A Little Princess (1995 Film) - Plot

Plot

Sara Crewe loves her childhood home in India, but she has to leave it when her beloved father enlists to fight for the British in World War I. He enrolls her at Miss Minchin's Seminary for Girls in New York, the same school Sara's late mother attended, and spares no expense to make sure his daughter will be comfortable while he is gone.

Sara quickly becomes popular and well-liked by the other students, whose boring, mundane lives are made exciting by the wonderful stories from "The Ramayana" that Sara tells. The school's spoiled bully, Lavinia, becomes angry over Sara's increasing popularity. She often clashes with the severe headmistress, Miss Minchin, who attempts to stifle Sara's creativity and sense of self-worth. Sara attempts to befriend the school's African-American servant girl, Becky, but is told to avoid her. Minchin throws Sara a lavish birthday party in order to extract more money from her father, but when word comes that her father was killed in battle and his estate has been seized by the British government, she forces Sara to become a servant. Minchin also confiscates most of Sara's possessions, except for her favorite doll, Emily, given to her by her father before the war. Sara's belief that "every girl is a princess" is put to the limit and she stops telling stories. Her friendship with Becky grows and her other school friends sneak up to the attic to see her. Feeling sorry for her, Sara's friends decide to surprise her by stealing her locket back. Touched by this, Sara continues "The Ramayana".

Meanwhile, in the mansion next door, a rich old man named Charles Randolph has recently received word that his son, John, also fighting in WWI, is MIA, resulting in his being relegated to a wheelchair. He is cared for by an Indian immigrant named Ram Dass who had traveled to America on the same ship as the Crewes. Ram Dass keeps an eye on Sara, knowing that she is a kindhearted girl. Mr. Randolph is called to a military hospital hoping an unidentified soldier suffering from blindess and amnesia due to exposure to poison gas is his son. However, the man is not. Ram Dass convinces Mr. Randolph to take the injured soldier in anyway, reminding him that the soldier may know what happened to John.

One evening, as Sara tells the girls a frightening tale of Ravana, the girls scream in terror and Minchin finds them. She punishes Sara and Becky by denying them any food the next day. To stay full, Sara suggests that they eat a feast that night. The two girls then pretend to have a banquet in the room as Ram Dass watches. The next morning, they wake up to find that the room has turned into a palace-like bedroom, with the same food they dreamed of eating the night before, courtesy of Ram Dass. Minchin enters the room later that day and accuses them of stealing everything. She turns them in to the police and the girls decide that Sara must try to escape. Using a plank as a bridge, Sara narrowly crosses from the school to Randolph's house. The police arrive and enter the house to find her, and to arrest Becky as well. In Randolph's house, Sara meets the soldier and realizes that he is her father. He is unable to remember her however, even though she tries to remind him. Minchin tells the police that Sara has no family, though she clearly recognizes Sara's father. Just as she is being taken away by the police, however, Ram Dass helps Captain Crewe to regain his memory and rescue her.

The film ends with Sara, her father, whose assets and fortune have been restored by the British government, and Becky all leaving for India together. Sara says goodbye to all of the girls and leaves them Emily as a present. Even the bullying Lavinia overcomes her jealousy and parts with Sara on good terms. Mr. Randolph learns of how Sara's father attempted to save his son's life in the trenches during the gas attack, and becomes the school's new headmaster. Meanwhile, Minchin looks on, defeated and miserable, having been reduced to a chimney sweep, working for a boy she previously mistreated.