The Secret Garden (1993)
86%RT Audience Score: 80%
Awards & Nominations: Nominated for 1 BAFTA Award
3 wins & 6 nominations total
The Secret Garden honors its classic source material with a well-acted, beautifully filmed adaptation that doesn’t shy from its story’s darker themes
The Secret Garden is a movie that will make you feel like you’re in a fairy tale. The visuals are enchanting, and the performances are superb. Maggie Smith steals the show as the beastly housekeeper, and the contrast between the garden and the dread of Misselthwaite is masterfully done. It’s not just a movie for kids, but older children who have been asking specific questions about death may find some nourishment in this garden. Overall, it’s a classic that will make you believe in the power of love to heal and nurture barren souls. Just don’t expect any smiling whales or preschool ninjas.
Production Company(ies)
United Artists Lions Gate Films, Industrial Development Corporation, of South Africa
Distributor
Warner Bros. Pictures
Release Type
Filming Location(s)
Luton Hoo Estate, Luton, Bedfordshire, England, UK
MPAA / Certificate
G
Year of Release
1993
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Color:Color
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Sound mix:Dolby Stereo
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Aspect ratio:1.85 : 1
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Runtime:1h 41m
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Language(s):English
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Country of origin:United Kingdom, France
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Release date:Release Date (Theaters): Aug 1, 1993 Wide
Release Date (Streaming): Jan 1, 2000
Genre(s)
Drama
Keyword(s)
starring Kate Maberly, Heydon Prowse, Maggie Smith, John Lynch, Andrew Knott, Laura Crossley, directed by Agnieszka Holland, written by Frances Hodgson Burnett, Caroline Thompson, drama, box office performance, budget, reviewed by Fred Camper, Jay Carr, Jeff Shannon, Jay Boyar, Carrie Rickey, Kenneth Turan, Brian D Johnson, Quentin Curtis, David Parkinson, Bill Kelley, Ralph Novak, David Sterritt, G rating, Frances Hodgson Burnett’s classic fairy tale, orphan, uncle, mansion, secrets, crippled cousin, neglected garden, adaptation, well-acted, beautifully filmed, darker themes
Worldwide gross: $31,181,347
Worldwide gross (inflation-adjusted): $64,771,615
Worldwide gross ranking (inflation-adjusted): 1,220
Worldwide tickets sold (est.): 7,063,426
US/Canada gross: $31,181,347
US/Canada gross (inflation-adjusted): $64,771,615
US/Canada gross ranking (inflation-adjusted): 959
US/Canada opening weekend: $4,625,583
US/Canada opening weekend (inflation-adjusted): $9,608,516
US/Canada opening weekend ranking (inflation-adjusted): 971
Budget and Earnings Details
Production budget (est.): $18,000,000
Production budget (inflation-adjusted): $37,390,593
Production budget ranking: 1,005
Marketing and distribution budget (inflation-adjusted est.): $20,134,834
Box office net earnings to date (inflation-adjusted est.): $7,246,187
ROI to date (est.): 13%
ROI ranking: 1,333
Heydon Prowse – Colin Craven
Maggie Smith – Mrs. Medlock
John Lynch – Lord Craven
Andrew Knott – Dickon
Laura Crossley – Martha
Director(s)
Agnieszka Holland
Writer(s)
Frances Hodgson Burnett, Caroline Thompson
Producer(s)
Fred Fuchs, Fred Roos, Tom Luddy
Film Festivals
Awards & Nominations
Nominated for 1 BAFTA Award
3 wins & 6 nominations total
Academy Awards
All Critics (43) | Top Critics (21) | Fresh (38) | Rotten (5)
…though Solomon seems to assert that his films fundamentally consist of the physical images themselves, and not what those images might represent, he doesn’t abandon representational imagery completely…
June 2, 2022
Fred Camper
Chicago Reader
TOP CRITIC
The result is an instant classic — rich, dense, resonant, powerful.
August 1, 2013
Jay Carr
Boston Globe
TOP CRITIC
While drawing superb performances from her young leads, Holland has masterfully contrasted the garden — a place where melodic robins seem almost conversant — with the dread of Misselthwaite.
August 1, 2013 | Rating: 3.5/4
Jeff Shannon
Seattle Times
TOP CRITIC
The movie’s dark themes, unhurried pace and talkiness make it something of a gamble for many children. But older children — especially those who have been asking specific questions about death — may find some nourishment in this garden.
August 1, 2013 | Rating: 3/5
Jay Boyar
Orlando Sentinel
TOP CRITIC
This enchanted tale vividly shows how love heals and nurtures barren souls, makes them flourish like abundant Edens.
August 1, 2013 | Rating: 3.5/4
Carrie Rickey
Philadelphia Inquirer
TOP CRITIC
Rather than a fresh breeze, it’s the stale air of gilded calculation, the uncomfortable feeling that things are excessively “just so,” that overhangs much that is genuinely appealing about this film.
August 1, 2013
Kenneth Turan
Los Angeles Times
TOP CRITIC
Visually, The Secret Garden is enchanting. Working in English for the first time, with Francis Coppola as her executive producer, Agnieszka Holland conjures up a fairy-tale world of images…
October 9, 2019
Brian D. Johnson
Maclean’s Magazine
The film has charm, without wandering into the realm of magic.
November 28, 2017
Quentin Curtis
Independent on Sunday
The film retains the gothic atmosphere of the book and looks amazing, thanks to Roger Deakins’s scintillating photography. Stealing the show is Maggie Smith as beastly housekeeper Mrs Medlock.
August 1, 2013 | Rating: 4/5
David Parkinson
Radio Times
That`s a more upscale marketing concept than Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, but it still doesn’t make the movie any good.
August 1, 2013
Bill Kelley
South Florida Sun-Sentinel
Any kids’ movie that aims for something richer than the Saturday-matinee escapism of smiling whales and preschool ninjas — that actually captures some of the mystery of childhood — ought to be embraced. whatever its peculiarities.
August 1, 2013
Ralph Novak
People Magazine
An intelligently conceived and finely crafted picture with a G rating, a tag normally shunned by ambitious filmmakers because of its association with kiddie cartoons and squeaky-clean dullness.
August 1, 2013
David Sterritt
Christian Science Monitor…
Plot
Living in India, Mary Lennox (Kate Maberly), a young, privileged girl, is left orphaned when her parents are killed in an earthquake. She is sent back to England where she goes to live on her Uncle Lord Archibald Craven’s (John Lynch’s) estate. It is a fairly isolated existence and she has to find things to keep herself occupied. She finds sickly young Colin Craven (Heydon Prowse), and a secret garden.
Trivia
Goofs / Tidbits
Nothing to add here about The Secret Garden.
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