Rotten Tomatoes
Cancel Movies Tv shows FanStore News Showtimes

The Rocking Horse Winner

Play trailer Poster for The Rocking Horse Winner 1949 1h 31m Drama Play Trailer Watchlist
Watchlist Tomatometer Popcornmeter
83% Tomatometer 6 Reviews 70% 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.

Where to Watch

The Rocking Horse Winner

Critics Reviews

View All (6) Critics Reviews
Nell Minow Movie Mom Rated: 4/5 Feb 19, 2004 Full Review Emanuel Levy EmanuelLevy.Com Rated: 2/5 Jul 2, 2005 Full Review Ken Hanke Mountain Xpress (Asheville, NC) Odd, disturbing version of the Lawrence short story doesn't compromise its source. Rated: 4/5 Jan 29, 2004 Full Review Matt Langdon Filmcritic.com Rated: 4/5 Nov 5, 2003 Full Review Mark Robison Reno Gazette-Journal DVD is a treatise on the famed D.H. Lawrence short story. Rated: A- Jan 20, 2003 Full Review Jeremiah Kipp ToxicUniverse.com Pelissier's bold expressionistic cinematography during the [rocking horse] sequences taps into the nightmare logic of a child's dreams, spinning into delirium. Rated: 4.5/5 Nov 18, 2002 Full Review Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

View All (18) audience reviews
S R 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. Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 01/22/24 Full Review isla s 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. Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 03/31/23 Full Review Audience Member A good movie from the 40's. Following the original story quite well. Watch it recently with my girlfriend and she was impressed. Rated 4 out of 5 stars 02/07/23 Full Review Audience Member 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. Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars 01/27/23 Full Review Audience Member Dark overtones in this beautifully done dark fantasy!! Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 02/22/23 Full Review Audience Member Mother's compulsive spending causes manic son to obsessively ride a toy which lets him predict race results with perfect accuracy. Weird John Howard Davies grew up to direct Mr. Bean. Rated 0.5 out of 5 stars 02/20/23 Full Review Read all reviews
The Rocking Horse Winner

My Rating

Read More Read Less POST RATING WRITE A REVIEW EDIT REVIEW

Cast & Crew

Obey 100% 45% Obey Watchlist Counterfeiters 83% 83% Counterfeiters Watchlist Milton's Secret 42% 70% Milton's Secret Watchlist TRAILER for Milton's Secret Overcomer 59% 98% Overcomer Watchlist TRAILER for Overcomer Wildlife 94% 72% Wildlife Watchlist TRAILER for Wildlife Discover more movies and TV shows. View More

Movie Info

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
Most Popular at Home Now