MADELINE

• Starring Frances McDormand, Nigel Hawthorne and Hatty Jones
• Directed by Daisy von Scherler Mayer
• Rated PG; running time 90 minutes
• With 10 as a must-see, Jack gives this film a 7

By Jack Garner
Democrat and Chronicle

(July 10, 1998) -- "In an old house in Paris that was covered with vines ..."

So begins the popular children's books in verse by Ludwig Bemelmans about the resourceful boarding-school girl named Madeline. Now those much-loved bedtime books have been adapted to the screen in a modest but amusing family film called Madeline.

Director Daisy von Scherler Mayer and her screenwriters have cleverly cobbled together four of the six Madeline books -- and expanded the slight tales into a cohesive 90-minute saga. Even better, Mayer cast two superb actors -- Frances McDormand and Nigel Hawthorne -- for the key adult roles.

The highlight for adult viewers will be the spunky, kinetic performance by McDormand, the Fargo Oscar winner, who plays Miss Clavel. The vigilant schoolmistress combines warmth, discipline, common sense and a bit of psychic ability as mother hen to the dozen rambunctious girls.

Madeline, Miss Clavel's youngest but spunkiest charge, is played by newcomer Hatty Jones. She undergoes many of the adventures that fans of the books fondly remember -- an appendectomy, a fall into the river Seine, a rescue by a lovable mutt who becomes the girls' mascot.

Most of the action, though, revolves around Pepito, the troublesome (and troubled) son of the Spanish ambassador, who lives next door; and a threat by school benefactor Lord Covington (Hawthorne) to close the school so he can sell the property.

Some of Madeline's young housemates also are given more distinct personalities than they have in the books, where only the title character has any definition.

But director Mayer is faithful to the books' Paris locations and employs an overly bright, colorful visual style to emulate the illustrations.

Madeline may be too gentle and restrained for youngsters brought up on more volatile entertainment.

But it will appeal to young readers of the books -- or to adults who still have a warm spot for them.