Gloomy rich widower Archibald Craven inhabited the vast Misselthwaite Manor in Yorkshire for years, with his bedridden son Colin and housekeeper Mrs. Medlock. After his niece Mary Lennox (10) loses both parents to cholera in India, he takes the vixen in and allows her to roam about without schooling, accompanied by a playful dog. She stumbles upon the key to a paradisiac secret garden, where she befriends village boy Dickon. Colin doesn't want to be drawn in, withdrawn since losing his mother, but when he joins, outdoors playing even gets him back on his feet, which also revives Lord Craven, but then disaster strikes indoors.—KGF Vissers