Little Women
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Movie Reviews of Little Women
Movie Review: Great Service
Summary: 5 Stars
Received DVD in a timely manner. Great condition. Would purchase from this buyer again.Movie Review: The Best
Summary: 5 Stars
This by far is the best movie of all times. Remakes cannot hold a candle to this.Movie Review: classic
Summary: 5 Stars
the original and best versionMovie Review: A Good Old Fashioned Fun Film
Summary: 4 Stars
Louisa May Alcott (1832-1888)was an extremely controversial woman, the product of parents associated with the transcendentalist movement, a rabid abolitionist, an early feminist, and possibly lesbian as well. Even so, between 1868 and her death she generated a series of novels for juvenile readers which were extremely popular and which continue to be read today. Easily the most famous of these is LITTLE WOMEN, first published in 1868; it has been adapted to the dramatic stage, to the musical and opera stages; and was filmed no fewer than twelve times during the 20th Century alone.
Three of these films have been particularly famous: the 1933 film with Katherine Hepburn; the 1994 film with Winona Ryder; and sandwiched in between them the 1949 version. Released by MGM and produced and directed by Mervyn LeRoy, like many films of its era it was driven almost exclusively by star power--regardless of whether the actor in question was right for the role or not--and given every bright and colorful visual possible--whether it was appropriate or not.
The story, of course, focuses on the March girls, four daughters growing up during the Civil War under their mother's care while their father, a Union Chaplin, is away at the front. Meg (Janet Leigh) is the oldest and perhaps most sensible; Jo (June Allyson) is headstrong, boyish, and very determined to be a writer; Amy (Elizabeth Taylor) is beautiful but vain and affected; and Beth (Margaret O'Brien), the youngest, is of a noble but extremely shy disposition. Mother "Marmee" is played by the always memorable Mary Astor; father Mr. March is played by Leon Ames; and the supporting cast includes Lucille Watson, Peter Lawford, and Rossano Brazzi.
The 1949 LITTLE WOMEN isn't in the least plausible: the actresses are much too different in coloring and build to be believeable as mother and daughters, and although Mary Astor, Leon Ames, and Lucille Watson score extremely well in their performances, the rest of the cast tends to overplay wildly. Of the sisters, Janet Leigh is easily the most believeable. June Allyson is seen here at her most brash, Elizabeth Taylor is truly jaw-dropping in a blonde wig, and Margaret O'Brien too often veers into a sticky-sweetness. And yet, curiously, the whole really does work and is tremendously entertaining, the sort of thing we mean when we talk about "a good old-fashioned fun film."
Although the script leaves a lot to be desired, the story presented here is really closer to the book than the 1933 and 1994 films, and it has considerable power and authority; in watching it, you get the feeling that of all the many film versions, this is the one that Louisa May Alcott herself would have liked best. The Technicolor images are typically over the top, seeming overdone in the austere Marsh home but very on target elsewhere, and the production values are MGM at its most glossy. Mervyn Le Roy is hardly in the same league with George Cukor (neither is Gillian Armstrong for that matter), but he keeps the show moving at fast clip, and in the end it is extremely enjoyable if somewhat shallow fun. The DVD is "good" rather than fine--but whatever the case, it's a lot of fun.
GFT, Amazon Reviewer
Movie Review: Solid but unexceptional
Summary: 4 Stars
The classic Victorian novel "Little Women" has been filmed quite a few times over the past century; out of the lot there are four noteworthy adaptations, dating from 1933, 1949, 1978, and 1994. I don't think there really is a definitive version; each film adaptation has its own strengths and weaknesses.
This evening I viewed the 1949 version, and I'd say it's a solid, though perhaps unexceptional, film. It's certainly gorgeous to look at, getting the glossy MGM Technicolor treatment typical of the period. And the casting isn't bad for the most part; the four girls are played by Janet Leigh (Meg), June Allyson (Jo), Elizabeth Taylor (Amy), and Margaret O'Brien (Beth), with Laurie portrayed by Peter Lawford. I suppose the primary drawback to the casting is that they all seem too old for their parts (with the exception of Margaret O'Brien); June was only 11 years younger than Mary Astor, who played her mother! The only real dud was Richard Wyler as John Brooke, though there has been considerable debate among fans about Elizabeth Taylor's acting in this---some people think she was great, and others think she was simply terrible. I suppose I'm somewhere in the middle regarding her performance, but I will say that her blonde wig wasn't particularly convincing.
(Speaking of hair, the one rather glaring anachronism was Jo's hairstyle---with her bangs, she looked very modern to me. After I watched the film I even did little research on 1860's hairstyles, and I see they were rather severe as a rule, with not a bang in sight---hair parted in the centre and pulled back tightly was the rule of the day.)
This movie really was more of a remake of the 1933 version, rather than a completely new screenplay using the original novel as its source. Even the main musical themes used in the background scoring were taken from the older film. Oh, there's nothing wrong with that, but it might have been nice to see a fresher take on the story.
It was a decent enough film, but for me there was an indefinable something that was missing---it didn't really draw me in on an emotional level. June (as Jo) was pretty good, though I have to say that I still think the very best Jo was young Katharine Hepburn, back in 1933. And out of the four films, the 1994 version remains my favourite.
Still, this is worth a viewing for anyone with an interest in golden age Hollywood, or the original Lousia May Alcott story, and I'll recommend it.
(I couldn't help but notice that every film version of Little Women that I've ever seen has had extremely similar interior/exterior sets for the March family home. That's because the set designers in each case used Orchard House, the real Alcott family home, as their inspiration.)