John Mills: "In January 1949 Anthony Pelissier suggested DH Lawrence's 'The Rocking Horse Winner' as my next production. Although I considered it to be a difficult subject to tackle, flushed with what I thought at the time was the box office success on [The History of Mr] Polly, I decided to take a chance. The Rocking Horse Winner finally emerged as another artistic triumph and a box-office disappointment. It was again well-directed, well-acted, by that superb actor Ronald Squire, Valerie Hobson, and a young child actor, John Howard Davies. Looking back I realise I made one stupid mistake - I played a small part in the picture. This, at a time when I was a big draw at the box-office, and able to carry a picture with my name alone above the title, was asking for trouble. I got it, and I deserved it. I was deluged with mail from my fans, who said they didn't expect to pay good money only to see me on the screen for about ten minutes."
Yes, with its strange subject matter and downbeat ending, I did wonder what the public thought of it. It holds its own very well, but I don't think the box office failure was Johnny's alone - there wasn't a better part in it for him, and therefore, from the star's point of view, it was probably ill-advised in the first place.
The fact the adults in it are a despicable lot (Johnny aside) doesn't help with audience empathy.
It's stunningly shot by Desmond Dickinson and edited by John Seabourne, with Anne Coates assisting. It certainly has its fans in this household.
Strangely, the UK DVD is three minutes shorter than the 91m NTSC version, and an inferior quality print.
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