Little Women Reviews

Louisa May Alcott’s oft-filmed story gets a wonderfully warm, charming, if rushed treatment in George Cukor’s celebrated version. Two prior silent film versions, from 1917 and 1918 respectively, beat this one to the screen, but this was the first version where all the disparate pieces came together to form a satisfying whole. Director George Cukor, star Katharine Hepburn, a pervading sense of optimism in the face of strife and a pleasing but not overpowering sense of socially progressive ideals at play mark this version as a resounding success.

Fans of the novel tend to either, very generally speaking, adore this version or the 1994 version starring Winona Ryder. Frankly, I think they’re about equal with the 1994 version possibly coming out on top with a stronger sense of an ensemble and a less overpowering sentimentality at play. This version also feels like it’s speed-reading through the material with moments like Beth’s untimely death barely registering their full emotional impact. Having said that, Little Women is still a strong film overall.

A really strong film overall, in fact. If ever a part was born for Katharine Hepburn to play it was Jo March, a head-strong New Englander tom boy with progressive beliefs. She’s marvelous in the role as she finds a part that matches her patrician accent, fierce angularity, and physically domineering energy. 1933 was the breakout year for Kate the Great, but I can’t help but feel that Morning Glory Oscar maybe should’ve gone to her for this film instead. Sure, it’s a bit type casting, Hepburn would go on to bring a queerness (both how you’re thinking of that word and also its original definition) to other superwoman in later roles like Woman of the Year or Adam’s Rib, but she’s just so joyful and fun here that I can’t knock the obviousness of the casting in any meaningful way.

The only actor that matches her fire is Edna May Oliver as the March’s elderly aunt. Of course, she’s another that seems right at home playing the monied spinster aunt as that was one of her character types. Cukor assembled a strong group for the rest of the family, including a beatific Frances Dee, bratty Joan Bennett, and lovable Paul Lukas, and they add immeasurably to Little Women’s strength.

While Little Women is set during the Civil War, it was released during the Great Depression and functions as something of a soothing morale booster for a nation enduring a psychological scar. Here was balm and a recognizable reality as the March family discusses rationing, economic anxiety, and perform desperate measures to stay afloat, such as Jo cutting off her hair to ward off starvation for a while longer. Sure, it’s a glossy and sentimental, but those aren’t bad things as they melt away during the second half’s escalation of life’s disappointments, struggles, and loses.