Little Women (1933)

Little Women
Nov. 24, 1933
RKO
Drama, Comedy, Historical
VHS
B-

While this is a reasonably faithful adaptation of the classic children's novel (http://rereadingeverybookiown.blogspot.com/2012/02/little-women.html), I have to say that having watched it twice in the last couple months, it feels incomplete.  The problem is that it's too much of a Katharine Hepburn vehicle.  Yes, she's well cast as Jo and does a great job, and yes, the book is more about Jo than the other three sisters.  Nonetheless, I think there should've been more about the other sisters, especially Amy.  Ironically, when we don't see more sides of her, Beth, and Meg, it actually shortchanges Jo's characterization, because we don't get as much of a sense of what her sisters mean to her.  I was surprised though on this viewing how good Paul Lukas is as Prof. Bhaer, giving what's the most natural performance in the film.

You may wonder why I didn't tag any of the performers besides Nydia Westman, who has a small comic role as a maid.  Well, she's actually the only one I know for a fact I have in another of my movies.  I like Hepburn, but not enough to collect her films.

I'll probably say more about this version of the story when I get up to the Winona Ryder version in 1994.