Little Women (1933 film)

Little Women
Original poster
Directed by	George Cukor
Produced by	Merian C. Cooper
Written by	Victor Heerman Sarah Y. Mason Based on the novel by Louisa May Alcott
Starring	Katharine Hepburn Joan Bennett Jean Parker Frances Dee
Music by	Max Steiner
Cinematography	Henry W. Gerrard
Editing by	Jack Kitchin
Distributed by	RKO Radio Pictures
Release date(s)	November 16, 1933 (1933-11-16)
Running time	117 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$1 million

From the trailer for Little Women (1933)

Little Women is a 1933 American drama film directed by George Cukor. The screenplay by Sarah Y. Mason and Victor Heerman is based on the classic novel of the same name by Louisa May Alcott. This is the third screen adaptation of the book, following silent versions released in 1917 (Little Women) with Minna Grey and 1918 (Little Women) with Dorothy Bernard .

Later film versions were Little Women in 1949 starring June Allyson and Little Women in 1994 with Susan Sarandon.

Plot

Set in Concord, Massachusetts during and after the American Civil War, the film is a series of vignettes focusing on the struggles and adventures of the four March sisters and their mother, affectionately known as Marmee (Spring Byington), as they await the return of their father, who is fighting with the Union Army. Spirited tomboy Jo (Katharine Hepburn), who caters to the whims of their well-to-do Aunt March (Edna May Oliver), dreams of becoming a famous author and writes plays for her sisters to perform for the local children. Amy (Joan Bennett) is pretty but selfish, Meg (Frances Dee) works as a seamstress, and sensitive Beth (Jean Parker) practices on her clavichord, an aging instrument sorely in need of tuning.

The girls meet Laurie (Douglass Montgomery), who has come to live with his grandfather Mr. Laurence (Henry Stephenson), the Marches' wealthy next-door neighbor. The Laurences invite them to a lavish party, where Meg meets Laurie's tutor, John Brooke (John Lodge). During the course of the next several months, Meg is courted by John, Jo has her first short story published, and Beth frequently takes advantage of Mr. Laurence's offer and practices on his piano.

Marmee learns her husband has been wounded and is recuperating in a Washington, DC hospital, so she leaves home to care for him. During her absence, Beth contracts scarlet fever from a neighbor's baby. She recovers but is left in a weakened state. Her parents return, and Meg marries John. Laurie confesses his love to Jo, who rejects him. When he snubs her in return, Jo moves to a New York City boarding house to pursue her writing career. There she meets Professor Bhaer (Paul Lukas), an impoverished German linguist. With his help and encouragement, Jo improves her writing and resolves her confused feelings about Laurie.

A debilitated Beth nears death, and Jo returns to Concord. After her sister dies, Jo learns that Amy, who accompanied Aunt March to Europe, has fallen in love with Laurie. Jo then accepts the proposal of marriage offered by the professor, and Amy and Laurie eventually wed as well.

Production

Although David O. Selznick received no screen credit, he returned to RKO from MGM to supervise the production as the last film left in his contract with the studio.

At the request of Katharine Hepburn, costume designer Walter Plunkett created a dress for her character copied from one worn by her maternal grandmother in a tintype Hepburn had. Plunkett also had to redesign several of Joan Bennett's costumes to conceal her advancing pregnancy, a condition Bennett intentionally had not mentioned to George Cukor when he cast her in the film.

Louise Closser Hale originally was scheduled to portray Aunt March, but after her death on July 26, 1933, Edna May Oliver assumed the role.

The film was budgeted at $1 million, and 4,000 people worked on it during the yearlong production schedule. 3,000 separate items, including costumes, furnishings, and household appliances, were authenticated by research. Hobe Erwin, a former artist and interior decorator, was hired to oversee the set decoration, and he modeled the interior of the March home after Louisa May Alcott's Massachusetts house.

Exteriors were filmed at Lancaster's Lake in Sunland, Providencia Ranch in the Hollywood Hills, and the Warner Bros. Ranch in Pasadena.

The film opened on November 16, 1933 at Radio City Music Hall, where it broke attendance records and earned over $100,000 during its first week of release.

RKO's timing of release was impeccable, as Depression audiences were ripe for the film's evocation of life in a simpler, more innocent and auspicious world. In addition, the film business had come under fire in 1932 and 1933 for presenting an abundance of violent and sexually titillating material. This film was just the type that conservative people felt should be produced. They championed it, sent their children to see it, and made it part of school curricula.

Cast

• Katharine Hepburn as Jo March (age 25)
• Joan Bennett as Amy March (age 19)
• Paul Lukas as Professor Bhaer
• Edna May Oliver as Aunt March
• Jean Parker as Beth March (age 30)
• Frances Dee as Meg March (age 26)
• Henry Stephenson as Mr. Laurence
• Douglass Montgomery as Laurie Laurence
• John Davis Lodge as Brooke
• Spring Byington as Marmee March
• Samuel S. Hinds as Mr. March
• Nydia Westman as Mamie
• Harry Beresford as Doctor Bangs

Uncredited cast members include Bonita Granville, Olin Howland, and Lily Lodge.

Critical reception

Mourdant Hall of the New York Times observed, "The easy-going fashion in which George Cukor, the director, has set forth the beguiling incidents in pictorial form is so welcome after the stereotyped tales with stuffed shirts. It matters not that this chronicle is without a hero, or even a villain, for the absence of such worthies, usually extravagantly drawn, causes one to be quite contented to dwell for the moment with human hearts of the old-fashioned days. The film begins in a gentle fashion and slips away smoothly without any forced attempt to help the finish to linger in the minds of the audience."

TV Guide rated the film four stars, calling it "unabashedly sentimental" and "an example of Hollywood's best filmmaking." It added, "The sets, costumes, lighting, and direction by George Cukor all contribute greatly to this magnificent film, but the performances, especially Hepburn's, are what make the simple story so moving. There are laughs and tears aplenty in this movie, which presents a slice of American history in a way that children will find palatable. Released during the depths of the Depression, Little Women buoyed Americans' spirits. It still does."

Awards and nominations

Husband-and-wife screenwriters Sarah Y. Mason and Victor Heerman won the Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay. The film was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Picture but lost to Cavalcade, and George Cukor lost the Academy Award for Best Director to Frank Lloyd for his direction of that film.

DVD release

The film was released on DVD for Region 1 markets (US, Canada, and US territories) on November 6, 2001 by Warner Home Video. It is closed captioned and features an English audio track in Dolby Digital 1.0 and subtitles in English, Spanish, French, Portuguese, Georgian, and Chinese.

A few years ago, Turner Classic Movies restored the original opening of the film which included the famous RKO tower with the logo "A Radio Picture". When David O. Selznick bought the rights to Little Women in the mid 1940's, the RKO logo was eliminated from all prints shown in theatres and later on television and replaced with the logo "A Selznick Release". When M-G-M bought the rights from Selznick, a modern day Leo the Lion was tacked on before the Selznick logo.

External links

• Little Women at the Internet Movie Database
• Little Women (1933 film) at AllRovi
• Little Women (1933 film) at the TCM Movie Database