Harriet the Spy
Tags: flashback

Plot synopsis:
Eleven-year-old Harriet M. Welsch is an aspiring writer who lives in New York City's Upper East Side. A precocious and enthusiastic girl, Harriet enjoys writing and hopes to become a writer. Encouraged by her nanny, Catherine "Ole Golly," Harriet carefully observes others and writes her thoughts down in a notebook as practice for her future career, to which she dedicates her life. She follows an afternoon "spy route", during which she observes her classmates, friends, and people who reside in her neighborhood. One subject that Harriet observes is a local store, where the younger son Fabio cannot make anything of his career in contrast to the hardworking and loyal Bruno, and where the stock boy Joe Curry or "Little Joe" is eating in the storeroom and feeding homeless kids instead of working.
Harriet's best friends are Simon "Sport" Rocque, a serious boy who wants to be a CPA or a ball player, and Janie Gibbs, who wants to be a scientist. Harriet's enemies in her class are Marion Hawthorne, the teacher's pet and self-appointed queen bee of her class, and Marion's best friend and second-in-command, Rachel Hennessy.
Harriet enjoys having structure in her life. For example, she regularly eats tomato sandwiches and adamantly refuses to consume other types of sandwiches. However, Harriet's life changes abruptly after Ole Golly's suitor, Mr. Waldenstein, proposes and she accepts; when Mrs. Welsch exclaims, "You can't leave, what will we do without you?!" Ole Golly replies that she had planned to leave soon because she believes Harriet is old enough to care for herself. Harriet is crushed by the loss of her nanny, to whom she was very close. Her mother and father, who have been largely absentee parents during Ole Golly's tenure as nanny due to their obligations to work and social life, are at a loss to understand Harriet's feelings and are of little comfort to her.
Later at school, during her period game of tag, Harriet loses her notebook. Her classmates find it and are appalled at her brutally honest documentation of her opinions of them. For example, in her notebook she compares Sport to a "little old woman" for his continual worrying about his father. The students form a "Spy Catcher Club" in which they think up ways to make Harriet's life miserable, such as stealing her lunch, passing nasty notes about her in class, and spilling ink on her, but that backfires when Harriet slaps Marion in revenge, leaving a blue hand print on her face.
Harriet regularly spies on them through a back fence and concocts vengeful ways to punish them. She realizes the consequences of the mean things she wrote, and though she is hurt and lonely, she still thinks up special punishments for each member of the club. After getting into trouble for carrying out some of her plans, Harriet tries to resume her friendship with Sport and Janie as if nothing had ever happened, but they both reject her. Harriet spends all her time in class writing in her notebook as a part of her plan to punish the Spy Catcher Club. As a result of never doing her schoolwork and of skipping school for days at a time and taking to her bed out of depression, her grades suffer. This leads Harriet's parents to confiscate her notebook, which only depresses Harriet further. Harriet's mother takes her daughter to see a psychiatrist, who advises Harriet's parents to contact Ole Golly and encourage Harriet's former nanny to write to her. In her letter, Ole Golly tells Harriet that if anyone ever reads her notebook, "you have to do two things, and you don't like either one of them. 1: You have to apologize. 2: You have to lie. Otherwise you are going to lose a friend."
Meanwhile, dissent is rippling through the Spy Catcher Club. Marion, the teacher's pet and self-appointed queen bee of her class, and her best friend and second-in-command, Rachel, are calling all the shots, and Sport and Janie are tired of being bossed around. When they quit the club, most of their classmates do the same.
Harriet's parents speak with her teacher and the headmistress, and Harriet is appointed editor of the class newspaper, replacing Marion. The newspaper—featuring stories about the people on Harriet's spy route and the students' parents—becomes an instant success. Harriet also uses the paper to make amends by printing a retraction, defeating Marion and is forgiven by Sport and Janie.

Review: I think this movie has a great plot and a great message to young children.
In totality, this is a cute movie with a good message, and if you liked the movie, read the book too..
I saw Harriet the Spy when it first came out and bought the video about a year ago.
I always thought that it would make a good film (along with the Narnia tales and A Wrinkle in Time).
(for another good performance by Rosie, see also Wide Awake)Harriet seems like a typical albeit intelligent kid.
and that's what's great about Harriet the Spy. You never feel that the film is talking down to its audience or trying to present the child world in such a sweetened watered-down way so as to placate adults.
But they actually improved on Sport's role.Some people have complained that the movie is disjointed and at times unrealistic.
The movie is from The subjective lens of Harriet's minds-eye, an eye that see things with more than a little wit and imagination.
Harriet the Spy is the story of an eleven-year-old girl, who has been taught to be an individual.
Harriet the Spy is an extraordinary film that bubbles out charm toward kids of any age..
I imagine the author of the original book sitting down and having trouble writing, them ruminating about why on the page.Therefore, we have a youthful experimenter, a blocked writer, a "gardener" who makes environments from trash, another maker of environments (cages) who craves companionship, a woman who lives in a cage (Kitt), the Dad who is a movie comedian, together with lesser characters.And the spy who spies so she can write what we see.
with the possible exception of irvin kershner's 1966 adaptation of elliot baker's a fine madness, i don't i've seen a better translation of a book about writing into a film.
sure we think of louise fitzhugh's harriet trilogy (harriet the spy, the long secret, and sport) as being about the the comic adventures of a little girl and her friends in nyc and they are; but the heart of harriet's writerly spirit comes shining through in bronwen hughes film of douglas petrie's fairly literal, and literate, adaption.
there is a period update which makes some of the book's innocence play a little quaint and the kid movie necessary rapid edit kiddie silliness that saps some of the seriousness without actually attaining the levity it seeks; but by and large the film is worth taking any kid over 8 to and anyone who has ever seriously thought of writing, or even just felt a longing to express and accepted.
Michelle Trachtenberg,as Harriet, more than ably carries the film, especially considering she was only 11 at the time..
The story was OK, maybe a bit shallow for my taste - I'm haven't been a kid for a long time - but I was really taken with the acting.
Everyone played his/her part beautifully, completely credible, and none was the frightful red-haired brat as used to be portrayed in children's movies.I was particularly taken with Harriet herself, and am not surprised that she has gone on to greater things.The main lesson learned from this film appears to be that two wrongs do not make a right.
Michelle Trachtenberg makes a great Harriet the Spy. This movie is filled with comedy for the younger kids and is worth a look.
Harriet the Spy has a great mix of comedy, drama and tragedy.
I'm not familiar with the books regarding Harriet the Spy, so I thought the movie was going to be about a kid who uncovered and foiled some illegal plot she stumbled across.
I loved Rosie O' Donnell in this film she is truly an awesome actor and during the movie you can't help but get a little teary eyed and crack up when your supposed to.
I recommend for anyone especially a movie night for the family and/or friends!
Instead the movie had very little to do with adventurous spying, and instead was a showcase of dysfunctional families, a neurotic girl, and vindictive children.
And it's a difficult thing to adapt to film, since so much of the text takes place inside Harriet's head and in the pages of her notebook.
While not as zippily paced as the book, and the film can get predictable and a tad corny, it is entertaining thanks to the spirited acting and the enthusiasm that shapes this movie.
The script is well written and quite mature and funny, and the premise about a girl who spies on her friends and family and writes about them in her notebook, is a nice one.
My 11-year-old daughter and I watched the video of Harriet the Spy last night.
Once the plot finally kicks in (Harriet alienates her friends when they read the "truth" about them in her secret diary), it is well-developed and very "real".
It seemed to us like that middle scene was intended to be cut, but got put in anyway.I gave this film 8/10 from a "family viewing" and "production quality" aspect.
Nothing is more adequate than such quote when the analyzed person is the great Le Carré, author of treasures like "Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy", "Smiley's People" among many other espionage novels.
The same can't be said to the main character of "Harriet the Spy" neither about the story, that almost reached such description (and it could have been way better).So, little Harriet (Michelle Trachtenberg) wants to be a writer and for such she pretends to be like a spy who sees everything, writing down all the things she sees, from random and somewhat pointless happenings to making truthful remarks about her friends and school mates.
But when her diary is stolen by her most ferocious enemy things can turn out to be real bad for her if such descriptions be known to everyone she knows.A cute movie, nice to watch but that doesn't help us much.
Fine, this a movie for kids and for them is prefect, very enjoyable, but those kind of flicks work better if they attract mature audiences as well, even if using two or three jokes for them.
The cast assembled here with names like Trachtenberg, Rosie O'Donnell, Robert Joy and Gregory Smith makes of "Harriet the Spy" quite a good film, and we can excuse some of its problems.The main focus that a good writer is made with observations and notes only isn't much handy (as Harriet discovers).
Above all, and I can't believe this was left out of the movie, a good writer must be a great reader of all sources and different types of readings, must have a background of readings.
And if I'm making too much fuzz over a kid's movie, too much complications, is because is that I wanted to see an intelligent work, with this kind of plot but in a dramatic way, with lots of suspense, a teenager who wants to be a writer but gets involved with more and more trouble while covering a story.
"Harriet the Spy" has to be one of Nickelodeon's greatest movies ever created!
I love the way that Harriet is spunky and eager to learn more about life and that just makes me love her character more.
I also love Rosie O'Donnell's role in this movie as she acts as Harriet's guide to learning more about life by encouraging her to write about what she sees out in the open.
"Harriet the Spy" is definitely one of Nickelodeon's classics that can't be forgotten for a long time..
Growing up, this was one of my favorite books to read...and maybe I was a little old for the movie when it came out (15 or so), but I was quite disappointed.
My favorite character was Janie - even though she looked nothing like I'd ever pictured, she was portrayed exactly in the right way.
I loved Michelle Trachtenberg in Pete & Pete, and I'm glad she's gone on to bigger and better things - but I really don't think she fit the part well.
Harriet was a little more serious of a kid in the book - though maybe that just reflects how I interpreted her, and how seriously *I* took her.
All in all, it's not a bad movie - but I recommend reading the book first, or having your child enjoy the book..
Entertainment in a very realistic kids movie..
I think Michelle did an excellent job as Harriet.
I also liked the adventures the nanny, Rosie O'Donnel, took the kids on.
Overall it was a very fun and entertaining movie that even little kids will like..
The title character comes across as the sort of person who does everything possible to entertain herself with no regard to anyone's wellbeing; seriously, some of actions seem kind of nasty.Basically, the little ones will very likely spend the whole time laughing.
Welsch (Michelle Trachtenberg) is a sixth grader with best friends Sport (Gregory Smith) and Janie Gibbs.
Marion takes Harriet's notebook and starts reading it out loud to everybody.
Even Sport and Janie turns on Harriet when her uncomplimentary private thoughts become public.The movie is aggressively trying to be wacky.
Spying on the cat guy is fine but spying on Eartha Kitt takes up too much time in an important section of the movie.
I haven't liked anything she's done since and I miss the days of "Harriet the Spy".
This movie reminds me of what it was like to be a kid: always fun and carefree.
Everything was an adventure and you knew that you and your buddies would be friends forever.It's a great movie for kids, full of laughter, suspense, and adventure.
It's amazingly funny and gives you a good idea of what the rest of the movie will be like.
Actually, it's a must see for everyone, because we all need a movie that makes us feel young again and "Harriet the Spy" definitely does that.
I can't get enough of it don't over look it as a movie just for kids.
Rosie was good too she played a very calm person a role I think she should do more often.
Best Kid's Movie Ever!!!.
It's more of a movie for the family than just for the kids.
After the movie, you'll probably want to get a nice composition notebook and write down everything, pun intended..
Another problem is this movie can get really ridiculous, even for a kid film.
I thought that Harriet (Michelle Trachtenberg) was a really good spy until Marion (Charlotte Sullivan) got ahold of her journal.
Before I wrap this up, I'd like to say that the moral of this movie is that you should never write negative things about people and leave them where they can be read by others.
Probably a decent film for kids, and it carried a good message of forgiveness in the end, but I figure I'm too long in the tooth for this style of entertainment..
That there is Harriet's problem and that there is the movie's plot.
When I first heard that she got her very own movie in which she starred as the main character at the age of 12 (6 years before I was born), no questions asked: I went and watched that film straight away.To begin with, I was never familiar with the story of Harriet the Spy, since it's such an old series I couldn't even read by the time it was already several years old.
At first, I thought it was about an actual 'child-spy' who uncovered some kind of secret plot, and I thought it was just going to be another one of those Home Alone-type movies.
But when it came to watching it, I found something much, much better.Michelle's acting was amazing for a 12-year-old girl, and when she wanted to look intimidating, she looked intimidating as hell.
That's traumatizing.)), I found myself either making an awfully loud "Aww" sound every few seconds or quietly sobbing as I felt sorry for Harriet.To sum the whole thing up, Harriet the Spy is a heartfelt and truly touching film with guffawing comedy, bawling drama and everything in between.
For me, it wasn't just a family movie (I also watched it on my own, so that's another weird thing to add on to how I am 14 years old, at an age where no-one watches such emotional tales): it was a life lesson to helping your friends and never leaving them no matter what..
Michelle Trachtenberg was so adorable as Harriet M.
I'm randomly here online checking out Harriet The Spy, since it's really my favorite movie of all time.
Harriet The Spy Is Soooooooooooooo Good> Like its just such a great movie for kids.
i think that all kids should be supported in their ventures such as writing in a notebook.
They like it even better when it's filled with pretty things and words.fabulous movie..
The old saying that a book is better than a movie, in this case, is true ( which is worse news for the film).
I don't know about you, but I think I'd be interested in reading a book of a close friend, or even a nemesis who I grew up with.The acting in this film is subpar, even for a kids movie.
Harriet the Spy. This was the first film i ever saw in the cinema.
i loved it, brillantly acting and also very tearful especially if your a kid, and relate to most of the children/teenage problems of bullying, but this film is a brillant kid/family movie, even my mum watches this.
Its based on a girl that has a diary, its sort of her bestfriend, but when it starts getting her into trouble, her evil parents take it away from her, with help from her nanny she wins back the love from her friends and..
a good kids movie.
I watched this movie because it was Nickoloden and I was bored at the start but when the nanny golly left the movie got good because she did more spying.
It was good when all her friends read her spy book and then she got them all back.
I loved this book when I was growing up in the sixties, and I was thrilled when I found out that they made a movie out of it, but didn't get around to seeing it until last night.
I think that's so important when making a movie out of a children's book.
The story is brilliant, about a little girl who wants to be a writer, so she gets her practice by keeping a notebook in which she writes down all her thoughts and observations about the people in her world, and even goes to the extreme of spying on people to get her material.
I think the film does a very good job of portraying the children in a realistic light, and I could identify with Harriet's feelings as well as those of her friends and classmates.
The adults in the movie, as well as Harriet's nemesis, seemed a bit like caricatures, but Harriet's character and those of her best friends were quite well developed.
At the time I saw this film I had gotten into writing fiction at about age 6.
The way Harriet resolves things with her friends is a bit quick, but I think it's because the other kids become hypocrites.
During my college Children's Lit class, we discussed this book and how Harriet is attacked because her thoughts become public.
I like this movie a lot.
After seeing this movie, Harriet the Spy, I have to admit it was something.
Harriet spies a lot, writes down what she learns and observe, and wants to be something in life.
That girl acted like a brat when Harriet suggested it was time to change the person who's editor.
Plus, kids really got their groove on when they were limboing on stage, especially Marion, Harriet and her friends.
The movie use to depress me, though, as Harriet loves all her friends thanks to her spying.
I grew up being forced to watch this film, quite simply because my siblings adored it and I ended up having to watch it with them whether I like it or not.Now the story is simple and straight foreward- a young girl spies on other people and writes about their flaws in a notebook she carries with her everywhere but her fun in spying is soon foiled when the other kids read the notebook and thus begin to lash out onto her.
The class gets their revenge on her and she gets revenge back and she ends up apologizing for her actions.Even when I was like eight or nine when I first saw the film, I never felt bad for Harriet.
I didn't even feel sorry for her in the first place because she had it coming the entire time that she was spying, writing notes in her book and writing rather negative conclusions about other people.
Harriet the Spy (1996): Dir: Bronwen Hughes / Cast: Michelle Trachtenberg, Rosie O'Donnell, Gregory Smith, Vanessa Lee Chester, Eartha Kitt: Wonderful family film that teaches children the value of trust and friendship.
At home she is in the care of her nanny who is fired when she and a date take Harriet to a movie.
Rosie O'Donnell is strong as Harriet's nanny who views things at face value.
but she really just wants her friends back.While Harriet the Spy is a lovable film no matter what your age, there was use of crude humor and mild swearing, fart jokes, etc.
As a kid I had very few friends, knew very little about society and didn't understand some of the things mentioned like the Nobel Peace Prize, Hitler and why Harriet was sent to a therapist, until a year or so later in my life.
Harriet the Spy is also a movie that explains that two wrongs don't make a right, and that bullying somebody is wrong no matter what they've done, it just puts you down to their level of rationality.