The Secret Garden

• Director: Alan Grint
• AMG Rating:
• Genre: Children's/Family
• Movie Type: Childhood Drama
• Themes: Orphans
• Main Cast: Alison Doody, Lucy Gutteridge, Derek Jacobi, Gennie James
• Release Year: 1987
• Country: UK/US
• Run Time: 100 minutes

Plot

This made-for-TV adaptation of Frances Hodgson Burnett's The Secret Garden stars Gennie James as spoiled-rotten Mary Lennox. When her parents die of cholera, Mary is whisked from her home in India to live in the forbidding Victorian mansion of her flint-hearted uncle (Derek Jacobi). Thanks to the friendship--and vivid imagination--of gardener's son Jadrien Steele, Mary learns that life is lived best when one cares for others. At the same time, her uncle begins to act like a human being. The only false note in this otherwise flawless production was the decision to clumsily frame the story with the narration of the adult Mary Lennox. Blessed with a top-rank British cast, including Michael Hordern, Billie Whitelaw, Lucy Gutteridge and Alison Doody (Harrison Ford's vis-a-vis in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, this 1987 Secret Garden was first telecast as a Hallmark Hall of Fame presentation. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Cast

Karen Archer - Mrs. Crawford; Irina Brook - Adult Mary; Alison Doody - Lilias; Colin Firth - Adult Colin Craven; Julian Glover; Lucy Gutteridge - Mrs. Lennox; Pat Heywood - Mrs. Sowerby; Michael Hordern; Derek Jacobi - Archibald Craven; Gennie James - Mary Lennox; Philip Locke - Pitcher; Barret Oliver - Dickon Sowerby; Edward Tudor-Pole - John the Footman; Tony Selby - Sgt. Barney; Jadrien Steele; Cassie Stuart - Martha; Sophie Thursfield - Betty; David Waller - Dr. Craven; Billie Whitelaw; Margaret Whiting - Nurse Boggs; Alan Grint; Stephen Dillane - Captain Lennox; Carmel McSharry - Mrs. Gordy

Credit

Diane Holmes - Costume Designer, Alan Grint - Director, Keith Palmer - Editor, Norman Rosemont - Executive Producer, John Cameron - Composer (Music Score), John Stoll - Production Designer, Robert Paynter - Cinematographer, Steve Lanning - Producer, Blanche Hanalis - Screenwriter, Frances Hodgson Burnett - Book Author

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