Little Women

(George Cukor, US 1933, 115 min., 35mm)

The most successful adaptation of Louisa May Alcott’s novel about a mother raising four daughters alone during the Civil War is peerless family entertainment. The superb cast includes Katharine Hepburn and Joan Bennett. Four sisters maintain the homefront in this Civil War-era/New England-set classic. “A lovely, graceful film, and surprisingly faithful to the atmosphere, the Victorian sentiments, and the Victorian strengths of the Louisa May Alcott novel. Katharine Hepburn gives an inspired performance as willful Jo. … She strikes absurdly romantic poses and they’re enchanting.” —Pauline Kael, American film critic