Little Women (1933)

"If wearing hair up means becoming a lady, I'll wear it down until I'm 100 years old. "

The women of the March family are extremely close.  With their father fighting in the American Civil War, the four daughters circle close to their mother Marmee (Byington) and struggle to make ends meet.  Oldest sister Meg (Dee) works as a seamstress, headstrong Jo (Hepburn) dreams of being a writer but spends her time taking care of their difficult Aunt March (Oliver), shy Beth (Parker) likes to stay close to home and play on their out-of-tune piano, and Amy (Bennett) is pretty but selfish.  Despite their own dire finances, the March women are always on hand to care for their ill or less fortunate neighbors.

The girls befriend their neighbor Laurie (Montgomery) and his grandfather Mr. Laurence (Stephenson).  Jo is content to dream up stories and plays to perform with her sisters, but everything around them is changing.  Meg is courted by Laurie's tutor John Brooke (John Davis Lodge) and Beth falls ill with scarlet fever.  Can the bond of the sisters triumph over their circumstances?


This is the third film adaptation of Louisa May Alcott's 1868 novel; the previous versions were silent films released in 1917 and 1918.  After the success of this film, Little Women was adapted again in 1949 with June Allyson and again in 1994 with Winona Ryder.  I grew up watching and loving the 1949 version.

This film marked the second collaboration between director George Cukor and actress Katharine Hepburn.  They first worked together on A Bill of Divorcement in 1932.  They would work together on 8 more films: Sylvia Scarlett in 1935, Holiday in 1938, The Philadelphia Story in 1940, Keeper of the Flame in 1942, Adam's Rib in 1949, Pat and Mike in 1952, Love Among the Ruins in 1975 and the TV film The Corn is Green in 1979.

Hepburn excels as Jo, a part that seems to be tailor-made for her.  She shines the brightest on screen and slips easily into the role.  And in the hands of Cukor, the film is an enjoyable ride through the novel.  Douglass Montgomery matches Hepburn's energy in all the scenes they share and you can't help but love watching them on screen together.  The rest of the cast do well in their roles, with the sisters having an easy and believable chemistry.

An excellent adaptation.

Little Women (1933) 115 minutes
Director: George Cukor
Starring: Katharine Hepburn as Josephine "Jo" March
Frances Dee as Margaret "Meg" March
Joan Bennett as Amy March
Jean Parker as Elizabeth "Beth" March
Spring Byington as Marmee March
Douglass Montgomery as Theodore "Laurie" Laurence
Paul Lukas as Professor Bhaer
Edna May Oliver as Aunt March
Henry Stephenson as Mr. Laurence