LITTLE WOMEN (1933) B/W 115m dir: George Cukor

w/Katharine Hepburn, Joan Bennett, Paul Lukas, Edna May Oliver, Jean Parker, Frances Dee, Henry Stephenson, Douglass Montgomery, John Lodge, Spring Byington, Samuel S. Hinds, Mabel Colcord, Marion Ballou, Nydia Westman, Harry Beresford

One of the best efforts of both producer David O. Selznick and director Cukor. The whole piece is finely acted. Tasteful, but never dull, it's an effective piece of Americana.

From Variety 's contemporary review of the film: "Little Women is a profoundly moving history of youth and in this celluloid transcription [of the novel by Louisa M. Alcott] its deeply spiritual values are revealed with a simple earnestness.

"Katharine Hepburn as Jo creates a new and stunningly vivid character; strips the Victorian hoyden of her syrupy goody-goodiness; and endows the role with awkwardly engaging youth energy that it makes it the essence of flesh and blood reality."

From the website A March Through Film History (www.ryanmccormickfilmhistory.blogspot.com), this 2011 article about the film:

"At a time when movie studios were pushing the limits of what audiences wanted to see, during the period just before the production code of ethics patrolled what was allowed to be seen on screen, films portrayed increasing amounts of sexuality, violence, and immorality to bring audiences into the theater. In a near direct contrast to that approach comes RKO’s 1933 feature Little Women, based on the classic novel which many people have read and which school children still read to this day. The picture that is Little Women is so simple and pure that it stands out from the other products being featured in movie houses at that time, almost as if giving people a breath of fresh air after the viewing the violent gangster films, gruesome horror movies, or risque pictures with the likes of Mae West or Jean Harlow. Little Women is a delightfully simple picture, one without the flashiness, heart pounding thrills, or headlined with megastars. The classic tale would be adapted for the screen for the first time as a talking picture and charmed a multitude that came to see it.

"Little Women is a coming of age tale of young lady and her three sisters as they discover important life lessons as they grow up during the time when things were thinner for their family, during the American Civil War. The film follows primarily the story of Jo March (Katharine Hepburn) who lives with her three sisters, Amy (Joan Bennett), Beth (Jean Parker), and Meg (Frances Dee), and their mother who they affectionately call Marmee (Spring Byington). Together the women learn the meaning of sacrifice and other life lessons while they grow and mature during the time when their father is off fighting for the Union Army during the Civil War. The film plays in a form of small vignettes as we see the girls learn to be unselfish and care for each other becoming less the girls we are first introduced to and more into young ladies. ...

"The picture is one very different from that of the normal products of that period. It carries with it a sense of nostalgia as it harkens back to the age of storytelling from when the original book was published. The film has no real plot or protagonist. There is no climax or major event to overcome. Instead the picture is one of growing up and letting go of childish things. Through the film there are laughs and sorrows, pain and joy, loss and love. Despite the film’s time span taking place over a handful of years, the film does not show the passage of time very well as everything seems to look the same throughout until Jo leaves for the city and all of a sudden the girls are women as they go their separate ways. The acting is fair, with some cliches, but Hepburn’s performance is marvelous as she plays the strong-willed lady that defiantly does things her way. Director George Cukor was known for coaxing great performances from his actors and this was one of his early triumphs, as Hepburn was not known as easy to work with. In all, this picture is one of those films where you, as an audience member, live life along with the characters, growing and maturing as life continues to teach one through the years.

"The story of the production of Little Women is that of the film’s major pieces, and those pieces were uncredited producer David O. Selznick, director George Cukor, and star Katharine Hepburn. Selznick was a long time producer at RKO, but came to a point where he would leave the studio to go work at the much larger and extravagant MGM, but for contractual reasons would return to help produce this one last film, fulfilling his last duty. Out of competition in the business and that his name was now associated with competitor MGM, Selznick’s name would be left off the credits. Cukor was not widely well known for his past work, but his latest film Dinner at Eight manifested just how he could joggle major personalities into great performances. Here Cukor would deliver such a performance from the stubborn minded new star, Katharine Hepburn. Hepburn was still very new to the Hollywood scene, practically willing herself to being a star. She was strong and known for her stage presence, making instant demands from the studio when she was signed. Her first director, which happened to be Cukor, would help her start in the movie industry and became a lifelong friend. Katharine would make many demanding requests during her career and for this film she requested that the dress she would wear in much of the picture be based on a dress seen in an illustration of her grandmother. The studio obliged her with the creation of the dress. Even though she had a commanding performance with Little Women, Hepburn would be nominated for her acting in her work from earlier in the year in Morning Glory at the Oscars celebrating 1933. Many believe that her work in Little Women was more praiseworthy, but for its time her earlier work in 1933 would shine the brightest, naming her best actress.

"The supporting cast was a myriad of players from very interesting backgrounds. Joan Bennett who plays Amy, probably the second most followed sister in the picture, was an actress in movies since she was a little girl. She kept the wardrobe department busy as she was pregnant during the production and her altered clothing would help cover up that uncontrollable fact. Jean Parker, who plays the dying sister Beth, was just beginning her acting career. Frances Dee, who plays the young Meg, was a young actress that did extra work while on summer vacation in Los Angeles and turned it into a job and acting career. To play Marmee was Spring Byington, who like many was a veteran of the stage in only her second, and most famous, picture. The cast would be rounded out by youthful Douglass Montgomery as Laurie, marking the peak of his career; Edna May Oliver, a well used character actor, playing the girl’s crotchety old aunt; and Paul Lukas, a Hungarian actor with many supporting credits to his name, as the man that eventually wins the favor of Jo at film’s end. As you can see the film did not carry star power, and was driven primarily by the popularity of the novel that far preceded it.

"Despite the popular tastes at the time, the Louisa May Alcott based film would go on to be a great success. At a budget of about one million dollars, RKO invested well into the feature and it paid off handsomely. The picture broke opening week box office records at New York’s Radio City Music Hall with over $100,000. Critics were charmed by the movie and audiences would watch it multiple times, even sending their children to see it for its connection to the literary classic first published 65 years prior. Little Women would be recognized at the 6th Academy Awards ceremony as the film was nominated the for best adapted screenplay (the film’s only win), best director, and even best picture.

"There is not much else to say about the film other than it is a Hepburn classic. The film is not ground breaking or specifically marvelous by any means. Younger audiences may find it dull, but this picture was a classic of its time. The story of Little Women is one that was done before, with two silent versions, and would be made many times over since its release, but this one seems to stand out as the true timeless classic. Maybe it is Hepburn, or perhaps the insightful direction of Cukor. Maybe it was the time period it was made, when the Civil War was still fresh in the minds of some Americans, even after the first World War. One thing is for sure audiences of the 1930s were reminded in the story about their own struggles and sacrifices as the characters were going through during the Great Depression, creating a bond with the story. Years later the film still stands as a fine motion picture that helped catapult Katharine Hepburn to even greater status in the kingdom of Hollywood."

LITTLE WOMEN was awarded an Oscar for Best Adapted Screenplay (Victor Heerman, Sarah Y. Mason), and the film was also nominated for Best Picture and Director.