Rotten Tomatoes
Cancel Movies Tv shows FanStore News Showtimes

The Secret Garden

Play trailer Poster for The Secret Garden G Released Apr 30, 1949 1h 32m Kids & Family Drama Play Trailer Watchlist
Watchlist Tomatometer Popcornmeter
Tomatometer 1 Reviews 75% Popcornmeter 1,000+ Ratings
Orphaned Mary Lennox (Margaret O'Brien) arrives at the Yorkshire mansion of her mysterious Uncle Craven (Herbert Marshall). Bitter and confused after the death of her parents, she clashes with the other residents of the estate, including the surly housekeeper (Gladys Cooper), the giggling maid (Elsa Lanchester) and Craven's invalid son (Dean Stockwell). After discovering a key to a secret garden, Mary seeks the means to heal herself and the other inhabitants of the Craven household.

Where to Watch

The Secret Garden

Critics Reviews

View All (1) Critics Reviews
Dennis Schwartz Dennis Schwartz Movie Reviews Too shrill in its performances to be completely winsome. Rated: B Dec 10, 2005 Full Review Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

View All (56) audience reviews
Steve D Perhaps the best version and it still sucks. Rated 1 out of 5 stars 01/21/24 Full Review Audience Member Builds up slowly to a very moving conclusion. Good juvenile performances. Rated 5 out of 5 stars 02/15/23 Full Review joe m A timeless story that is beautifully adapted to the screen. Young Mary Lennox (O'Brien) loses both her parents to cholera in British India. She is sent back to England to live at her uncle's gothic manor house. There she briefly meets her reclusive, embittered uncle, the domineering housekeeper, Medllock, the folksy maid, Martha, the boy of nature, Dickons, and, of course, her willful, bratty cousin, Colin. Mary sets the staid old house on edge while and then, working with the other children, proceeds to restore the secret garden. All round stellar performances. The sets and the mood they create are extremely well done. And the first glimpse of the transformed garden - in color! - is magical! My one gripe is that the film - at 90 minutes - is too short to do justice to the book so it feels rather rushed at time. This adaptation is definitely second to the 1993 version (5 stars). Yet, still well worth seeing. Rated 4 out of 5 stars 03/30/23 Full Review lanfranco c A breath of fresh air ! Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars 03/30/23 Full Review s r Faithful to the great story. Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 03/31/23 Full Review Audience Member A very good film, on par with its 1993 successor. True enough to the original 1910 novel. This is a classic family film that is vastly underrated and deals with strong and important themes on life (nature, illness, rebirth, etc.) that we should all be reminded of. I highly recommend viewing with multiple family members, with children (if and when available). Rated 4 out of 5 stars 02/15/23 Full Review Read all reviews
The Secret Garden

My Rating

Read More Read Less POST RATING WRITE A REVIEW EDIT REVIEW

Cast & Crew

View All Cast and Crew

Fred M. Wilcox

Director

Margaret O'Brien

Mary Lennox

Herbert Marshall

Archibald Craven

Dean Stockwell

Colin Craven

Gladys Cooper

Mrs. Medlock

Elsa Lanchester

Martha
View All The Secret Garden photos

The Secret Garden

The Secret Garden (1949) The Secret Garden (1949) The Secret Garden (1949) The Secret Garden (1949) The Secret Garden (1949) The Secret Garden (1949) View more photos

Movie Info

Synopsis Orphaned Mary Lennox (Margaret O'Brien) arrives at the Yorkshire mansion of her mysterious Uncle Craven (Herbert Marshall). Bitter and confused after the death of her parents, she clashes with the other residents of the estate, including the surly housekeeper (Gladys Cooper), the giggling maid (Elsa Lanchester) and Craven's invalid son (Dean Stockwell). After discovering a key to a secret garden, Mary seeks the means to heal herself and the other inhabitants of the Craven household.
Director
Fred M. Wilcox
Producer
Clarence Brown
Production Co
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Rating
G
Genre
Kids & Family, Drama
Original Language
English
Release Date (Theaters)
Apr 30, 1949, Limited
Release Date (Streaming)
Jan 1, 2009
Runtime
1h 32m
Most Popular at Home Now