An American Girl Holiday (2004)

Set in 1904, "American Girls" revolves around Samantha as she moves in with her grandmother and learns how to become a proper Victorian young lady.

Director:

Nadia Tass

Writer:

Valerie Tripp ("Samantha" stories from the "The American Girl Collection")

Stars:

Mia Farrow, AnnaSophia Robb, Kenner Ames

1 win & 2 nominations.

Cast

Credited cast:
Mia Farrow	...	Grandmary Edwards
AnnaSophia Robb	...	Samantha Parkington
Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Kenner Ames	...	Mr. O'Malley
Stewart Arnott	...	The Doctor
Olivia Ballantyne	...	Jenny O'Malley
Jordan Bridges	...	Uncle Gard
Jackie Brown	...	Factory Lady
Stan Coles
Hannah Endicott-Douglas	...	Bridget O'Malley
Karen Eyo	...	School Principal
Michele Ferney
Angela Fusco
Keir Gilchrist	...	Factory Boy
Alanna Glass
Bruce Gooch	...	The Admiral

Storyline

Kindhearted Samantha Parkington's world starts to change the day Nellie O'Malley walks into her life. Nellie, her father, and her two little sisters have moved in next door to be servants for the Ryland family. Though they come from completely different backgrounds, Samantha and Nellie become fast friends. The girls turn to each other in happiness and sorrow, adventure and danger, and grow to be as close as even two sisters could be. But nothing could prepare them for the life-altering surprises that lie ahead!

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Plot Keywords:

sister | girl | servant | friend | courtship | 

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Genres:

Family | Drama

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Certificate:

Not Rated

Details

Official Sites:

Official site

Country:

USA Canada

Language:

English

Release Date:

23 November 2004 (USA)

Also Known As:

American Girls: Samantha

Filming Locations:

Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Box Office

Budget:

$200,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Red Om Films,Revolution Studios,Sam Films

Technical Specs

Runtime:

86 min

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Taylor Momsen auditioned for the leading role of Samantha Parkington but was considered to be too tall for the role.

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Goofs

Not only are the coins in Eddie Ryland's money jar new, several of them are Canadian.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Samantha: [Narrating as she and Eddie were running around] It all began one day last April. I was living with my Grandmary in Mount Bedford, New York. And she was determined to teach me to become a proper young lady.
[climbs up on a tree]
Samantha: But that day, in particular, I was more interested in getting away from my next-door nuisance Eddie Ryland.
Eddie Ryland: Samantha!
[finds Samantha up on a tree]
Eddie Ryland: You're so dumb, you probably think three times four is twelve.
Samantha: Three times four is twelve, Eddie. Now if you ...
[...]

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Connections

Featured in Votes for Women (2010)

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Soundtracks

Abide with Me
(uncredited)
Music by William H. Monk
Lyrics by Henry F. Lyte
[Hymn during church]

User Reviews

Cute Movie about a Sweet Kid

I was surprised when I heard this was being made into a movie. My sister read the American Girls books when she was a kid, and I never expected them to make a movie out of them. But all things considered, I thought the WB did a good job.

First of all, Annasophia Robb is a cute little kid, and at twelve years old, she has the potential to be a talented actress. She did a great job in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and looked as if she had fun while doing it. In the movie, Annasophia plays Samantha Parkington, a ten-year-old girl living in New York in 1904. The acts of the film are divided into the four seasons. In the spring, she makes friends with the servant girls living next door. In the summer, she meets her uncle's new wife. In the fall, she moves in with her aunt and uncle in the city, and then helps her three friends escape from an orphan home. In the winter, everyone lives happily ever after.

The orphanage reminded me of a federal prison, and the warden, er, manager reminded me of Carol Burnett in Annie. I also liked the movie's message about helping the needy. That's what made it a family movie.

So maybe it wasn't Emmy worthy, but if you have kids, or you just like cute movies, you'll like this movie.