Madeline (1998 film)

Madeline is a 1998 family comedy film adaptation of the children's book series and television series Madeline. The film starred newcomer Hatty Jones as the titular character with Frances McDormand and Nigel Hawthorne in supporting roles as Miss Clavel and Lord Covington. The film encompasses the plots of four "Madeline" books. It was released on July 10, 1998 by TriStar Pictures.
Plot.
In 1956 Paris, France, a young girl named Madeline attends a Catholic boarding school, taught by the strict but loving nun Miss Clavel and fed by the passionate French chef Hélène. Madeline is an orphan, coming from neither family nor money, but maintains a positive attitude and is best friends with another girl, Aggie.
One night, Madeline is stricken with appendicitis and taken to the hospital, where Madeline undergoes an appendectomy. During her stay there, Madeline meets Lady Covington, the terminally ill wife of the school's board of trustees member, Lord Covington. Unlike her husband, Lady Covington cares deeply for the school and the girls, having attended the school herself in her youth. Lady Covington asks a favor of Madeline; she carved her birth name, Marie Gilbert, into one of the dorm's bed frames and she would like for Madeline to find out if her name is still there. Unfortunately, a few days later, when Madeline is ready to leave the hospital, she learns from Miss Clavel that Lady Covington has died. But, true to her promise, Madeline searches for her name under the beds, finding it under her own.
After her hospital stay, Madeline finds that the Spanish ambassador has purchased the property next door to the school and that he also has a son, Pepito, who is around Madeline's age. While the other girls are smitten with Pepito, Madeline is irritated by the noise created by the boy riding around on his Vespa, calling him a "Bad Hat". Shortly after the ambassador's arrival, Lord Covington announces he plans on closing the school due to the death of his wife.
Miss Clavel, unnerved by Pepito's bothering her girls, attempts to make peace with the boy by giving his tutor, Leopold, a tool box for him, in hopes that it will distract him from his obnoxious ways. However, her actions are unsuccessful as Pepito steals Madeline's drawing pad and write "Beware" with a vicious drawing in it before inviting the girls to his birthday party. During the party, Pepito unnerves his guests (except Madeline) by showing them a mouse and joking about killing it, either by feeding him to his snake or executing him using a guillotine he made using the tool box he'd received as a gift from Miss Clavel. Madeline, angered by Pepito's threats to harm the innocent and tiny animal, brutally attacks him and releases all of his mice, causing the guests to flee in horror and Miss Clavel to faint, which results in the girls' visit getting cut short, much to Pepito's amusement. On the way back to the school, Madeline takes Pepito's Vespa keys in an act of revenge.
While out on a daily walk, Madeline accidentally falls into the Seine while standing on the ledge of a bridge going over the river. She is rescued by a stray dog, whom she names Genevieve, and emerges from the ordeal relatively unscathed, save for a cold. While sick in bed, Madeline is displeased to watch Leopold teach Pepito, frustrated over the loss of his keys, how to start his scooter with a paper clip. However, her anger disperses when she discovers that Genevieve has followed her to the school and convinces Miss Clavel who has dog allergies to let her golden haired savior live in the shed. Wanting to save the school Madeline forms an alliance with Pepito, enlisting his help to sabotage Lord Covington's attempts to sell the property but her efforts are ultimately discovered by Lord Covington, who initially blames Miss Clavel. Madeline takes responsibility for her involvement, though Lord Covington is unmoved by her apology or the motivation behind her actions when she makes a Freudian slip and calls him "Cucuface" and, after leaving, he discovers Genevieve and turns her loose into the night ignoring the pleas from the girls.
Upset over the loss of Genevieve, Miss Clavel takes the girls to a circus in hopes of cheering them up and Madeline, fearing she'll have no place to go as an orphan once the school closes, makes the decision to join the circus, hoping to make friends and find a home within the community there. After telling Aggie of her plans and making her swear not to tell, Madeline leaves the group and unintentionally stumbles upon Leopold, with the help of a trio of clowns known as "The Idiots," kidnapping Pepito, hoping to hold him for ransom, and, while trying to intervene, is abducted as well. Luckily, Leopold and the Idiots leave the two children alone with a motorcycle, which Madeline uses her hair clip to start and convinces Pepito to drive, though he is initially reluctant as he drives a Vespa. The two are pursued by Leopold and the Idiots but Miss Clavel, having learned of Madeline's running away from Aggie, goes driving in search of her (finding and picking up Genevieve along the way) and, narrowly avoiding a collision with the two children on the bike, is able to cause the Idiots to crash into a lake. The police arrive and arrest the kidnappers, while Miss Clavel, Madeline, Pepito and Genevieve head back to the school.
At the school, Lord Covington arrives and happily shares that he's sold the property to the ambassador of Uzbekistan. Madeline realizes why Lord Covington is trying to sell the school, because of the loss of his wife. He at first dismisses her sympathy but Madeline speaks earnestly to Lord Covington about her own family being gone and says that Lady Covington is still with him and with the school and Miss Clavel, knowing Madeline is fearful of having no one if the school were to shut down, assures her that they'll be together, regardless of what happens. While Lord Covington is moved by Madeline's words and sincerity, he regretfully tells her and the girls that there's nothing he can do as he's already sold the property but, in a happy twist, the ambassador, also moved by Madeline, decides to back out of the sale. The film then concludes with a montage accompanied by Louis Armstrong's "What a Wonderful World", and changes back to a book setting, as the word, "Fin" appears.
Production.
Development and writing.
While largely based on the original series, with storylines from three of the picture books weaved into the plot, several liberties were taken with the characters' backstories. Notably, Madeline is depicted as an orphan in the film, while in the books, she receives a dollhouse from her father and is known not only to have both her parents but siblings as well.
The film's costume department went for some artistic licence in developing the costumes for "Madeline". Aside from moving the time period from the 1930s to 1950, the producers elected for saturated blues and reds in the students' uniforms while keeping them as believable as possible, ruling out the possibility of using grey as it was seen as depressing. Similar considerations were made for Frances McDormand's character, a novice nun who, according to research, would have worn a short black habit; a softer blue habit similar to the one worn by Miss Clavel in the books was used instead.
Filming.
Principal photography took place in Paris from September 1997 to January 1998, with English actress Hatty Jones, then 8 or 9 years, cast as the main character. Unlike the books, the film takes place in 1956, not 1939. Many of the landmarks from the books appear in the film, although some were too crowded with modern traffic to be used.
Release and reception.
Home video.
"Madeline "was released on VHS, part of the Columbia TriStar Family Collection series, and DVD on December 15, 1998.
Critical response.
This film received mixed to positive reviews upon release. It currently has a 63% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes based on 30 reviews, with an average score of 6.41/10. The site's consensus states: "It may be a tad tedious for older viewers, but "Madeline"'s clever, adventurous heroine is likely to charm its intended audience." On their TV show, Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert awarded the film with "Two Thumbs Up" (see photo of film). Nell Minow of Common Sense Media said that the movie was "great for young kids and fans of the books." AOL movie critic Brandon Judell said of it, "No horribly arch double entendres to draw in audiences who can't spend two hours in a theater without having their libido massaged." Jeffery Huston called it "a disarming, charming fable so artfully crafted that adults will fall under its spell." Conversely, John R. McEwen gave a negative review, stating that the movie was: "...Adequately simple for children, though perhaps a bit pedestrian for adults." A similarly negative review was given by Michael O'Sullivan of "The Washington Post", stating that "their 8-year-old daughters will less likely be impressed by the meandering story, dull visuals and flat characterizations."
Discrepancies.
The film depicts many events from the books, but there are a number of discrepancies from both the books and TV series as follows: