The Secret Garden

by Carey Bunker | More from this Blogger

Year: 1987 Rating: PG Stars: Gennie James, Barret Oliver, Derek Jacobi, and a very young Colin Firth at the end

This movie is based on the novel by Frances Hodgdon Burnett. "The Secret Garden" centers around Mary. Mary is a spoiled young girl who is sent to live on a vast English estate, with a man she hardly knows, after her parents die of the plague in India. Archibald Craven (Jacobi) is a sick man who, despite his illness, is kind to Mary and asks very little of her other than to respect the estate. But Mary soon discovers that the estate holds many secrets, one involving mysterious screams heard during the middle of the night. Curiosity gets the best of her and she eventually discovers the source of the screaming, Craven's son Colin. Colin tells Mary he is sick and must stay in his bed. She doesn't really believe him though and thinks he is faking, or at the very least, no where near as sick as he pretends to be.

Eventually she and Colin become sort-of friends, as she does with the gardener, Ben Cross, and Dicken, his helper. Mary also discovers a secret, dying garden that she slowly nurses back to life with Dicken's help, and eventually Colin's. As the garden blooms, so do Mary and Colin.

The main story is pretty similar to the book, though Colin and Mary aren't related in any way, Mr. Craven had been a friend of her father's. This TV movie version differs a bit from the novel.

The movie is suitable for ages 8 and up, though a younger child could watch the movie, it might be a bit boring for them. The ending is perhaps the best part of the movie, however, so I won't spoil it here. But it is not part of Burnett's book but works well with it.

Learn more about Carey Bunker

My name is Carey and I've been a WAHM (work-at-home mom) for a little over 2 years. I have two boys, ages 5 1/2 and 2 1/2 and two recent "fur baby" adoptees from our local humane society.

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