Little Women (1949)

It is a performances centric movie

Excellent, Without a doubt!!

The film makes a home in your brain and the only cure is to see it again.

It is an exhilarating, distressing, funny and profound film, with one of the more memorable film scores in years,

It's difficult to watch this version of "Little Women" without comparing it to the 1933 film starring Katherine Hepburn. One can understand why they chose to remake the film, especially since this version benefits from color film.There are other aspects of this film that compare favorably to the earlier film. Although June Allyson, as Jo, is not as convincing as Hepburn for me, her portrayal is very earnest. Other actors in the cast are noteworthy, especially Margaret O'Brien, who plays Beth, the shy musical sister. Janet Leigh and Elizabeth Taylor play the other two sisters, completing a stand-out foursome.C. Aubrey Smith also deserves recognition for his portrayal of the elderly neighbor Mr. Laurence, who befriends Beth. It is one of the warmest moments of the film.This is a wonderful coming of age story based on a classic novel.

Louisa May Alcott, a notable American novelist, wrote one of the most beloved novels about an American family. The setting of the story was the 1860s while the country was experiencing the horrors of the Civil War. The novel was autobiographical. The Marsh family is at the center of the drama. This was a second version of the novel on the screen. The more successful adaptation was the 1933 film directed by George Cukor with an amazing performance by Katherine Hepburn as Jo Marsh.The second production of the novel was directed by Mervyn Leroy. This Technicolor version was a departure from the first one, but it lacked Mr. Cukor's vision. The casting of June Allyson as Jo Marsh has its good moments, but she is completely out of her league as the scene changes to New York where she has gone to try her fortune. Ms. Allyson was effective, notoriously on the first part, playing the tomboyish girl.The cast assembled was excellent. A young and ravishing Elizabeth Taylor as the pretentious Amy. Margaret O'Brien appeared as Beth and Janet Leigh made an impression as Meg. Mary Astor and Leon Ames were the parents of the Marsh sisters. A dashing Peter Lawford was effective as Laurie, the rich boy next door. Rossano Brazzi shows up as Professor Bhaer, the man that saw the possibilities in Jo. C. Aubrey Smith and the excellent Lucille Watson were also on hand in supporting roles.

The book "Little Women" is one of my favourite books of all time, it is funny, moving and just makes me warm inside while reading it. This 1949 film is very delightful and charming with some good performances, lush cinematography and visual detail and lovely music. However, as I am sure people have pointed out, it is very loosely based on the book. Beth is now the youngest, Laurie goes off to war here and there are bits cut out. The latter is understandable though because the book is quite long. Putting all that aside, this is still a delightful film. It looks lovely, with lush cinematography and colourful costumes and scenery. The music is also gorgeous, I particularly loved hearing "None But the Lonely Heart", that is one of my favourite songs and never fails to bring tears to my eyes. The acting in general is very good, Janet Leigh isn't given that much to do but she is very rosy-looking as Meg. You may argue that June Allyson was too old for Jo, in some ways that is true. However Allyson still manages to give a warm and tomboyish performance. Elizabeth Taylor is wonderful as spoilt, selfish Amy, Taylor is not the lovely woman she is in "Ivanhoe" or the seductive "sex on wheels" character she is in "Cat on a Hot Tin Roof", she is Amy and plays her very convincingly, making the most of some of the film's best lines. That leaves Margaret O'Brien, a very cute and appealing child actress, and she was very convincing as Beth, Beth's vulnerability in the latter half of the film is genuinely affecting. Out of the supporting actors, Mary Astor comes off best, sticking to the benevolent and sincere Marmee of the book, and C.Aubrey Smith is splendid as Old Mr Laurence, his scenes with Beth are quite heart-warming. Peter Lawford is charming as Laurie, and Lucille Watson is quite detestable as Aunt March. Rossano Brazzi as Professor Bhaer looks handsome, but I wasn't entirely convinced by him. He started off wooden, and I also felt he was too Italian for the role, Professor Bhaer is supposed to be German. Still, "Little Women" despite its flaws is still a delightful and charming film. 8/10 Bethany Cox

Very colorful film of Louisa May Alcott's classic novel about the March family girls--Jo (June Allyson), Beth (Margaret O'Brien), Amy (Elizabeth Taylor) and May (Janet Leigh). It also involves their neighbor Laurie (Peter Lawford) and Prof. Behr (Rossano Brazza).First off this is NOT a faithful adaptation of the book--the original novel runs over 500 pages so a lot was cut out. For some reason Amy (the youngest in the book) is now the second youngest with Beth becoming the youngest! The change is not needed. Also most of the cast is far too old--Allyson was playing a teenage girl and she was 32 when she did this! Taylor and Leigh (two wonderful actresses) seem totally lost in this. The picture is far too pretty also. The March family is supposed to be living in poverty--but they live in a HUGE house and all the girls have beautiful clothes on! Still, as a glossy Technicolor big budget production it works.Everything (and everybody) looks beautiful. There's always something beautiful to see on the screen. The movie moves fairly quick and there's good acting by Allyson (who captures Jo's personality beautifully), Lawford and Brazza (who, unfortunately, doesn't pop up till the last half hour). O'Brien though is perfect in every scene she's in. She has the impossible role of a saintly little girl bur pulls it off. So, as an adaptation of the book it's bad but as a movie it's lots of fun and so beautiful! I give it an 8.