Little Women | |
---|---|
Theatrical release poster
|
|
Directed by | George Cukor |
Produced by | Merian C. Cooper |
Screenplay by |
Victor Heerman Sarah Y. Mason |
Based on |
Little Women by Louisa May Alcott |
Starring |
Katharine Hepburn Joan Bennett Paul Lukas Jean Parker Frances Dee |
Music by | Max Steiner |
Cinematography | Henry W. Gerrard |
Edited by | Jack Kitchin |
Production
company |
RKO Radio Pictures
|
Distributed by | RKO Radio Pictures |
Release date
|
|
Running time
|
117 mins. |
Country | United States |
Language | English |
Budget | $424,000 |
Box office | $2,000,000 |
Little Women is a 1933 American pre-Code drama film, directed by George Cukor and starring Katharine Hepburn, Joan Bennett, Frances Dee, and Jean Parker. The screenplay, by Sarah Y. Mason and Victor Heerman, is based on the 1868 novel of the same name, by Louisa May Alcott.
This is the third screen adaptation of the book, following silent versions, released in 1917, with Minna Grey, and in 1918, with Dorothy Bernard. After this first sound version came a 1949 remake, with June Allyson, Elizabeth Taylor and Peter Lawford, and the 1994 release, starring Winona Ryder.
Set in Concord, Massachusetts, during and after the American Civil War, the film is a series of vignettes focusing on the struggles and adventures of the four March sisters and their mother, affectionately known as Marmee (Spring Byington), while they await the return of their father, who serves as a colonel and a chaplain in the Union Army. Spirited tomboy Jo (Katharine Hepburn), who caters to the whims of their well-to-do Aunt March (Edna May Oliver), dreams of becoming a famous author, and she writes plays for her sisters to perform for the local children. Amy (Joan Bennett) is pretty but selfish, Meg (Frances Dee) works as a seamstress, and sensitive Beth (Jean Parker) practices on her clavichord, an aging instrument sorely in need of tuning.