Christopher-Lee Movie Reviews

The Parisian schoolgirl entertains her classmates in the park by acting out a "Sugar Dimples" movie (think Shirley Temple) and, of course, an American director lunching at a nearby café happens to catch her impromptu act. Before you can say, "I'm ready for my close-up," the girls and their teacher are off on an international field trip to Hollywood for Madeline's film debut in her favorite actress's next picture. Sugar Dimples, it turns out, does not live up to her sweet name and she thwarts our well-meaning redhead at every turn. But even getting thrown off the lot doesn't dampen the indomitable Madeline's spirit. Fans can count on a real "Hollywood ending" to make things right. (Ages 3 and up) --Kimberly Heinrichs

Fans of Madeline in New York (1998) should rejoice at the opportunity to join Madeline for further adventures in the Big Apple. The fun begins when their New York pen pals invite the French schoolgirls to spend Halloween with them. The collection consists of two episodes: "Madeline's Halloween" and "Madeline and the Spider Lady." In the first, Miss Clavel takes all 24 girls out for trick-or-treating in the big city. When they return home, Madeline finds a pair of spider-shaped earrings at the bottom of her bag. The girls go off on a search for the owner of the sparkly danglers. In the second episode, the grateful owner, Miss Clavel's cousin Fifi (looking a little like Morticia from the The Addams Family), lets the girls visit the radio station while she tapes an episode of her serial, "The Spider Lady." While waiting outside the studio, the girls cook up their own spooky story, which (accidentally) ends up airing instead. New York goes into a panic for fear that polka-dotted ants are about to take over the city, and citizens start fleeing in droves. It's a more humorous, less frightening take on the very real panic that greeted the original radio broadcast of H.G. Wells's The War of the Worlds (in which Martians invade Earth). Madeline and pals find a fun way to assure one and all that there's nothing to fear. The moral is apt for children and adults alike: You can't believe everything you see or hear. --Kathleen C. Fennessy

Fans of Madeline in New York (1998) should rejoice at the opportunity to join Madeline for further adventures in the Big Apple. The fun begins when their New York pen pals invite the French schoolgirls to spend Halloween with them. The collection consists of two episodes: "Madeline's Halloween" and "Madeline and the Spider Lady." In the first, Miss Clavel takes all 24 girls out for trick-or-treating in the big city. When they return home, Madeline finds a pair of spider-shaped earrings at the bottom of her bag. The girls go off on a search for the owner of the sparkly danglers. In the second episode, the grateful owner, Miss Clavel's cousin Fifi (looking a little like Morticia from the The Addams Family), lets the girls visit the radio station while she tapes an episode of her serial, "The Spider Lady." While waiting outside the studio, the girls cook up their own spooky story, which (accidentally) ends up airing instead. New York goes into a panic for fear that polka-dotted ants are about to take over the city, and citizens start fleeing in droves. It's a more humorous, less frightening take on the very real panic that greeted the original radio broadcast of H.G. Wells's The War of the Worlds (in which Martians invade Earth). Madeline and pals find a fun way to assure one and all that there's nothing to fear. The moral is apt for children and adults alike: You can't believe everything you see or hear. --Kathleen C. Fennessy