Little Women (1949 film)

This article is about the 1949 film . For other uses, see Little Women (disambiguation).

Little Women
Australian Theatrical Poster
Directed by	Mervyn LeRoy
Produced by	Mervyn LeRoy
Written by	Louisa May Alcott (novel) Victor Heerman Sarah Y. Mason Andrew Solt
Starring	Elizabeth Taylor June Allyson Janet Leigh Margaret O'Brien Mary Astor Peter Lawford Rossano Brazzi C. Aubrey Smith
Music by	Adolph Deutsch
Cinematography	Robert H. Planck Charles Edgar Schoenbaum
Editing by	Ralph E. Winters
Distributed by	Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Release date(s)	March 10, 1949
Running time	121 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English

Little Women (1949) Technicolor release was directed by Mervyn LeRoy and is based on Louisa May Alcott's novel of the same name. The screenplay was written by Sally Benson, Victor Heerman, Sarah Y. Mason, and Andrew Solt. The original music score was composed by Adolph Deutsch. The film also marked the American film debut of Italian actor Rossano Brazzi. Sir C. Aubrey Smith, whose acting career had spanned four decades, died in 1948; Little Women was his final film.

Changes from the novel

• In this version, Beth March (Margaret O'Brien) is portrayed as being several years younger than Amy March (Elizabeth Taylor), while in the book she is a year older.

• Instead of first meeting at a Christmas party, Jo and Laurie first see each other when the March girls are taking their breakfast to the Hummels, and Jo visits Laurie while he is sick and confined to the house before as well.

• When the girls attend the Christmas party, all four of the girls go, rather than just Meg and Jo as presented in the novel. They leave early because Beth is upset over her and Amy hearing from other people that Mrs. March had plans to marry them off well, instead of Meg spraining her ankle while dancing.

• Also, at the beginning of the book, when the March sisters are each given a dollar to spend at their pleasure, they decide to all buy something for their mother, or "Marmee", as she is called. In the film, while they eventually do buy presents for their mother, they initially purchase things for themselves.

• In the book, Amy is pulled out of school when her teacher, Mr. Davis, strikes her across the hand with a ruler when she hides limes in her desk; but in the movie, she is in trouble for drawing pictures on her slate, and she is not struck.

• Several other scenes are left out, such as the group picnic, when Amy falls through the ice after following Jo and Laurie to the river, and when Amy and Laurie fall in love in Europe.

• Jo and Laurie, while they are best friends in the book, Jo even having a special nickname for him ("Teddy"), have a still somewhat close but much less intimate relationship in the film.

Awards

Won

• 1950 - Academy Award for Best Art Direction - Set Decoration (Cedric Gibbons, Paul Groesse, Edwin B. Willis, Jack D. Moore)

Nominations

• 1950 - Academy Award for Best Cinematography (Robert Planck, Charles Schoenbaum)

Cast

• June Allyson as Josephine 'Jo' March (age 28)
• Peter Lawford as Theodore 'Laurie' Laurence
• Margaret O'Brien as Elizabeth 'Beth' March (age 10)
• Elizabeth Taylor as Amy March (age 21)
• Janet Leigh as Margaret 'Meg' March/Brooke (age 24)
• Rossano Brazzi as Professor Bhaer
• Mary Astor as Marmee March
• Lucile Watson as Aunt March
• Sir C. Aubrey Smith as Mr. Laurence
• Richard Stapley (Richard Wyler) as John Brooke
• Leon Ames as Mr. March
• Harry Davenport as Dr. Barnes
• Connie Gilchrist as Mrs. Kirke
• Ellen Corby as Sophie

Notes

Originally intended as a 1948 release, the premiere of Little Women was delayed until March, 1949, when it was presented as the Easter attraction at New York's Radio City Music Hall. It is believed that the reason for the delay was to make the movie part of M-G-M's Silver Anniversary Celebration. Little Women became one the top grossing films of 1949.

Selznick version

David O. Selznick was originally going to produce the film. Filming began in September 1946 but Selznick decided he could not tackle a major production so soon after the ordeal of filming Duel in the Sun (1946) so he sold the property and script to MGM. The cast for the David O. Selznick version included Jennifer Jones (Jo), Diana Lynn (Amy), Bambi Linn (Beth), Rhonda Fleming (Meg), and Anne Revere (Marmee).

External links

• Little Women at the Internet Movie Database
• Little Women at AllRovi
• Little Women (1949 film) at the TCM Movie Database