The Secret Garden

Director: Fred M. Wilcox Fred M. Wilcox

Overview

In this filmization of Frances Hodgson Burnett novel, tempestuous orphan girl Mary Lennox is sent to live with her reclusive, long-widowed uncle Archibald Craven. The embittered Craven has an invalid son, with whom the troublesome Mary constantly clashes. Things soon change after Mary discovers the key to an abandoned garden.

Product Details

Release Date:	05/07/2013
UPC:	0883316792186
Original Release:	1949
Rating:	G
Source:	Warner Archives
Presentation:	[B&W]
Sound:	[Dolby Digital Mono, Dolby Digital Stereo]
Language:	English
Time:	1:32:00
Sales rank:	16,048

Cast & Crew

Performance Credits

Margaret O'Brien	Mary Lennox
Herbert Marshall	Archibald Craven
Gladys Cooper	Mrs. Medlock
Dean Stockwell	Colin Craven
Elsa Lanchester	Martha
Brian Roper	Dickon
Reginald Owen	Ben Weatherstaff
Aubrey Mather	Dr. Griddlestone
George Zucco	Dr. Fortescue
Lowell Gilmore	British Officer
Billy Bevan	Barney
Dennis Hoey	Mr. Pitcher
Matthew Boulton	Mr. Bromley
Isobel Elsom	Governess
Norma Varden	Nurse
Kathryn Beaumont	Uncredited

Technical Credits

Robert Ardrey

Fred M. Wilcox	Director
Robert Ardrey	Screenwriter
Clarence Brown	Producer
A. Gillespie	Special Effects

Editorial Reviews

The Secret Garden's many film adaptations demonstrate that this is a fertile source that thrives on screen, and the 1949 version is one of the best. While the use of color only in the "garden" sections is perhaps more jarring to modern audiences, it still creates a marvelous effect. Indeed, Ray June's stunning cinematography -- both in color and in black-and-white -- is one of this Garden's assets, creating a stark, Gothic feeling initially that gradually melts into lighter, more inviting shades (and color tones, of course) as the presence of Mary Lennox brings light and color into the drab and oppressive world of the Craven household. A great deal of credit for the film's success goes to Robert Ardrey's superior screenplay, which adeptly finds the appropriate cinematic form for Frances Hodgson Burnett's classic book. Ardrey's script, like the book, also isn't afraid to be a bit "dark" for a family film, one of the reasons this Garden appeals as much to adults as to children. Fred Wilcox's direction is smooth and on-target, creating high points, while letting the in-between moments feel like transitions rather than waiting periods. And the cast is a dream, with Margaret O'Brien in superb form, Dean Stockwell in perhaps even better form, and spot-on performances from Herbert Marshall and Brian Roper as well. Plus, one gets the chance to see Elsa Lanchester in one of her loveliest performances, playing a normal woman rather than one of the eccentrics or neurotics with which she is so often identified. Garden is simply a jewel of a film.