Alice Adams
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Movie Reviews of Alice Adams
Movie Review: kate is great & so is most of the rest of the movie
Summary: 4 Stars
one of katharine hepburns signature performances, and deserevedly so, she stars in this adaptation of a booth tarkington novel about a young working class woman trying to push her way into "high society" (or what passes for that in provincial indiana). the movie sadly has to sidestep on the social satire (if it had been made 2 years earlier, i bet the ending would have been truer to life), but it still manages quite a few stings. and the set piece of the adams family formal dinner is a briiliantly directed stevens tour-de-force, highlighted by a hilarious turn (oh! that not-quite-starched cap, lol) from the sadly under-utilized hattie mcdaniel. still it is hepburns film, and her range of emotions here clearly go beyond "A to B".
Movie Review: Simply Darling!
Summary: 4 Stars
A delightful movie from 1935 starring the late great Katherine Hepburn and Fred MacMurray. Katherine Hepburn plays a middle class girl trying to fit into an upper class society. Of course, she falls in love with a rich man who's totally smitten with her from the moment he sees her across a crowded room. Throughout the movie Alice tries to hide her embarrassment of her family's inappropriate etiquette and lack of funds. Fred MacMurray was just darling and full of charm and smiles as the smitten rich boy looking for true love. Hepburn and MacMurray provided excellent chemistry for this black and white film that still oozes with romantic feelings. I look forward to watching it again. Reviewed by M. E. WoodMovie Review: Dinner! A/C!
Summary: 4 Stars
The whole dinner sequence is excruciatingly funny, and Hattie McDaniel shows that she was a lot funnier--some wonderful takes here--than "Mammie" ever thought about being. The film is a deft satire of small-town life, and Hepburn is adorable--in a wondefully painful way. The subplots are fairly predictable--the usual novel stuff--but the movie survives on Hepburn's performance. This is a movie that will make you squirm and laugh at the same time.Movie Review: A mediocre film carried by a marvelous performance...
Summary: 3 Stars
I've spouted off a few times about my feelings towards Katharine Hepburn being an overrated actress. You know what's funny is that the more films I see with her the more I question why I ever criticized her in the first place. Sure, she is not my favorite actress out there, and I do feel quite a bit of `Nicole Kidman stigma' about her legend status (Kidman is another actress who I really enjoy yet consider hugely overrated because of her rabid fan base that refuses to acknowledge any flaws), but I must admit that she was one amazing actress and deserves a lot of the praise she has received.
Yes, I'm eating crow right now.
So, of all the wonderful performances I've been blessed with recently, one that stands out as superior and unforgettable for me is Hepburn's `Alice Adams'. This is one of those performances that totally carries the film (beings that the film itself is rather mediocre) and completely sells a character for the audience. Casting Hepburn as an underprivileged dreamer was inspired, beings that it is not a character she often played, and it gave her a chance to embrace all that made adolescence so tragically beautiful.
She is such a charming presence here, reminiscent of her younger sister Audrey, who I always considered the more graceful and charming of the two.
The film tells the story of young Alice who only wants to fit in with her `upper crust' friends and neighbors. When she meets the wealthy Arthur she decides to play up her social standing to impress him, but it is a lie she really can't substantiate. Her mother is quick to force Alice's father to do something about it, causing him to sever ties with his boss and friend in order to provide a better life (and more opportunities) for her daughter.
The script is full of holes, from the strangely awkward `secret formula for glue' to the odd way that Arthur seems naïve to Alice's obvious embellishments; and the ending itself is completely preposterous. Really though, Hepburn makes it all work somehow. The film is a forgettable mess, but her performance is outstanding to say the least. She really captures the devilish jitters that come with trying to be something you are not, only to have that something be the one thing you really don't need to be to get what you want. It's a beautifully awkward performance, which carries with it so much natural light and chemistry.
Fred MacMurray is also well used, if not a bit of a prop for Hepburn to use as she sees fit. Ann Shoemaker is the only supporting player that really carries her own weight. She actually develops a rich and beautifully tailored character. I thought that Frank Albertson was memorable, but his character was hollow and undeveloped (that whole side-plot with the money seemed uneven and underwritten). Fred Stone was terrible here, and Charley Grapewin wasn't any better. Their final moments (and their whole storyline really) were the worst aspects of the film for me.
And yet, I still say that this is a film you should see. Hepburn makes it very, very worth it. Many films around this time suffered from the studio's influence, and so it is hard to find films that really worked on every level (outside of some marvelously crafted foreign films), but it is still worth your time getting to see some of these older films, if not for a better understanding of cinema as a whole.
Movie Review: THE SHINE OF A VERY YOUNG KATHARINE HEPBURN FILLS THE SCREEN
Summary: 3 Stars
"Alice Adams" is one of those movies that rarely are made in Hollywood in these days, because the whole movie is carried by the performances and the direction. "Alice Adams" is a very honest and simple movie, its only pretension is to entertain the viewers, and this movie does that.
In "Alice Adams" we can see a very young and charming Katharine Hepburn, she plays the role of Alice, she injected to the character freshness, sympathy and an aura of tenderness and innocence that rarely are seen in these days.
"Alice Adams" is a very amusing movie, specially if you are fan of the great Katharine Hepburn.