Pollyanna

What a sweet, "feel good" movie. If you like "The Little Princess" & "The Secret Garden", you'll love "Pollyanna". Nice scenery composing of lush English countrysides & quaint towns. Georgina Terry is an accomplished little actress in the lead role. Appealing to children & women of any age.

This TV version of the popular novel by Eleanor H Porter comes to the screen with all the usual story lines intact. Directed by Sarah Harding and adapted by Simon Nye, it is more than a match for the classic film versions with Hayley Mills and Mary Pickford.

Pollyanna is sent to live with her aunt, played by Amanda Burton, in the country, where she finds most of the village have dark secrets which cause them unhappiness. The little girl is something of a close cousin to Jane Austen's Emma in her determination to bring happy endings and match-make couples. It takes a personal tragedy for everything to come together and for all the riddles to be solved.

A film with great charm, filmed well and enhanced by performances by the likes of Kenneth Cranham (the embittered Mr Pendleton), and Aden Gillett, the doctor. Pollyanna herself is played by newcomer Georgina Terry, and I hope we see more of her.

Of course I saw the original and was curious about this one. I was disappointed in the movie and maybe it was closer to the book than the Disney version, but I found that this Pollyanna couldn't compare to the one played by Hayley Mills. The people looked more glamorous and that's not surprising since there's such a difference in decades. I guess I enjoyed the feeling of the Disney movie more than this one. The original invoked so much more emotion. Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed this one too, but not nearly as much.

Disney movies get a bad rap for putting out feel good movies, but I think they give the children and audience a chance to gain a curiosity for the subjects in their movies. So whether they changed things or not it made this movie more watchable to see the differences. Doesn't matter if it was done in the States or Great Britain. Should never really matter as long as the effect of the story is put across. In this aspect the movie done now still has that, like the Disney version. Obviously seeing one before the other will taint your idea of what the best movie is, both have something different to offer. Just watch the movie and see for yourself. Your opinion is the only one that matters when it comes to what you like and don't.

This 2003 Masterpiece Theatre version of "Pollyanna" is the ultimate feel-good movie and because it is a bit less sappy than the 1960 Disney version you can enjoy repeated viewings anytime you need some cheering up. The new version is also more faithful to Eleanor Porter's original 1913 story and more focused on characterization than on elaborate set design and visual dynamics (there is no town fair and the comic relief has a more mature quality). And the setting is moved to Edwardian England with liberal use of wide angle lenses to capture the lush countryside.

The real improvement, however, is in the casting of the title character. Georgina Terry, with her red hair and freckles, projects such effortless charm that even the most cynical should be won over. Hayley Mills' performance was more forced and she was really too old for the role. Terry's Pollyanna is much more convincing, both in her continuing attachment to her father and in her struggles to play his glad game in the face of so much adversity. "I suppose it's as easy to be happy about things as to not be". This struggle was at the core of Porter's story and the 2003 version makes a real effort to construct a multi-dimensional Pollyanna who would have met with Porter's and her readers' approval.

Otherwise, the physical casting of the two movies are amazingly similar. Amanda Burton and Pam Ferris in particular conjure up vivid memories of their predecessors Jane Wyman and Agnes Moorehead. Burton portrays Aunt Polly more sympathetically, much more in line with Porter's original characterization. Instead of a ruthless and conniving queen bee, she is more hurt than mean. The tip off comes early as she amusingly allows herself to be persuaded by Tim (Tom Ellis) to purchase a motor car. Tim provides most of the film's comic relief as his prowess with automobiles is contrasted with his shy and awkward romantic overtures toward Nancy (both motor car and romance are creations of the adaptation and not part of the Porter's original story). And Aunt Polly's obsession with flies is nicely played for laughs.

There is a trade-off between the versions relative to the characters. Moorehead's Mrs. Snow was more memorable and entertaining; Ferris is not given enough material. Conversely, Kenneth Cranham (Mr. Pendleton) has more to work with than did Adolphe Menjou (Mr. Pendergast) and is not handicapped by having to share scenes with Kevin Corcoran. As in the book, the less irritating Jimmy Bean (Ben Thornton) of the 2003 version has a smaller role and there is more emphasis on Pollyanna's individual relationship with Mr. Pendleton (who was once in love with Pollyanna's mother).

The only real weakness of the Masterpiece Theatre version was the need to adapt the story to a compressed 90-minute running time. This was to some extent a mixed blessing because while there are transitional gaps, the time constraints forced them to get creative ant this led to some nice sequences. A montage of a bewildered Aunt Polly receiving a parade of townspeople extolling Pollyanna's virtues is especially good, and it nicely sets her up for a mild scolding by Nancy about not allowing Pollyanna to speak openly about her father. They also responded positively to the running time issue by jumping right into the story at the beginning (just running the titles over the scene) and by wrapping things up with an understated ending that let the audience just interpret what they were seeing.

The "Pollyanna" story has a timeless appeal for children who get off on her ability to influence adults but this film version is also a wonderful family film. This convincing story of how an 11-year-old girl's indomitable spirit positively impacts everyone around her offers enough nuances to keep adults entertained and may even elicit a few tears from otherwise cynical observers.

Then again, what do I know? I'm only a child.

This just showed on television tonight and I can't contain my joy and happiness for it. Last year mum bought the Hayley Mills version on DVD which I had used to like as a young girl but kind of stopped watching because my older sisters said it was 'so stupid and babyish.' So last year I renewed my love for Pollyanna and then I found the book in our library and read it and loved it again and again. I actually was reading it today on the bus (a different library's copy).

And yesterday mum was telling me that she saw an ad for Pollyanna that's a different version and I was so excited. I had a little pet peeve with the Hayley Mill's Pollyanna because it completely strayed from the book, though the essence of gladness is still there. I started watching it tonight and pulled out the book from my bag and read along during those enormously long commercial breaks, and well I've only seen this and the other version of Pollyanna, I'm so glad to find it so in tune with the book completely!

Amanda Burton is such a good actress and she would've been a good silent film actress with such a stunning ability to convey emotion with looks. I do think Jane Wyman did a very good job as Aunt Polly too!

Pollyanna (Georgiana Terry) was so much how I imagined from the book, except for some occurrences of storming out of the room which I thought was a bit out of character for the happy girl, and was so adorable how could Aunt Polly and everybody help but love her.

Dr. Chilton (not Chiltern) was much how I pictured him as well and had a very nice look about him.

It was all so faithful to the book, I am very very glad about that, and now I don't know how I could ever watch the other version again, though I probably will until I own this one on DVD. Yes. I shed tears at the end. It was wonderful! I'd like to think that Elanor H. Porter would be very pleased because as a Pollyanna lover I am!