Arty but stilted adaptation of Frances Burnett's 1911 novel about a young orphaned girl who comes to stay with her chilly relatives, eventually taking over their rotting garden and transforming it into a sanctuary. Famous story previously filmed in 1949 with Margaret O'Brien in the lead; here, young Kate Maberly isn't so much miscast as she is misplaced; inappropriately dropped into the tale, she's a too-modern tyke representing neither time nor place, and her youthful exuberance is rather exasperating. The handsome, careful art direction and design have led some to call the picture a breakthrough in live-action family films, but the pacing is too leaden and the narrative isn't rich enough for most adults. *1/2 from ****