`In an old house in Paris that was covered with vines lived twelve little girls in two straight lines.` That`s the celebrated first line of Madeline, Ludwig Bemelmans` 1939 book, the first of a series about the intrepid French schoolgirl. The orphan Madeline, delightfully portrayed by young Hatty Jones, is the youngest at Miss Clavell`s academy. During the course of the film she has her appendix out, is saved from drowning in the Seine by a friendly dog, leads the fight against the acquisition of the school by unfeeling Lord Covington, Nigel Hawthorne, and even foils the kidnapping of her neighbour`s son...
Children who know the Madeline books should be enchanted by Daisy Von Sherler Mayer`s very faithful film, and their parents should also enjoy the adventures of Madeline and her friends. Frances McDormand is a wonderfully acidic Miss Clavell, and the fairybook settings of a long ago Paris are beautifully designed. A definite charmer.
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