national velvet ( 1944 ) the movie that put taylor on the map . costarring the then number one box office champ and mickey rooney . taylor play a girl in love with her horse and when jockey mickey rooney be unable to ride in the grand national race and spunky liz cut her hair and pretend to be a boy and race the horse to . well i would not spoil the end for you . it quality melodrama that mgm be famous for put out . and it another early color picture to boot .