Madeline (1998 film)

Madeline is a 1998 live-action film adaptation of the children's book series Madeline. The film starred newcomer Hatty Jones as the titular character with the better known Frances McDormand and Nigel Hawthorne in supporting roles as Miss Clavel and Lord Covington.[2]  The film encompasses the plots of four Madeline books. It was released on July 10, 1998 by TriStar Pictures.[3]

Plot[edit]
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. Unlike her classmates, Madeline is an orphan, coming from neither family nor money, but maintains a positive attitude and has a mischievous streak in her. She is friendly towards the other girls, particularly Aggie, whom she considers her best friend, and has somewhat of a rivalry with the pompous Vicki.

Early in the film, Madeline is stricken with appendicitis and Miss Clavel immediately escorts her to the hospital, where Madeline undergoes an emergency appendectomy. During her stay there, five days after the operation, Madeline meets Lady Covington, the terminally ill wife of the school's board of trustee's member, Lord "Cucuface" Covington. Unlike her husband, Lady Covington is a kind-hearted person who cares deeply for the school and the girls, having attended the school herself in her youth. Before Madeline's presence is discovered by Lord Covington, Lady Covington asks a favor of Madeline; as a child, 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 passed away as she prepares to leave the hospital but, true to her promise, searches for her name under the beds, finding it under her own.

After her hospital stay, Madeine 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 far from impressed and irritated by the noise created by the boy riding around on his Vespa. Much to Miss Clavel's chagrin, Madeline causes an uproar among the girls at the dinner table that evening, when Hélène serves her namesake dish, Chicken Hélène, as, on the car ride home from the hospital, Madeline befriended the chicken with which Hélène made the dish, naming him Fred. With the exception of Vicki, Madeline turns almost all of the other girls against chicken, making them vegetarians and cluck, and they are sent to bed without dinner and later that night, everyone sneaks downstairs to make their own dinner. However, their plans are interrupted when Pepito pranks the girls by wearing a scary mask. After their screams alert Miss Clavel and Hélène, the two women, distraught over news that Lord Covincton plans to close the school due to his wife's passing, nevertheless give the girls a late-night dinner.

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 and help put an end to his obnoxious ways. However, her actions are less than successful as Pepito takes it upon himself to steal 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 tries to unnerve his guests by showing them a mouse but is unsuccessful in unnerving Madeline. Undeterred, Pepito threatens to kill the mouse, either by feeding it to his snake or execute 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 tiny animal, brutally attacks him and releases all of his mice, causing guests to flee in horror and Miss Clavel to faint, which results in the girls' visit getting cut short, much to Pepito's delight. On the way back to the school, Madeline takes Pepito's keys in an act of revenge, preventing him from riding his noisy scooter around the grounds.

While out on a daily walk, Madeline accidentally falls into the Seine while standing on the ledge of a bridge going over the river and is whisked away by the current. 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 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 sets Genevieve loose into the night in an act of retaliation against her and the girls.

Upset over the loss of Genevieve, Miss Clavel takes the girls to a local 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 from ransom, and, due to her discovery, 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's never driven one, only 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 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.

Back at the school, Lord Covington appears and happily shares that he's sold the property to the ambassador of Uzbekistan. Madeline speaks earnestly to Lord Covington, who 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. Hélène decides to celebrate by fixing a vegetarian feast, to which Madeline responds and that she wants Chicken Hélène, with the girls squawking in agreement. The film then concludes with a montage, accompanied by "What a Wonderful World", and then changes back to a book setting, as the French word, "fin" (meaning "the end") appears.

Cast

 * Hatty Jones (Madeline)
 * Rachel Dennis (Lucinda)
 * Eloise Eonnet (Sylvette)
 * Morgane Farcat (Marie-Odile)
 * Pilar Garrard (Beatrice)
 * Emilie Jessula (Elizabeth)
 * Alice Lavaud (Veronica)
 * Christina Mangani (Chantal)
 * Jessica Mason (Serena)
 * Alix Ponchon (Lulu)
 * Bianca Strohmann (Victoria)
 * Clare Thomas (Aggie)
 * Kristian De La Osa (Pepito)
 * Frances McDormand (Miss Clavel)
 * Nigel Hawthorne (Lord "Cuckoo Face" Covington)
 * Stéphane Audran (Lady Marie-Gilberte Covington)
 * Arturo Venegas (Mr. Spanish Ambassador)
 * Katia Caballero (Mrs. Spanish Ambassador)
 * Katia Tchenko (Mrs. Uzbekistani Ambassador)
 * Chantal Neuwirth (Hélène the cook)
 * Ben Daniels (Leopold the tutor)
 * Emil Abossolo-Mbo (Circus Barker)
 * Julien Maurel (Idiot Popovov no. 1)
 * George Harris (Mr. Liberian Ambassador)
 * Frank Welker (Genevieve)