The Grahames appear to be well off. They live in a nice estate with two servants; a nanny (Susan Richards) and groundskeeper Bassett (John Mills). But the household is in fact drowning in debt. Hester spends freely to maintain her position in society. Richard is unemployed, and loses considerable money playing cards with well-heeled associates.
The family is staved off from ruin by timely loans by Hester's wealthy older brother, Oscar (Ronald Squire). But Oscar is tired of bailing out the Grahames. The financial stress is even felt by Paul, who naively believes he can make his mother happy by earning money for her to spend.
This becomes possible when Paul learns he can pick the winners of horse races by riding his creepy toy rocking horse with increasing energy to the point of exhaustion. Soon, Paul's picks gain the confidence of Bassett and Oscar, who win large sums of money with them.
Paul wants his share of the money to go to his mother, to "maker her happy." Oscar and Bassett contrive an inheritance via a lawyer to fund Hester, but she burns through the cash quickly, and Paul needs to pick another big winner pronto. Paul does so, but the effort makes Paul collapse, and he dies a few days later.
How others will see it. Anthony Pelissier's career as a feature film director lasted only about five years, from 1949 to 1953. His output during that time was seven features. Three were based on lesser-known works by celebrated British authors: H.G. Wells' The History of Mr. Polly, D.H. Lawrence's The Rocking Horse Winner, and Encore (1951), based on three W. Somerset Maugham short stories.
Of his seven films, only The Rocking Horse Winner has a user rating above 7 at imdb.com. It has more than double the user vote total of any other Pelissier-directed film.
One reason for its relative popularity is the presence of the esteemed John Mills, as a supporting actor and a producer. During his long career, Sir John Mills produced only two movies, the other being The History of Mr. Polly. Presumably, Mills found acting more financially rewarding than producing.
Valerie Hobson was a leading British actress, with plum roles in Kind Hearts and Coronets (1949), Great Expectations (1946), and Bride of Frankenstein (1935). Hobson eventually married John Profumo, subject of a major 1963 British political scandal.
Child actor John Howard Davies was also a leading British actor of the day, thanks to playing the title role in David Lean's Oliver Twist (1948), released the year before our present film.
Imdb.com user reviews generally praise the film but note it is not for children, despite its title. Indeed, the movie has horror aspects. The rocking horse is a sinister presence.
How I felt about it. The Rocking Horse Winner is clearly an allegory. But about what? Young Paul sacrifices himself to satisfy the greed of the adults in his life. Yet nobody is a villain. In the end, Paul's mother would rather burn the money than spend it, once she knows where it came from, and what it cost.
Indeed, Paul's mother is oblivious about the household gambling going on behind her back. Paul's uncle and servant show occasional concern over Paul's health, but ultimately, they would rather monetize Paul's obsession with his rocking horse than admit it is a source of stress for the lad.
Yet Paul's parents are also to blame. The mother's lavish spending and the father's gambling force them to accept loans from the mother's older brother, and when he threatens to cut them off, the tension becomes so intense that it obligates innocent Paul to take on the burden of provider in the only way that he knows how.