Google Ads
Login | Sign Up

Little Women Overview:

Little Women (1933) was a Drama - Family Film directed by George Cukor and produced by Merian C. Cooper and Kenneth Macgowan.

SYNOPSIS

Could there be a better Jo than Hepburn, the flashing pride, the determined set of jaw, the coltish energy? Director Cukor sets Hepburn at the center of a wonderful cast that includes Oliver, Bennett, Byington, and lets her light up the screen. This is the cream of the many adaptations (it was also produced in 1949, 1978, and 1994) of Alcott's beloved novel of teenage girls finding their way to adulthood during the Civil War that has taken the men from their lives. Marvelously entertaining family fare.

(Source: available at Amazon AMC Classic Movie Companion).

Academy Awards 1932/33 --- Ceremony Number 6 (source: AMPAS)

AwardRecipientResult
Best DirectorGeorge CukorNominated
Best PictureRKO RadioNominated
Best WritingVictor Heerman, Sarah Y. MasonWon
See More Oscar Winners

Little Women BlogHub Articles:

25 Days of Christmas: Little Women (1933) (1)

By Kristen on Dec 26, 2012 From Journeys in Classic Film

The last one in my series of reviews on the three filmed adaptations of Little Women in honor of Christmas is the 1933 George Cukor version.  This one is widely considered the de facto version of Little Women, and watching it after seeing the 1949 version I realized that the latter version is simpl... Read full article

Little women, big entertainment.

By Brandie on Jan 14, 2010 From True Classics

Louisa May Alcott’s classic 1868 novel Little Women has been adapted into film multiple times–by most counts, fourteen in all–and some of these versions are not readily available for today’s audiences (notably, the two silent versions from 1917 and 1918).  Of all of them, pe... Read full article

See More Little Women Articles

Little Women Quotes:

Jo March: [repeated several times] Christopher Columbus!
Jo March: If wearing hair up means becoming a lady, I'll wear it down until I'm 100 years old.
[first lines]
Marmee March: So you're going to Washington?
Elderly man: Yes, ma'am; my son is sick in the hospital there.
Marmee March: Oh, this will be an anxious Christmas for you.
Marmee March: [finding him a coat] I think this one will do; let's try this. Is it your only son?
Elderly man: No, ma'am. I had four; two were killed, one is a prisoner.
Marmee March: [deeply moved] You've done a great deal for your country, sir.
Elderly man: Oh, not a mite more than I ought, ma'am. I'd go myself if I was any use. Thank you for the overcoat.
Marmee March: Wait a minute...
Marmee March: [giving him some money] I hope you find him better.
Elderly man: Thank you, ma'am. God bless you; merry Christmas. Merry Christmas!
Marmee March: Merry Christmas!
Prof. Bhaer: Oh, please, please... just, just one moment, before... I have a wish to ask you something. Would you... Oh, I-I... I have no courage to think that... but, but, but, could I dare hope that... I? I... I know I, I shouldn't make so free as to ask. I have nothing to give, but my heart so full and... and these empty hands.
Jo March: [taking his hands in hers] Not empty now.
Prof. Bhaer: Oh, heart's dearest!
[they embrace]
Jo March: [drawing him into the house] Welcome home!
Jo March: [about her short haircut] Well it's boyish, becoming and easy to maintain.
See More Quotes from Little Women
Little Women Facts
David O. Selznick had been working for RKO Radio but had become increasingly disillusioned with the way the studio was operating. His stress at work, coupled with his anxiety over the worsening condition of his father, led him to turn to MGM who had been actively courting him for some time. He agreed to join them in February 1933 but his departure left three active projects in limbo at RKO, one of which was Little Women. George Cukor had been assigned to direct the film but he followed Selznick to MGM. However, Cukor agreed to return to RKO to finish off the film as a personal favor to Selznick.
Personally supervised by David O. Selznick, even though he doesn't actually screen credit.
The interior of the March's home was actually modeled on the real Massachusetts home of Louisa May Alcott.
Uncredited producer David O. Selznick had a difficult time convincing RKO executives to produce this film, as there was a belief in Hollywood at the time that films based on historic novels were not popular, particularly one that centered on women during the Civil War. Selznick persisted and the film was a commercial success. Because of this, later in the decade Selznick produced Gone with the Wind through his own production company, Selznick International Pictures, from the novel by Margaret Mitchell.
Opened on November 16 1933 at Radio City Music Hall where it broke attendance records, earning over $100,000 in its first week of release.
See More Facts about Little Women >>