Warner Archive Wednesday ~ The Secret Garden (1949)

Dean Stockwell, Margaret O'Brien and Brian Roper in The Secret Garden (1949)

The Secret Garden (1949) is a delightful adaptation of Frances Hodgson Burnett's novel of the same name. Of the three adaptations I've seen of The Secret Garden, this one is my favorite (although I'm also partial to the 1993 version too). The film is filled with wonderful moody cinematography and has great use of light and shadow. The movie is in black and white but there are three glorious Technicolor sequences which all take place in the secret garden when it's in full bloom.

Mary Lennox (Margaret O'Brien) recently became an orphan while living with her family in India. After her parents death, she's shipped off to England to live with distant relatives. Mary is thrust into this oppressive mansion, with a dower and mysterious uncle, Archibald Craven (Herbert Marshall), an even more dower staff and an unknown screaming voice that echoes throughout the hallways. The screams come from Colin Craven (Dean Stockwell), Archibald's son and Mary's cousin. He's been made an invalid from too much coddling and emotional neglect. Colin and Mary are both brats in their own ways and have met their match with each other. Mary befriends both Colin and the neighbor boy Dickon (Brian Roper). Behind the back of gardener Ben Weatherstaff (Reginald Owen), Mary and Dickon break into a secret garden that has been closed up ever since Colin's mother was killed there by a falling tree. The kids revive the garden bringing color (literally and figuratively) and hope back into everyone's lives.

The dark oppressiveness of the mansion is matched by the neighboring moors however these are no match for the vitality of nature (gardens, animals, etc.) and the youthfulness of the children. Whatever is wrong inside that mansion will be made right with the healing powers of nature and youth. I have always thought The Secret Garden is a great stories for kids. The three children in the story prove to be receptive and triumphant as they outsmart the adults. The kids are the heroes and even without the inherent powers that come with adulthood, they are able to change their own worlds. My favorite scene is the one where Mary and Colin have a screaming contest during one of Colin's tantrums. It's hilarious and I think kids would appreciate it! All three child actors do a wonderful job in the film.

Elsa Lanchester has a notable role as the jolly maid Martha and I enjoyed watching Reginald Owen play the gardener. I wonder if Dickon's Raven is played by Jimmy the Raven. I haven't been able to confirm that but if you are interested Terry of A Shroud of Thoughts has a great post about that bird's career in film.

My only complaint is that the film is far too short at only 92 minutes! Some aspects of the story are rushed because of it. If the film were just a bit longer, maybe some more time could have been spent developing some of the characters.

Take a listen to Warner Archive's recent podcast interview with actress Margaret O'Brien.

The Secret Garden (1949) is available on DVD MOD from Warner Archive. I highly recommend it especially if you are looking for a good way to introduce kids to old movies.


Warner Archive Wednesday - On (random) Wednesdays, I review one title from the Warner Archive Collection. I received The Secret Garden (1949) from Warner Archive for review.

A Song in the Dark: The Birth of Musical Film

A Song in the Dark: The Birth of the Musical Film
Second Edition
by Richard Barrios
Oxford University Press
Paperback 9780195377347
2009

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"By inviting us to behold vestiges of our past, these movies allow us to revel, if only momentarily, in a time in which the world appeared less fraught, optimism was an option, and song and dance mattered immensely." - A Song in the Dark, Richard Barrios

I have had many long conversations with Jonas of All Talking! All Dancing! All Singing! about early talkies and I always found myself as the weaker half of the conversation. I really wanted to learn more about films from this era, particularly musicals, and Jonas had recommended a book for me to read so I could be well-informed on the subject.

A Song in the Dark: The Birth of the Musical Film by Richard Barrios is a comprehensive and thorough examination of the early era of musicals. It focuses specifically on films from 1926-1934 starting with Don Juan (1926) and ending with The Gay Divorcee (1934). The book is well-organized which is crucial for the reader because otherwise we would get lost in the vast sea of information.

The book follows the story of early musical film chronologically however Barrios adeptly groups the films in each chapter into individual themes. This makes the book very readable. Chapter themes include Hollywood Revues [there were several: King of Jazz (1930), Hollywood Revue of 1929, The Show of Shows (1929), Paramount on Parade (1930), etc.], the Mammy theme [The Jazz Singer (1927), etc.], Comedies, the exotic, films that were not quite musicals, etc. There are also chapters on different specific time periods as well as one on The March of Time which is the most interesting chapter of them all. It focuses primarily on early musical failures and why they failed. It ends with The March of Time which is a Hollywood revue that was never finished and thus never released. A lot was already filmed and those musical numbers were chopped up and released in other movies, revues and shorts.

Barrios isn't afraid to share his opinions or judgements. It is necessary to know this going into reading the book because otherwise it might come as an unwelcome shock. It does add something extra to the text which could have been quite dull without Barrios' voice shining through. Although, I have to admit it took some getting used to. I almost set the book aside to pick up something else until I got 170 pages in and found my stride. I'm so glad I stuck with the book because boy did I learn a lot!

A special thank you goes out to author Richard Barrios for writing this about Ruby Keeler, a performer who I think is very misunderstood by modern audiences:

This particular performer needs her context, for Keeler will strike many as across-the-board incompetent.... As her primary identity apart from Jolson was as a tap dancer, viewers may be surprised by the flailing arms, leaden footwork, and the fact that the top of her head is more visible than her face; she's staring down at those feet to make sure they do her bidding. [Her heavy-footed technique, which seems absurd to those accustomed to Eleanor Powell or Ann Miller, is part of an older dancing tradition. The shoes had wood soles, not metal taps, and produced more sound the harder they were banged down.] 

Barrios explained this so perfectly! So for those of you who make fun of Ruby Keeler, you can go stuff it.

It does help if you are familiar with early musical films. Make sure you watch some early classics like The Jazz Singer (1927)  an early revue like Hollywood Revue of 1929, Gold Diggers of 1933, Sunnyside Up (1929), Madam Satan (1930), The Broadway Melody (1929), Hips, Hips, Hooray! (1934), etc. When I read the book, I already had some familiarity with early musicals but when I did come across an unfamiliar film that was talked about extensively, I took the time to watch a clip online. YouTube has lots of the musical numbers (and oftentimes entire films) available to watch at any time. I recommend Jonas's YouTube channel which has quite a number of early musical gems.

A Song in the Dark is an essential guide for anyone with a keen interest in film history and musicals. I highly recommend it. Thank you to Oxford University Press for sending me this book for review!

Below are a few of my favorite early musical numbers:

To Sir, With Love (1967)

Source

To Sir, With Love (1967) is one of several movies in the good-teacher-vs-tough-students sub-genre. It stars Sidney Poitier as the well-intentioned Mr. Thackeray who winds up at a school in a rough part of London.  Only 12 years earlier, Poitier had a supporting role as a tough student giving Glenn Ford a hard time in Blackboard Jungle (1955). Now the roles have been reversed and it is time for Poitier to contend with a bunch of young hoodlums raring to get out into the real world.

As a contemporary viewer who already has many of these types of films available to them, why should we watch To Sir, With Love (1967)? The main reason is Mr. Thackeray (Sidney Poitier) himself. His demeanor, his race, his modest sophistication and worldliness sets him apart from the poorly educated ruffians who populate his classroom. You feel sorry for him. He's got a tough job on his hands and he's only really there because he hasn't been able to find an engineering position. He has no teaching experience, everyone is expecting him to bail at any second and the rules state that all teachers must avoid corporal punishment at all costs. However, while watching this I got the sense that out of anyone Mr. Thackeray was well suited to tackle this problematic situation. Not just because that's how the story is supposed to go but because of his qualities as a person. However, you feel bad for his students too. They are disadvantaged youth and don't have bright futures ahead of them. Mr. Thackeray, or Sir as they call him, is a beacon of hope for them if they'd only open their eyes.

The story has a lot of heart and is a bit sentimental but never really cloying. Romance is part of the plot with both a young female student and a fellow teacher having the hots for Mr. Thackeray. And let's face it, the viewer has a crush on Thackeray/Poitier too. I know I did!

While watching this you also get to experience a young hip 1960s London. The music, dance, fashion and culture; it's all there. The cinematography isn't all that notable except for the fantastic intro and the scene in which the students go on a field trip to an art museum. I could watch both the intro and the museum scene over and over again, that is how cool they are!

All the students in the film are played by young British actors. The theme song, which shares the same title as the movie, is sung by 1960s British pop star Lulu who also plays one of the students. The song is a recurring theme throughout the film and is performed by Lulu in the movie as well.

To Sir, With Love is not a perfect movie but it is an enjoyable one. I was confused by the scene in which someone is burning an object in the classroom. After some research, I read it was a sanitary napkin. Mr. Thackeray is infuriated, kicks the boys out of the classroom and yells at the girls about their "sluttish" behavior. Sluttish here means female slovenliness and not promiscuousness. This scene will definitely confuse modern audiences without context.

As a side note, Lulu attended the 2013 TCM Classic Film Festival and performed this song at the Vanity Fair party and at a showing of this film. I unfortunately missed both of these performances while attending other things, so when I got home from the festival I immediately put this film on my Netflix queue so I could watch it. From what I hear, her performances at the festival were wonderful and now having seen the film I'm really sad I missed them.

Fans of Brit-Coms will be happy to see Patricia Routledge who plays the supporting role of a concerned teacher who gives advice to Mr. Thackeray. Routledge is most known for her role as Mrs. Bucket (it's Bou-quet!) on Keeping Up Appearances.

To Sir, With Love (1967) is on DVD with limited availability. It will definitely be part of my next movie purchase because I want to snap this one up before it goes out of print.