Tom's Midnight Garden is a 1999 British-American family fantasy film directed by Willard Carroll and starring Nigel Le Vaillant, Marlene Sidaway and Serena Gordon. The screenplay (by Willard Carroll) concerns a boy who discovers a secret garden. The film was based on the novel Tom's Midnight Garden by Philippa Pearce, and filmed at Chenies Manor House in Buckinghamshire. The film was produced by Hyperion Pictures.
Contents
Premise
After going to stay with his uncle, a boy is disappointed that he doesn't have a garden he can play in. However, he discovers a secret garden that only appears in the middle of the night.
Plot
When Tom Long's brother Peter gets measles he is sent to stay with his Uncle Alan and Aunt Gwen in a flat with no garden. An elderly and reclusive landlady, Mrs Bartholomew, lives upstairs. Because he may be infectious he is not allowed out to play, and feels lonely. Without exercise he is less sleepy at night and when he hears the communal grandfather clock strangely strike 13, he investigates and finds the small back yard is now a large beautiful sunlit garden. Here he meets another lonely child called Hatty, who seems to be the only one who can see him. They have adventures which he gradually realises are taking place in the 19th century. Each night when Tom visits, Hatty is slightly older and Tom begins to wonder about the nature of time and reality. To discover what's going on Tom asks Hatty to leave her skates in a hidden place. When he goes back into the future he manages to find them. One night Hatty and Tom go out skating and Hatty begins to fall in love with a boy from her own time named Barty and Tom finds he is invisible to her. The next night Tom is unable to find the garden, running into rubbish bins from the modern day instead. Just before Tom returns home he meets Mrs Bartholomew, who is revealed to be the elderly Hatty.
Cast
Nigel Le Vaillant as Thomas Long, Adult
Marlene Sidaway as Doris Schuster
Serena Gordon as Melody Long
Alfie Lawrence as Harriet Long
Mel Martin as Alice Long
Greta Scacchi as Aunt Gwen Kitson
James Wilby as Uncle Alan Kitson
Anthony Way as Tom Long
Nick Robinson as Peter Long
Liz Smith as Mrs. Willows
Arlene Cockburn as Susan, The Maid
Tom Bowles as Mr. Ferguson
Joan Plowright as Mrs. Bartholomew, Old Hatty
David Bradley as Abel
Stuart Piper as Hubert
Guy Witcher as Edgar
Rory Jennings as James, 12 years
Florence Hoath as Hatty, 12/13 years
Penelope Wilton as Aunt Melbourne
Laurel Melsom as Youngest Hatty
Noah Huntley as James, 20 years
Caroline Carver as Hatty, Young Woman
Daniel Betts as Barty