Las cuatro hermanitas

In fanfiction there is the phenomenon called the "Mary Sue"--a character who is an (idealized) version of the author who is inserted into the story to act out the author's fantasy. The original Mary Sue was in a Star Trek fanfiction where Ensign Mary Sue was braver than Kirk, smarter than Spock, more compassionate than McCoy, etc. who is able to save the day when nobody else can.

What has this, I hear you ask, to do with 'Little Women'? I think that all the March girls, but especially Jo, are somewhat Mary Sues to Louisa May Alcott. They are just too perfect. Especially Beth. Oscar Wilde said of Dickens' Little Nell that it would take a heart of stone not to laugh out loud reading her death scene; the same remark could apply to Beth. And Marmee is just to saintly and patient to be believed.

Still, in spite of it all, the film was worth watching, especially to see the young Kate Hepburn. I especially appreciate the time when she was asked when she would grow up and act like a proper lady, and she replied, "Never! Even when I'm old and walk with a cane!" (Or something to that effect.) Highly prophetic, as that was exactly how Kate lived.

It's always a wonderful feeling when a film works its wonders on you. LITTLE WOMEN had that effect on me, and I'm not even a fan of these types of stories. This adaptation of the Louisa May Alcott classic has real heart, warmth, and the right amount of sentimentality, amounting to a wonderful film. Katharine Hepburn stars as the tomboyish Jo, a free-spirited young lady who is dying for adventure but craves the time she spends with her sisters. The one that stands out among the four is Beth, a caring, sweet girl with a flair for the piano. If you don't get teary-eyed about her cause, you definitely pass for a curmudgeon. The only complaint I have about this gem is that the last quarter of the film doesn't seem to have the matching effervescence that the rest of the film had. It ends abruptly and off-balance. All qualms aside, this is a genuine classic, filled with great performances and characters you can't help but like. A true family entertainment. Rating: Three stars and a half.

Having grown up with the Technicolor version of the 40s with a young Liz Taylor and a perky June Allyson, I was pleased to find this was just as good a version, better in many ways. Katharine Hepburn, as you might expect, is wonderful as the tomboy Jo March, who finds responsibility after a lifetime of woe for the family. Other cast stand-outs include Edna May Oliver as Aunt March. Laurie is a bit of a wet fish though. Both early versions are much, much better than the Winona Ryder one of the 90s, which was a sentimental Hollywood nostalgia trip which just didn't work. I'm still split between the two early ones but this is a definite favourite and I'd highly recommend it.

Little Women (1933)

A fairly lavish affair, with one of my favorite directors, George Cukor, making the most of his growing fame as a "woman's director." Of course, the leads here are four girls and their mother, among the children the rising star, Katherine Hepburn, in her second film (after Bill of Divorcement, also by Cukor, and a better film in many ways).

The standards here are high, the acting solid, the sets uncompromised. The plot is very goody-goody, for lack of a better word. There is a lot of family sweetness, growing young love affairs, charity to the poor, and a feeling of life being simply terrific, whatever its worries (worries like the Civil War, raging quietly in the background, never seen and rarely felt).

Cukor makes the most of Alcott's novel, I think, and Hepburn is wonderful, with all the hints of her real greatness on screen to come. The basic structure of the plot (or plots) is how each girl matures, overcoming personality flaws to become truly admirable people. It might be frustrating that human flaws are simply to be overcome, but we shouldn't resent a little optimism, and reaching higher goals, now and then. A heartfelt and really well made American drama. And I admit freely, I cried several times. That's better than any words.

Few would deny the powerful presence of Katherine Hepburn in any movie she ever made. In this first screen adaptation with sound of Louisa May Alcott's famous novel, Hepburn IS the movie. That is to say, her part, her lines, her camera time seem to surpass the combined times of all the rest of the cast. While that may be as one would expect for many stories – a star or hero being the focal point of a whole work, this film, based on this book, was supposed to be about several "little women." So, most of the rest of the characters in the film – save a neighbor male friend, really get short shrift. For that reason, and a few others I'll mention, I think this rendition falls short of the interesting story told in the book.

I would like to have seen more development of the sisters than this film has. The later remake – 1949's MGM production, does flesh out all the characters more. The problem with the overly heavy emphasis on the one character in this first movie is that the audience doesn't get much of a sense of who are the rest of the members of the family. So we can't so readily experience the ups and downs, the emotions, the tragedy and love felt between the sisters and their mother.

Hepburn does a very good Jo, but not great. I think her efforts to be the tomboy were overdone in a few instances, which only drew my attention to this aspect of her role. She didn't seem to come by it naturally. One example was when she spoke a couple of times, acting and deliberately mimicking a deep-throated guttural voice for a man. At other times, she seemed to push it a bit and overact in flamboyance of tom-boyish behavior.

There were no other notable performances by other cast members. Paul Lukas as Professor Bhaer and Douglas Montgomery as Laurie were good. Most of the rest were just OK or non-descript. One member was just not right for the role of Marmee. Spring Byington brought no depth or real feel to the role that the viewer could sense. But, then, the film just seemed to glide over the lesser roles.

"Little Women" is a good story in the American library, and this film is enjoyable to watch. But, for a much more involving and endearing film, be sure to see the 1949 rendition by MGM.