with his upper class but financially broken family. His wasteful mother Hester Grahame (Valerie Hobson) is a compulsive buyer, spending all the family money in new expensive dresses, jewels and objects for their home. His father Richard Grahame (Hugh Sinclair) is a gambler, losing money in the horse races. His uncle Oscar Cresswell (Ronald Squire) is permanently covering the Grahame family debts. When the servant Bassett (John Mills) is hired, Paul finds that he can predict the winner of the horses' races rocking his wooden horse. Paul asks Bassett to become his partner, betting their money in the races, trying to prove that he is lucky and silencing the permanent whisper of the house needing more money. But the prize is high and fatal.

"The Rocking Horse Winner" is a dark tale of compulsion of D. H. Lawrence. I have never read his short story, and I did not feel any sexual connotation as mentioned in some reviews that I have glanced. The story is very disturbing and quite unpleasant, with great direction and performances, especially of Valerie Hobson in the role of a compulsive shallow woman. My vote is seven.

Title (Brazil): "O Cavalo Campeão" ("The Horse Winner")

A Little Closer Look at an Unforgettable One-of-a-Kind

[dougdoepke · 27 July 2014]

I've seen a few rocking horses in my time, but none that looked like this one. With its predatory teeth, gaping mouth, and flaring eyes, it looks more like Halloween than X-mas. No wonder it's got supposedly demonic powers. But then the social-climbing parents need help of the monetary kind. Mom (Hobson) isn't happy with just a big house and servants. She wants top status among the British upper-class, and by golly she'll spend whatever it takes, affordable or not. Meanwhile, Dad (Sinclair) tries to keep up by losing at gambling, while Uncle Oscar (Squire) is finally fed up with doling out money from the family trust. That leaves the kids (Davies, et.al.) to make out as best they can with neglectful parents. So where will the money come from, and how will the kids connect with Mom. Enter an infernal toy.

I can see the premise being done on the Twilight Zone, but certainly not to better effect. With his rather narrow eyes, little Paul (Davies) is positively scary when demonically whipping both himself and the wooden horse into a sweaty frenzy. A thousand gory films could not register more strongly than these inspired scenes. It's a unnerving spectre that moves the entire film into a special category of its own.

Surprisingly, the suspense of the rocking horse is not built up in the movie's main part. Instead, the film's majority deals with more ordinary matters: placing bets, pawning dresses, Uncle Oscar, Bassett (Mills) and Paul. Thus a natural contrast is laid for the demonic scenes. Nonetheless, the acting is first-rate, though Sinclair pretty much fades into the background as Dad, while Hobson's mom takes center stage in sleekly determined fashion. Then again, Mills is especially winning as the humane handy man. Happily, he furnishes needed companionship for the lonely boy. And, given the parent's upper-class pretensions, I detect a comment on the effects of Britain's traditional class system.

To me, however, it's never clear whether the whispering comes from the house or from Paul's internalizing of the family's money troubles. But, either way, the never-ending need for picking race-horse winners drives poor Paul into continuing his rocking horse frenzy. The tragedy lies in the personal toll this takes on him for the sake of his generally oblivious mother. Still, it is possible, unless I missed something, that Paul is just lucky picking winners rather than rocking horse possessed. After all, he wants to think he's lucky and maybe he is. In that case, no supernatural would be involved. Instead the upshot would be how an imaginative boy internalizes overriding family greed. In that case, I think the ending would be even more tragic. I may be mistaken, but I don't think the screenplay forecloses this second possibility. Either way, however, those final scenes are genuinely memorable.

Speaking of endings, it's certainly not one Hollywood's Motion Picture Code would have permitted. Good for the British. Because what we're left with is a truly remarkable one-of-a- kind, whose moral is as timely now as 6 decades ago. Don't miss it.

Dark overtones in this strange fantasy from a D.H. Lawrence short story...

[Doylenf · 6/10 · 3 December 2008]

JOHN HOWARD DAVIES is the boy with the sinister rocking horse that enables him to predict winners of the forthcoming races. JOHN MILLS is the man who teaches him how to ride the horse, unintentionally setting up the tragic circumstances that unfold.

But it's VALERIE HOBSON as the selfish, compulsive spender living in middle-class luxury with hubby HUGH SINCLAIR, a man who can't keep up with her spending habits, who makes the most of a juicy role.Lucky for her, she has a well-to-do brother, played by RONALD SQUIRE, who becomes her private bank until his funds run out.

Then comes the heart of the story as we get to the boy and his magic rocking horse. It's this aspect of the dark fantasy that provides the most gripping moments of the film. However, even more could have been done to provide the suspense and conflict involved in the boy's desire to win money so that he could keep his mother and father from being bankrupt. In this respect, William Alwyn's background score is a great asset.

Hobson, Ronald Squire and John Mills give the best performances in the film. Hugh Sinclair is wasted as the weak husband. Davies benefits from good direction but seems to be playing his role according to detailed direction rather than living it.

Highly recommended as an unusual exercise in fantasy/suspense with a noir quality.

One of the best fantasy films--and certainly one of the most disturbing!

[JohnHowardReid · 10/10 · 1 January 2007]

Suspenseful, intriguing, disturbing, heartbreaking, atmospherically crafted by director and photographer, this is a gem of a movie that was too out of the rut to be appreciated by audiences in its day. The characters are not only totally believable but so convincingly acted that few viewers will have any difficulty accepting the plot's key supernatural premise. Because they are so credibly realistic, however, some of the people in this movie (the lad's mother and father, for instance) are far from sympathetic. This trait doubtless alienated contemporary audiences even further, particularly those looking for escape into an idealistic world of smilingly duty-bound, hardworking mothers and bumbling yet well-intentioned dads.

As stated, all the players are excellent—including producer John Mills who cast himself in a small but key role—but three are so outstanding it would churlish not to mention them individually: Valerie Hobson is perfect as the selfish, socially aspiring mum; John Howard Davies is likewise brilliant as the driven, psychotic boy of the title; and it's great to see Ronald Squire utilizing his talents to the full in a major role.

The pace never slackens and the movie incorporates so many unforgettably powerful scenes, it would be impossible to single just three or four for special praise.

In short: a masterpiece from screenwriter/director Anthony Pelissier (who handled only a handful of movies), photographer Desmond Dickinson and a fine array of artists and craftspeople under the control of actor/producer John Mills.

Not an "easy" film to "digest"

[Atreyu_II · 7/10 · 10 February 2011]

This film deals with subjects such as the value of money, greed and despair for money, selfishness, obsession, compulsion and ruin. It's not the easiest film to rate due to its complex nature in many ways. It's not Hitchcock but its level of suspense (frightening for its time and still surprising even today) has a hitchcockian feel to it. It doesn't have that much of suspense, but when it has it convinces. And all of that coming from a simple and apparently harmless rocking horse!

I guess the film has good morals and lessons to teach us. Learn from it or not is entirely up to us. This film is creepy and often unpleasant. It's a strange combination of things which result in... an awkward combination, to say the least. One thing that bothers me about it is the constant talk about money.

John Howard Davies is superb in this role, just like he was in 'Oliver Twist' previously. His eyes are so expressive, even almost creepy, such is the intensity in them. The character he portrays is very nice, polite, loving and cute, but also strange and obsessed by money and the rocking horse.

This boy wasn't plagued with the curses that took so many child actors to disgrace and grew up to be a successful producer of British sitcoms such as 'Mr. Bean'.

memorably haunting

[john-bach · 10/10 · 29 January 2005]

I first saw this film as a pare-teen many years ago and it stuck in my memory all these years; I suppose I identified, at the time, with the idea that events could be somehow manipulated and controlled by sheer intensity. When I recently saw this film on DVD, it still struck a nerve and, as an adult, realized what a strong film it is and why it had been in my memory all these years. Because the file is so old, many of the mannerisms in the movie appear quaint now, but the themes are timeless; sensitive kids sensing parental dysfunction and taking it upon themselves to try and "fix" things. It's interesting to note that John Mills, then a staple in English films, produced the film. I would recommend this film to anyone with a penchant for psychological drama of the old school.

D.H. Lawrence adaptation with a few ethical issues as well as fantasy aspects

[tonypeacock-1 · 7/10 · 18 April 2022]

I stumbled upon this 1949 British film and was startled to discover it was an adaptation of a D. H. Lawrence short story. You know him of Lady Chatterley's Lover and Women In Love fame.

It basically follows a young boy who has an uncanny knack to predict horse race winner's with the aid of the rocking horse toy he has. In unison is a storyline of financial problems at home as the selfish mother has a spend, spend, spend mentality it appears. Indeed her mantra is 'We need more money...' (Valerie Hobson)

Another issue I had was potential glamourising of gambling which I was uneasy with.

Look out for John Mills in an acting and producer role which was a highlight.

Despite the issues I have raised I found good entertainment for 90 minutes or so. Recommended.

The Value of Money

[rpvanderlinden · 10/10 · 23 August 2010]

What is a pound worth to you? Or a dollar? What is too much and what is not enough? An addict will grossly deflate the value of a buck when he needs twenty to buy a hit, while the next man will feel rich if he has a couple of bucks to buy a coffee - and get change. How much money, or how little, would it take to have peace of mind? And if you have enough and want more, how much more is enough? I don't ask these questions to be frivolous. I ask them because they are part of the dark heart of Anthony Pelissier's strange, disturbing thriller called "The Rocking Horse Winner". In this movie everyone - perpetrators and innocents - become tainted and sick with the obsession with money. Nobody walks away unscathed.

This film does not conveniently assert that money is the root of all evil - it would be a lesser film if it did. Instead it takes the thornier path and suggests that it is our own fallibility and lack of values that is the problem when money enters the picture. So we have the Grahame family, living way beyond its means, drowning in a vortex of anxiety and debt. The father is a gambler, and the mother a spendthrift. When the father expresses hope that he's about to land a higher-paying job the mother quickly starts listing the things they will buy and, oh yes, one of their two little girls' teeth will need to be fixed - as an afterthought. Their other child, an older boy named Paul, has been given a rocking horse as a gift. Sometimes, when he rides it with enough hell-bound fury, he can accurately predict the winning horse at the races. Soon he's taken on the terrible burden of providing for everyone. He's formed a secret partnership with a servant, Bassett, and his uncle Oscar, two good men who become tainted and contribute to the lad's destruction. A dysfunctional family, wouldn't you say? Yet the parents are not monsters. They are presented as sympathetic characters. The mother loves her children, as much as her quest for social standing and an appropriate lifestyle permits her to. But the house still whispers to the boy: "MORE MONEY!" The scenes with the boy on the rocking horse, with the nightmarish lighting and camera-work, and the pervasive atmosphere of unwholesomeness and "dis-ease", are absolutely frightening. In this respect, and in the film's suggestion that adults, unwittingly, can suffocate their children with their own dreads and anxieties "The Rocking Horse Winner" reminds me of Jack Clayton's 1961 horror masterpiece "The Innocents".

I won't divulge any more of the plot details, but look for a dizzying succession of scenes, especially the scenes in the pawnshop and in the taxi, late in the second act, which illustrate the ways in which money is valued - or not - as the mother navigates her way through fiscal hell (her misadventures verge on being comical). Even at the very end of the film, after all the tragedy, there is one last twist regarding the boy's ill-gotten gains. It is instructive. "The Rocking Horse Winner" was released in 1949. Its relevance to the world in 2010 is absolutely staggering.

A decent adaptation of the short story

[Leofwine_draca · 6/10 · 3 November 2016]

A worthwhile adaptation of the D.H. Lawrence short story, this dated but appealing human drama-cum-psychological horror story has a handful of strong performances, a great and original story, and solid direction from Anthony Pelissier to recommend it. Although the supernatural aspects of the story are kept to a minimum (as they should be), THE ROCKING HORSE WINNER has some great frights in it – in particular the disturbing nightmare of the house whispering "money, money" and the scenes with the rocking horse itself, a carved piece of wood that actually becomes quite an imposing object. Although the film has lots and lots of slow spots, there are some great scenes in it – especially the moralising finale where the leading characters realise their parts in the horror.

The recognisable John Howard Davies is sometimes irritating when he overacts as the lead, but for the most part he puts in a convincing performance and his acting grows better as the film progresses. Valerie Hobson is saddled with an unlikable character, the mother, for whom money is everything in life and who indirectly causes the events which occur to her son. However, Hobson has at least one great scene (the anguish at the back street pawn broker's) which at least makes us feel for her character's plight a little. Alongside Ronald Squire as the money-hungry uncle, the best performance in the film comes from the ever-great John Mills as Bassett, the gardener, who inadvertently sets the boy off on his gambling ways. Although THE ROCKING HORSE WINNER is far too long and would have been far more suited to the short story format, there are some great scenes and the overall result is a good if not fantastic film.

You have a runaway talent for spending money and that's all.

[hitchcockthelegend · 9/10 · 14 November 2013]

The Rocking Horse Winner is directed by Anthony Pelissier, who also adapts the screenplay from the D. H. Lawrence short story of the same name. It stars Valerie Hobson, John Howard Davies, Ronald Squire, John Mills, Hugh Sinclair and Susan Richards. Music is by William Alwyn and cinematography by Desmond Dickinson.

Dreadful, Evil Money.

There's a handful of British films from the 1940s that deserve to be far better known, films that blended haunted themes with film noir traits and visual smarts. The Night Has Eyes, Uncle Silas, Corridor Of Mirrors and the magnificent Queen Of Spades readily come to mind. Now it has an official DVD release, we can add Anthony Pelissier's brilliant The Rocking Horse Winner to the obscure gem list.

Story has young Paul Grahame (Davies) receiving a weird looking Rocking Horse for Christmas. He's an introverted and sensitive lad, seemingly reaching out for some sort of guidance from his parents. Unfortunately his mother, Hester (Hobson), is a spendthrift badly hung up on money as some sort of status symbol, while his father, Richard (Sinclair), is a gambler, and not a good one at that. With Uncle Oscar Creswell (Squire) bailing them out of financial trouble for the last time, the Grahame family are heading for bankruptcy unless income can be found. Befriending the new handyman, Bassett (Mills), Paul is delighted to find that Bassett is an ex-jockey and regales him with tails of horse racing, he even learns from Bassett how to ride his Rocking Horse like a real jockey. Then something magical happens, Paul seems to be able to predict the winners of real horse races, and the money starts to roll in…

D. H. Lawrence's story gets a faithful adaptation and transfers quite excellently to the screen. It's a haunting fantasy at heart, but one tinged with utter sadness, and being Lawrence it has a sex metaphor sitting right in the middle of the greed and exploitation thematics. As story progresses, it soon becomes evident that Paul has to ride his Rocking Horse to a frenzied climax, if he doesn't get there then he will not see the name of the next race winner. Initially he is thrilled to be able to win lots of money, the house seems to be telling him that his parents must have more money, so aided by Bassett, he is saving the cash to help his frantic mother, who by now has resorted to pawning possessions for cash. But the more he wins, and the more Bassett and Uncle Oscar also profit, the further away from his parents Paul gets. Soon enough it's going to come to a head and it will prove to be devastating for the Grahame family.

Pelissier, Alwyn and Dickinson each work respective wonders to smoother the picture with a sense of the unearthly, not so much supernatural, but like a blurry discord, a purgatory where ignorant parenting dwells and childhood innocence is corrupted. Pic is crammed with sinister imagery. The Rocking Horse itself is up in the attic, which gives the makers perfect opportunities for shadows to enhance the "unhealthy" scenes of Paul riding away like a boy possessed, while for the key scene Pelissier uses a depth perception technique that is gloriously disorientating. An ascent by Paul up to the attic is moody magnificence, Hester's visit to the back room Pawnbroker (Charles Goldner) drips with unease, while the finale features a near demonic last shot that literally will be burned into your soul.

With top performances from the cast to seal the deal, this tale of a boy and his Rocking Horse gnaws away at the senses as the fallibility of the human condition is frighteningly laid bare. 9/10

Ride A Horse

[writers_reign · 7/10 · 12 April 2018]

One of a handful - Oliver Twist, Tom Brown's Schooldays - made by the child actor in the late forties/early fifties. Talking Pictures have either located an excellent print or else had one struck from the negative and are doing their best to recoup the cost by screening it regularly. It stands up well and provides an interesting glimpse of England at the mid point of the twentieth century. If you're able to get past the improbable plot - couple living beyond their means, wife self-absorbed to the extent that even impending bankruptcy exacerbated by husband's compulsive gambling fails to stem her profligate spending, mother-fixated son with subconscious incestuous desires and supernatural gift for picking winners to win mother's love - then it's a half-decent effort well acted and directed despite Valerie Hobsons' overblown performance.

Disappointing British drama...

[moonspinner55 · 5/10 · 19 March 2006]

Unsatisfying film which does have a great premise: a young boy finds he can predict winning racehorses by riding (and meditating upon) the toy rocking horse in his bedroom. Handsome British production adapted from a D.H. Lawrence story unfortunately never quite lifts off. The cast (including John Mills and Valerie Hobson) is first-rate, but the results are dour and glum. Of course the plot doesn't necessitate the proceedings to be either scary or haunting, but it does require some intrigue in the principal set-up, and even this is handled without intensity or particular insight. It's just another melodrama, and one with a dispiriting conclusion. ** from ****

A boy learns how to ride

[rupcousens · 24 June 2004]

This is a very intriguing British film, quite unlike most others from the period; it's a pretty dark Freudian tale, from a D H Lawrence short story, whose overt depiction of a schoolboy and his magic toy gets away with a strictly taboo subtext. The focus is on a well-to-do household of the period, in which the hierarchy of adults and children is strictly defined; the parents try to keep their son Paul, wearing short trousers even in the depths of winter, innocent of their adult concerns – in particular, their problems with money. After discovering that his rocking horse gives him secret powers when he rides it hard enough, with giddy camera-work showing how it feels when he 'gets there', the boy tries to usurp his father's role to provide his mother with what she needs. John Mills produced the film, and his interest was no doubt linked to his typecast image: he normally plays rather piously unimpeachable characters, so it's quite a shock to see him here directing the lad's first experience of 'riding'. The only slight difficulty is that the boy actor needed to be nearer his early teens to carry the weight of the story's darker implications.

Should this charming fantasy have been turned into a depressing tragedy? You decide!

[Turfseer · 6/10 · 31 December 2022]

An adaptation of a D. H. Lawrence short story, it occurred to me that this might have worked better as a one-hour TV feature in the vein of Alfred Hitchcock Presents. But even Hitchcock might have found the ending here to be a little too dark for a general audience.

Like in one of Hitchcock's TV episodes, the main characters are greedy and dissolute. Hester (Valerie Hobson) and Richard (Hugh Sinclair) Grahame both live above their means in an upper middle class English home. Hester is a spendthrift and Richard with an ugly gambling problem.

Hester's brother, "Uncle" Oscar (Ronald Squire) has been bailing Hester out for many years, but their financial situation has become so dire he makes it clear that's he at an end saving them from financial collapse.

The main character is 10-year-old Paul (John Howard Davies), the oldest of the Grahame's three children. He develops a bond with Bassett (John Mills), the handyman and former jockey/stable boy who resides in a shed on the Grahame property and likes to play the ponies.

Paul wants to help his mother who he perceives is in poor financial straits (a bailiff even shows up one day demanding 40-pound payment for an item Hester paid for on credit-she even ends up hocking some of her clothes so she can pay off the debt).

The main plot hinges on Paul's newfound psychic abilities to pick racing horse winners (whenever he feels totally "sure" of his picks) after furiously riding each time on a rocking horse his parents purchased for the children as a gift.

It's a little bit of a stretch to see a 10-year-old enamored riding a rocking horse (more suited for a 3- or 4-year-old) but that's when he begins getting those messages about picking winners at the racetrack.

A secret pact between Paul and Bassett ensues as the handyman begins accumulating a large amount of money following Paul's instructions. Soon Uncle Oscar joins the group, and they make so much money that they agree to give some of it to Hester through the ruse of an inheritance from a long lost relative.

I was a little disappointed that Hester and Richard's reaction is not shown as the restoration of the family's financial standing is an important plot point. Instead, a montage is shown with Hester simply going back to her profligate ways like before.

In addition, it's fast becoming apparent that little Paul is beginning to decompensate and none of the adults are concerned enough to mount some kind of third-party intervention.

The "house" even begins to whisper to the unhinged Paul with the word "money" continually repeated. This is meant to be symbolic of the greed of the parents and adults in the child's orbit who contribute to the tragedy soon to unfold.

Story wise, things are not helped when Richard disappears for a good part of the second half of the film. Does he have no input into what's going on in the household?

What appears to be a charming fantasy about a child with psychic abilities turns into a full-blown tragedy after Paul expires once he comes up with the Darby winner.

One wonders why the parents don't bring the child to the hospital immediately and wait so long until the family doctor arrives.

Hester's reaction to Paul's death seems rather muted considering that's her beloved son.

Hester's demand to burn the rocking horse is perhaps an implicit acknowledgment that it was in part her greed that contributed to her son's death. She is so ashamed that she orders Bassett to burn the race winnings too.

The down to earth working-class Bassett reasonably decides not to destroy the money and promises to give it to a lawyer in the hope that it will be distributed to help others less fortunate.

Personally, I would have liked to see Paul near death but revived at the end. That would have been more in keeping with the charming aspect of the story instead of what transpires-an upsetting tragedy!

There is no reason why D. H. Lawrence or the filmmakers who made Rocking Horse Winner should have felt compelled to end things with such a downbeat denouement. The message of the film should have been that ordinary people who make mistakes should be allowed an opportunity for redemption. There is no redemption here when the poor 10 year-old-old is killed off. It's an "above the fray" attitude which peg all the scenarists involved as promulgators of a decided "holier than thou" perspective.

All the performers here are quite good. Davies the child actor went on to have a successful career as a British TV producer but sadly (like his fictional character) succumbed to an illness at a relatively early age.

Exceptional Film is a Scary Lesson for Parents!

[JLRMovieReviews · 9/10 · 17 November 2014]

One day, a fine young lad, played by John Howard Davies, gets a wooden rocking horse for a Christmas gift by his favorite uncle, a rich uncle. His father is a butterfingers with money, as he bets and loses it, while his wife, played by Valerie Hobson, is constantly at him, saying they need more money, we simply must have it. She, by the way, is used to having her way and used to living beyond their means. The uncle is her brother who has gotten them out of more than one financial scrape, who now refuses to do it anymore. He's done. The boy discovers by getting on the horse and rocking, that the horse not only talks to him, but gives him tips on the winners at the horse track. By way of betting through the groundskeeper, played by John Mills, the young boy amasses gads of money. And yet, what starts as a fantasy and a somewhat whimsical little film takes a dramatic and scary turn. This film has a little bit of everything for everyone: fantasy, humor, drama, and even a bit of the Gothic touch. The lesson to be learned from this film is simple: do not argue, or discuss money issues, in front of your children. One feels that maybe writer D. H. Lawrence, who wrote the short story from which this was based, may have lived a similar type of childhood but to a degree obviously. If it's draining for an adult, how do you think it makes children feel? This climax is made for a point for all adults - to learn from and change. A very dramatic and memorable film is "The Rocking Horse Winner." All the actors were exceptional, including the young lad, but the real star of the story is author D. H. Lawrence's imagination that tries to teach people the only way he can.

Peculiar but Interesting

[kenjha · 7/10 · 8 June 2013]

A boy is able to pick winners at horse races after receiving a rocking horse as a gift. Based on a short story by Lawrence, this is a rather peculiar film that is interesting but not clear about the nature of the magical power the rocking horse possesses. It benefits from good acting. Hobson does well in the rather unsympathetic role of the mother who can never have enough money, which begins to wear on her young son, effectively played by Davies. The latter had played the title role the previous year in "Oliver Twist," but retired from acting before his teens and went on to have a long career as producer and director in British television. Mills is likable as a kindly stable hand who befriends the boy.

Beautifully done dark fantasy

[preppy-3 · 8/10 · 4 December 2008]

This is about a British family. The mother (Valerie Hobson) spends beyond her means. The father gambles...badly and loses his job. The family is close to bankruptcy when their young son Paul (John Howard Davies) develops this uncanny ability to predict winners in horse races. How does he do it? By riding his rocking horse.

I read the D.H. Lawrence short story back in college in the 1980s and never forgot it. I heard about this film but was afraid to see it...I didn't think there was any way to film the story without it looking stupid. Also this movie is hard to find. I finally did catch it and I was impressed. They managed to take a very dark and strange short story and make an excellent movie out of it. It moves quickly (it's only 90 minutes) and I was never bored for one second. The acting really helps to carry this one. Hobson is just OK as the mother but Davies as the little boy, John Mills as Bassett and Ronald Squire as Uncle Oscar are just great. Ultimately the movie is sad and depressing but just incredible. This was way too ahead of its time to connect with audiences of 1950 and it (sadly) remains unknown to this day. Well worth seeing.

The Rocking Horse Winner

[henry8-3 · 6/10 · 14 April 2022]

A young boy receive a rocking horse for Christmas and when riding it he can predict real race winners which helps those all around him, including his greedy, snobbish mother. However, things take a dark turn.

Remarkably mature and rather grim drama of innocence and greed played cleverly within a simple but imaginative notion. The performances are strong from John Howard Davies, Valerie Hobson and John Mills with Hobson delivering in her best clipped English, a woman who so desperately needs more of everything so she can properly mix in society only to realise too late that money isn't everything.

First Lawrence Film is also the Best

[Prof_Lostiswitz · 10/10 · 12 November 2005]

It seems that this was the first time anyone had tried putting D.H. Lawrence on film; its also wonderfully well done, a great deal better than Ken Russell's overblown excess.

A large part of the credit goes to William Alwyn's creepy score, similar to the work he had done for Odd Man Out a few years before. Odd Man Out is reckoned to be one of the best British films, but this is about equal in quality.

I don't want to spoil the story for those who aren't familiar with it; but when you read that it's about a boy and his magic rocking horse, you might not be prepared for the darkness involved. The undertones of the story make it closer to Pasolini or Fassbinder than to anything we have come to expect from British cinema.

Some scenes of exposition are typical of the era, with a lot of scintillating conversation; these help to understand the story, but you can probably go to the fridge without missing too much. The essential scenes are - a) those with the rocking horse; b) those between the boy and the mother; c) all those with Alwyn's music. (Alwyn deserves a better reputation than he now enjoys).

Near the end is one shot you really should check out, where the boy sees the storm-clouds form into horses' heads.This must surely have been an influence on later movies like The Haunting (1963).

The Rocking Horse Winner

[CinemaSerf · 7/10 · 18 February 2024]

Fresh from his success in David Lean's "Oliver Twist", John Howard Davies skilfully takes on a rather different role in this engaging dark fantasy. He ("Paul") lives with his wastrel parents and debt is never far away. She, (Valerie Hobson), is a compulsive shopper and he (Hugh Sinclair) a compulsive gambler - neither are very good at their chosen profession! Luckily, it's usually kind uncle "Oscar" (Ronald Squire) who picks up the pieces, but even his is tiring of constantly bailing them out. Things start to look up after the they engage "Bassett" (John Mills) who befriends then provides his young master with a rocking horse in the attic. Mysteriously, when riding this wooden beast the youngster sees the future. He can tell which horse is going to win. He only tells his new friend who is initially sceptical, but with them soon having the huge sum of £1,200 in the kitty and his mother reduced to pawning her most treasured possessions, the pair have to find a way of getting the cash to her without her knowing - or becoming too reliant on it. To that end, they read in "Oscar" who overcomes his own scepticism and finds a way to keep his mother in a style she will appreciate. Of course, any gift comes with a cost and the young "Paul" finds himself constantly hearing calls from the very fabric of the house demanding more and more money. He rides and rides - but can never satiate it's needs. The Derby looms but the doctors have suggested the now emotionally exhausted boy stay in bed. One last hoorah? It takes a little while to get going but once the wheels of the story are in motion, there develops a strong chemistry between Mills and Davies and between him and an Hobson who gradually plays her way into the part quite effectively and all deliver a strong and quite poignant story. Never look a gift horse? Well, that would seem to apply here!

I really enjoyed this seldom-seen film

[Arcturus1980 · 8/10 · 3 November 2018]

The dialogue is expectedly very British and good. Though a perfunctory performance was all the needlessly limited role of the father required, all other players did wonderfully.

Interestingly, the story concerns a good, but sybaritic mother's avarice and her loving son's obsessive desire to satisfy it. It also plays into the idea of money as an inherent evil while earning my high praise by not taking this too far. It is also another one of many films I have enjoyed on the fascinating subject of gambling.

some TZBM stuff

[SnoopyStyle · 7/10 · 24 December 2022]

It is an adaptation of the D. H. Lawrence short story. The upper-middle class Grahame family has money troubles. The son Paul receives a rocking horse for Christmas. It's a lucky horse and it starts helping him pick horses for the races. It comes with a price.

This is some Twilight Zone Black Mirror stuff. I really love the concept. It does need to start showing the downside a lot sooner. That's where most of the drama would exist. It should be fifty-fifty. The money situation should be more dire. The drama needs to be elevated. Without that, this is really only a TV episode worth of material.

I had a hard time getting into this movie....it's so creepy and dark.

[planktonrules · 4/10 · 20 April 2011]

For me, this was a very difficult movie to care about and I really had to push myself to keep watching--as the plot did sound interesting. My problem is that the family who is the subject of the film was pretty disgusting--at least the parents. And, because they were do awful, I really didn't want to see anything good happen to them! The film begins with a well-to-do family--with a nice home and a trust fund on which they should be able to live very well. But, the parents are just jerks and they squander the funds. The father gambles and seemed disinclined to work. The mother spends money like a sailor on shore leave--and is actually angry at others for expecting her to actually pay her debts!! And, their only concerns seem to be having fun. I hated these people so much and was hoping something terrible would happen to them or their children would get adopted by nice folks! Despite being despicable weasels, these two irresponsible nit-wits had three nice kids--one of which is the star of the film, John Howard Davies. For some very inexplicable reason, the boy gets a giant rocking horse--through which the boy is able to somehow know the winners of various horse races. Now the kid and the horse are NOT 100% accurate--but they are beyond simply lucky. I could say more, but it's best you see this strange and dark fantasy.

So was all this worth seeing by the end or is it just a case of too many unpleasant characters to really make the film interesting? Well, the strain the boy feels to pick winners in order to help him evil parents is very great and the kid appears to be cracking up after a while--and this is pretty disturbing and NOT a cute little family fantasy. It's only after the kid is a few steps from the loony bin that his mother seems to care about what is happening to him--and then, it's too late! My verdict is that this is a well-made but thoroughly creepy and unpleasant film--and I sure didn't think it was worth seeing in the long run--even though I THINK the message was intended as a warning to bad parents. Creepy, creepy and creepy!! I wonder, though, if the experience of this kid is much like that of many Hollywood child actors---bleed the kids dry to pay for the crappy parents' fun.

By the way, the boy (Davies) looked familiar and I wasn't surprised when saw that it was because I'd seen him play the lead in the famous 1948 version of "Oliver Twist". However, upon checking this on IMDb, I also learned that Davies had produced many British comedies--including episodes of "Monty Python", "Fawlty Towers", "Mr. Bean" and many others! Now that's pretty interesting.