SECRET GARDEN on Film & Other Media

[ConnieAnnKirk]

Have you seen any of the various adaptations of The Secret Garden on film?  Have you listened to an audio verison of the book that you particularly liked?  Here is the place to comment on and discuss the novel's adaptations in other media.

~ConnieK

[Clippership14]

I've seen three different film versions of the book, the one done by Hallmark in I think it was 1987 with Gennie James and Derek Jacobi is my favorite of the three. I've also seen the musical adaption; it was okay. I love Frances Hodgson Burnett. I used to read A Little Princess every year growing up. I've really enjoyed The Secret Garden too. I will say that someone (I don't remember who the author was) attempted to write a sequel to The Secret Garden based on when the children were grown up. I usually check out a book from a library first to see if I like it but I foolishly just went on the recommendation of a clerk in the bookstore. I couldn't make it half way through the book and this was the first time I've ever just thrown a book into the trash. It was horrible! This other author ruined all the original characters and the sweet flavor of the original book. It seemed like they were just using the popularity of the children's book to sell their own version of a bad and somewhat erotic romance novel. I still shudder to think about it. Love the original book though and the development the characters go through.

[Melissa_W Moderator]

The musical adaptation of The Secret Garden is one of my favorite Broadway musicals.  The librettist remained very close to the original novel and I still listen to the original cast recording (Mandy Patinkin opened in the role of Archibald Craven and his voice brought a tenderness to the character that never seems to develop in the novel).

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ConnieK wrote:

Have you seen any of the various adaptations of The Secret Garden on film?  Have you listened to an audio verison of the book that you particularly liked?  Here is the place to comment on and discuss the novel's adaptations in other media.

~ConnieK

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[niki]

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pedsphleb wrote:

The musical adaptation of The Secret Garden is one of my favorite Broadway musicals. The librettist remained very close to the original novel and I still listen to the original cast recording (Mandy Patinkin opened in the role of Archibald Craven and his voice brought a tenderness to the character that never seems to develop in the novel).

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ConnieK wrote:

Have you seen any of the various adaptations of The Secret Garden on film? Have you listened to an audio verison of the book that you particularly liked? Here is the place to comment on and discuss the novel's adaptations in other media.

~ConnieK

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Interesting a musical. I went looking for it and there seems to be a CD but no DVD video. However, I was able to find some snips of the musical in youtube. One looks like a trailer or something, one looks like a rehearsal, and one an amateur production.

Tony Broadcast (looks like a promotion trailer)
http://hk.youtube.com/watch?v=z0Rk2fgdi1A

The Secret Garden Musical Excerpts from Act 2
http://hk.youtube.com/watch?v=eoDAGzYUOcA&feature=related

This is the ending from a different production
http://hk.youtube.com/watch?v=z0Rk2fgdi1A

[bellsofireland]

Spoiler Warning.........[edit by ConnieK].

I'm a purist, so I usually avoid movies made from books that I've read. I always get mad when they change things, especially when there seems to be no purpose for the change. (For example, in the book Where the Heart Is the main character hates the number 7. In the movie, it's the number 5. Why on earth should that make a difference?) I can't even listen to audio books because the tone of the narrator doesn't always match with what I imagine. But we did watch one of the film adaptations of The Secret Garden in school when I was a kid, and for the most part I enjoyed the movie, but I was very upset at the ending. In the movie, Mary and Colin meet again as adults, and in their conversation you find out that Dickon died in a war. Why? That didn't happen in the book, so why would they put it in the movie and depress all of us like that? They thought the story needed more depth? They wanted us to understand that youth and the magic you find in it are fleeting? They thought Dickon was just too gentle and wise to stay in the world long enough to be an adult? Either way, I don't think they had the right to expand on the story and kill Dickon.

Message Edited by ConnieK on 07-05-2008 01:54 PM

[travelighter]

This week my family and I watched the 1993 version of the Secret Garden with Maggie Smith as Mrs.. Metlock. She was wonderful.

I did not like the video very much. Too many of the details of the book were changed and I could not understand why. For example, Mary's parents died in an earthquake in India, not from cholera. The way the key was found was entirely different.

The characters, Mary, Dickon, Colin, were close enough to my mental images to make me believe in them. Martha was wonderful...and helped me to appreciate her character in the story so much more.

My biggest issue was with the garden. It did not look at all like I picture the garden. I found that very worrisome. Also, the interior of the house did not match my mental images.

Tonight we watch the 1998 Hallmark Hall of Fame version. 

[travelighter]

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bellsofireland wrote:

I can't even listen to audio books because the tone of the narrator doesn't always match with what I imagine.

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I can understand that, but I love my books on tape...especially ones where the reader is a wonderful dramatic actor who does the dialects well. I found the Secret Garden on CD to be tremendously enjoyable .

[travelighter]

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travelighter wrote: 

Tonight we watch the 1998 Hallmark Hall of Fame version. 

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Oh, what a let down after the first film. While I thought the garden was perfect and the exterior of the house very appropriate, there was not much else I liked. Yes, they kept to the story much, much more closely, but the child actors delivered their lines terribly. They were very wooden. Mary was too healthy and cheerful. Neither Dicken nor Colin were characters with which one could relate. There were no scenes of the moors. 

It really didn't bother me that they had a post story embellishment.

If I could have combined the two films I viewed...I would have been happy. I think I'd pick the first (with Maggie Smith) over the second (Hallmark Hall of Fame) as being a well made film, but the second for being true to the book, if poorly directed. 

[ConnieAnnKirk]

 Thanks for giving this assessment of the 2 movies, TL.

~ConnieK

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Travelighter wrote:

Tonight we watch the 1998 Hallmark Hall of Fame version. 

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Oh, what a let down after the first film. While I thought the garden was perfect and the exterior of the house very appropriate, there was not much else I liked. Yes, they kept to the story much, much more closely, but the child actors delivered their lines terribly. They were very wooden. Mary was too healthy and cheerful. Neither Dicken nor Colin were characters with which one could relate. There were no scenes of the moors. 

It really didn't bother me that they had a post story embellishment.

If I could have combined the two films I viewed...I would have been happy. I think I'd pick the first (with Maggie Smith) over the second (Hallmark Hall of Fame) as being a well made film, but the second for being true to the book, if poorly directed. 

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