The Secret Garden [DVD] [1975]

Unfortunately, the country code for this DVD was a 2 and won't play on any DVD player I have.

First, here's a rundown of most of the others:1949 Margaret O'Brien version: Not bad, very 40's, terrible music (sounds like it was written for The Wizard of Oz), b&w (except for the garden), melodramatic and rather gothic, Elsa Lanchester as Martha was incredibly annoying (constantly erupting in a phony, humorless titter, you can understand why Mary can't stand her), but the kids were not bad, though Dean Stockwell as Colin looked way too healthy and stocky for the part (not to mention sounding American).1987 Hallmark Hall of Fame version: the less said the better -- truly terrible, with American children who can't act and a woefully miscast Barrett Oliver as Dickon. Yikes.1993 Agnieszka Holland version: the most gloriously lyrical of the bunch - gorgeous cinematography, beautiful music and writing, and, though Archibald was kind of creepy, the rest were strong performances all around including probably the best Dickon of them all.2017 steampunk version: um, oookay, no.2020 Colin Firth version: terrific Mary and Dickon, Martha mostly sidelined, Colin (the son) an interestingly different take on the character, the most over-the-top garden of them all, and the magic was overt rather than subtle and natural. All versions make changes from the book which is fine, they are Adaptations not crib notes, but this one makes the biggest changes for no particularly discernible reason, changes that are mostly random and unnecessary.The Lucy Simon Broadway musical version: pretty wonderful and magical in many ways, but too much time spent with Archibald and his brother mooning around over Lily. And having an adult play Dickon was kind of creepy.And now this version: it suffers from all the shortcomings of the BBC in the 70s - low budget, dingy looking with poor lighting, a sad little garden, and yet ... the most consistently delightful of them all. They made all the right choices, didn't create any unnecessary villains, made it very clear why Colin was the way he was, didn't overhype the drama, but just let it play out gently and compassionately. They find the humor that's there in the book but usually ignored in other versions. But mostly it's the performances that make it so delightful: Martha and her mother, the nurse and doctor, John and Ben Weatherstaff, even Mrs. Medlock turns out to be a decent human being. Most especially it's the relationship between Colin and Mary -- every scene when they're together is just terrific, as if they really are cousins learning for the first time what it's like to have a friend, and to be one. Other versions may be more lavish or beautiful, but this one is just joyous, and is the one we keep coming back to.

I recently watched an abridged version of this movie and plan to purchase the full version as I want to know what sections are missing and because I love the way the British depict a story. What was shown in the l00 plus minutes to me was lovely to say the least! I would not say that this film was cheaply made at all, in fact I was impressed with the decors of the rooms, the dress of the characters and the look of the large home from outside and the countryside. Yes, there is slight grainy filming only when the characters go outside, but it is not really that bad and when they enter the garden it looks normal like the inside of the house. To me this did not take away from the film. I also enjoyed the accents of the characters and the interaction between characters. I did not find it hard at all to understand their speech and I felt that the characters had great concern and emotion for one another. I was surprised that Colin's father actually appeared normal and rather nice because I had watched two other versions of this movie and felt the 1993 version though beautiful to watch was not so realistic nor did I feel the characters were as loving towards one another especially the head maid and Colin's father toward Colin or Mary. The father was extremely unrealistic and foreboding in that version. I watched the 1949 version and the acting was somewhat overdone and the movie was dark overall. I felt in this BBC version that all the characters started out somewhat disliking one another but all came around and even Colin's father and the head maid showed care and concern for Mary and I was happy that it was a very happy story. I also liked the character development and much interaction between the maids and the children without hatred shown and the sets were just right and not fake at all. The garden was just that...a garden a realistic garden. I can't wait to see the longer version because the pace of the BBC movies is nice and slow giving time to developing the characters!! If you like realism and getting to know the characters without a lot of overplay and hype this is the version for you!!

I have at least three "The Secret Garden" films. This one is the most faithful to the book. There are areas that it strays--the scenes with John and Martha playing with Mary are not in the book and a few other ones. But overall I really enjoyed this rendition. Sarah Hollis Andrews plays Mary the way the book pictured her. An odd child unfeeling and unemotional except for temper but she changes slowly and we get to see that. I wish it had been longer because the book had other scenes I would have liked to seen played out and more of Ben Weatherstaff. But taken all together this is the best I've seen yet. If you are looking for this book in movie form, I really think this is the best but be sure you get the full presentation. It is around 210 minutes. There is a shortened one that only runs 100 minutes but it cuts out a lot of storyline.There is a very realistic portrayal of the class system in India and England. It was well portrayed maybe glossed over a little because I think a servant's life must have been very hard. Some may find that objectionable but the story is truly about two unloved children learning to like themselves and see and feel compassion for the people around them. I do think that comes through in small areas, such as when Colin thanks the nurse for his drink. The look on her face shows the distance he had come from being a miserable little beast that no one cared about or wanted to being a more normal child. There is no way to erase this era because it happened. This film doesn't condone it but it does betray it so we have an idea of how different times were.

This movie has a white stripe at the bottom of the screen for the entire movie. The wrong movie was also sent.