INSPIRED BY THE SECRET GARDEN
My Robin, by Frances Hodgson
Burnett
Soon after the publication of The Secret
Garden (1911), Frances Hodgson Burnett wrote a spin-off story
featuring the garden’s robin as its central character. Titled
simply My Robin ( 1912) , the short story runs forty-two
pages and includes illustrations by Alfred Brennan. On October 2 3
, 1912 , the New York Times reported, “It is as pretty a
bird story as any ever told, and if it be a bit self-conscious,
that is merely because Mrs. Burnett cannot help posing
picturesquely in whatever she writes. It is a charming little
story, for all that.”
Film
The first film of The Secret Garden, a
silent, black-and-white version, appeared in 1919, eight years
after the novel’s initial publication. Better known is director
Fred Wilcox’s 1949 version. The magnificent, stylized sets bring
the magic of Burnett’s novel to life, while the actors, including
Margaret O’Brien as Mary Lennox, play their roles with tenderness
and emotion. The evocative cinematography and lighting capture the
scariness of the dark hallways of Misselthwaite Manor, making the
large house seem as if it really is haunted. In a dramatic
point-counterpoint evocative of 1939’s The Wizard of Oz, the
film bursts from drab black and white to blazing Technicolor upon
the discovery of the secret garden.
After several BBC television adaptations, the
novel made it to the big screen again in 1993 at the hands of
Agnieszka Holland, the Polish director known for Europa
Europa (1990) and Washington Square (1997). Holland’s
film triumphs with its simultaneous lushness and understatement.
The elegant production features graceful music by Zbigniew Preisner
and suggestive visual effects that richly convey the garden’s
transformative powers. A dour but pretty Kate Maberly portrays Mary
Lennox, Andrew Knott plays a delightful Dickon, and screen legend
Maggie Smith purses her lips tightly in the role of watchful Mrs.
Medlock. The child actors in particular do an excellent job
depicting the complexity of the emotions represented in the book.
Caroline Thompson’s nimble, precise script lends all the right
touches in this pitch-perfect adaptation of Burnett’s well-loved
novel.
The Secret Garden on Broadway
The Broadway musical version of The Secret
Garden, which opened in 1991, ran for well over a year. It was
a major hit, garnering six Tony Award nominations, including one
for Best Musical. Marsha Norman scored the prize for Best Book,
Daisy Eagan received Best Featured Actress recognition for her role
as Mary Lennox, and Heidi Landesmann brought home a trophy for her
grand sets. Director Susan Schulman and Norman went out of their
way to avoid sentimentality in their adaptation, devising an
intellectual production that retains the hope and positive
inspiration embodied by the novel.