A novel written by
Frances Hodgson Burnett, she also authored
The Secret Garden. It is a lovely book about a little
English girl named Sara Crewe, who was raised in
India, by her widowed father. During the late 1800's he is sent off to war, and she is sent off to a English all-girls boarding school. Later on her father dies, leaving her penniless, and at the mercy of a cruel schoolmistress. Her spirit, and heart help her get through the tragedy. Of course like all
fairy tales, she winds up finding a family who helps her recover her father's wealth. More than that they provide her with the love she desires.
In 1939,
Shirley Temple starred in a crappy
Hollywood version of this story. They changed the ending, so that her father was really alive, and she finds him in a hospital with
amnesia.
PBS aired a good, true to the story version in 1986, but it lacked something. At least it was true to the story.
In 1997 they re-vamped the story, with the crappy ending. Instead they placed it in
WWI, and the boarding school was in
New York. I will give them the credit of amazing
cinematography, and
Liesel Matthews was absolutely captivating as Sara Crew.