The Secret Garden (1949) :
Brief Review -
What the silent version and three coloured versions lacked, this B & W plus Technicolor film brings it convincingly. A superior adaptation of classic children's literature. Frances Hodgson Burnett's book has been adapted five times on big screen, but this one beats the other four marginally. A faithful retelling of the classic tale of children is obviously one reason, but the idea of filming those garden scenes in Technicolor makes it special. It makes the film look more convincing, as the colours add a new perspective to the narrative. And I am talking about 1949, when such beautiful colours were not very habitual, so it definitely adds up to the visual experience as well as the theoretical sense of storytelling. Adopted by Robert Ardrey's screenwriting, The Secret Garden centres on a young orphan who is thrust into the dark and mysterious lives of her widowed uncle and his crippled son when she comes to live with them in their isolated country house in Yorkshire, England. She finds a locked up garden and then goes on to search for buried secrets, which leads to happiness as well as bitterness. Margaret O'Brien, the most popular and greatest child actor ever appeared on the big screen, shows you why she is called a legend. 90 minutes of show and not a moment when you can point a finger on her acting. She is that flawless. I liked Brian Roper and Dean Stockwell too, because their chemistry with Margaret looked adorable and quite natural at the same time. Watch out for that "I can scream louder" scene. I don't think any child-driven film can achieve perfection like that scene with two child actors. Overall, Fred M. Wilcox's adaptation is simply the best cinematic version, by far, I mean. Try and watch this film with children, and you'll like it even better.
RATING - 7/10*
By - #samthebestest.
What the silent version and three coloured versions lacked, this B & W plus Technicolor film brings it convincingly. A superior adaptation of classic children's literature. Frances Hodgson Burnett's book has been adapted five times on big screen, but this one beats the other four marginally. A faithful retelling of the classic tale of children is obviously one reason, but the idea of filming those garden scenes in Technicolor makes it special. It makes the film look more convincing, as the colours add a new perspective to the narrative. And I am talking about 1949, when such beautiful colours were not very habitual, so it definitely adds up to the visual experience as well as the theoretical sense of storytelling. Adopted by Robert Ardrey's screenwriting, The Secret Garden centres on a young orphan who is thrust into the dark and mysterious lives of her widowed uncle and his crippled son when she comes to live with them in their isolated country house in Yorkshire, England. She finds a locked up garden and then goes on to search for buried secrets, which leads to happiness as well as bitterness. Margaret O'Brien, the most popular and greatest child actor ever appeared on the big screen, shows you why she is called a legend. 90 minutes of show and not a moment when you can point a finger on her acting. She is that flawless. I liked Brian Roper and Dean Stockwell too, because their chemistry with Margaret looked adorable and quite natural at the same time. Watch out for that "I can scream louder" scene. I don't think any child-driven film can achieve perfection like that scene with two child actors. Overall, Fred M. Wilcox's adaptation is simply the best cinematic version, by far, I mean. Try and watch this film with children, and you'll like it even better.
RATING - 7/10*
By - #samthebestest.