Little Women (1949 film)
Encyclopedia
Little Women directed by Mervyn LeRoy
is based on Louisa May Alcott
's novel of the same name
. The screenplay was written by
Sally Benson
, Victor Heerman, Sarah Y. Mason, and Andrew Solt
. The original music score was composed by Adolph Deutsch
.
Nominations
Originally intended as a 1948 release, the premiere of Little Women was delayed until March, 1949, when it was presented as the Easter attraction at New York's Radio City Music Hall
. It is believed that the reason for the delay was to make the movie part of
M-G-M's Silver Anniversary Celebration. Little Women became one the top grossing films of 1949.
was originally going to produce the film. Filming began in September 1946 but Selznick decided he could not tackle a major production so soon after the ordeal of filming Duel in the Sun (1946) so he sold the property and script to MGM. The cast for the David O. Selznick version included Jennifer Jones (Jo), Diana Lynn
(Amy), Bambi Linn
(Beth), Rhonda Fleming
(Meg), and Anne Revere
(Marmee).
Mervyn LeRoy
Mervyn LeRoy was an American film director, producer and sometime actor.-Early life:Born to Jewish parents in San Francisco, California, his family was financially ruined by the 1906 earthquake...
is based on Louisa May Alcott
Louisa May Alcott
Louisa May Alcott was an American novelist. She is best known for the novel Little Women and its sequels Little Men and Jo's Boys. Little Women was set in the Alcott family home, Orchard House in Concord, Massachusetts, and published in 1868...
's novel of the same name
Little Women
Little Women is a novel by American author Louisa May Alcott . The book was written and set in the Alcott family home, Orchard House, in Concord, Massachusetts. It was published in two volumes in 1868 and 1869...
. The screenplay was written by
WGA screenwriting credit system
In the United States, screenwriting credit for motion pictures and television programs under its jurisdiction is determined by either the Writers Guild of America, East or the Writers Guild of America, West . Since 1941, the Guilds have been the final arbiter of who receives credit for writing a...
Sally Benson
Sally Benson
Sally Benson was an American screenwriter, who was also a prolific short story author, best known for her semi-autobiographical stories collected in Junior Miss and Meet Me in St...
, Victor Heerman, Sarah Y. Mason, and Andrew Solt
Andrew Solt
Andrew Solt is a producer, director, writer and documentary filmmaker. He has done numerous television specials and series for both broadcast and cable television and also movies. Solt owns the rights to the The Ed Sullivan Show library and has produced over 100 hours of new programming from the...
. The original music score was composed by Adolph Deutsch
Adolph Deutsch
Adolph Deutsch was a composer, conductor and arranger. He won Oscars for his background music for Oklahoma! , and for conducting the music for Seven Brides for Seven Brothers and Annie Get Your Gun...
.
Changes from the novel
- In this version, Beth March (Margaret O'BrienMargaret O'BrienMargaret O'Brien is an American film and stage actress. Although her film career as a leading character was brief, she was one of the most popular child actors in cinema history...
) is portrayed as being several years younger than Amy March (Elizabeth TaylorElizabeth TaylorDame Elizabeth Rosemond "Liz" Taylor, DBE was a British-American actress. From her early years as a child star with MGM, she became one of the great screen actresses of Hollywood's Golden Age...
), while in the book she is a year older.
- Instead of first meeting at a Christmas party, Jo and Laurie first see each other when the March girls are taking their breakfast to the Hummels, and Jo visits Laurie while he is sick and confined to the house before as well.
- When the girls attend the Christmas party, all four of the girls go, rather than just Meg and Jo as presented in the novel. They leave early because Beth is upset over her and Amy hearing from other people that Mrs. March had plans to marry them off well, instead of Meg spraining her ankle while dancing.
- Also, at the beginning of the book, when the March sisters are each given a dollar to spend at their pleasure, they decide to all buy something for their mother, or "Marmee", as she is called. In the film, while they eventually do buy presents for their mother, they initially purchase things for themselves.
- In the book, Amy is pulled out of school when her teacher, Mr. Davis, strikes her across the hand with a ruler when she hides limes in her desk; but in the movie, she is in trouble for drawing pictures on her slate, and she is not struck.
- Several other scenes are left out, such as the group picnic, when Amy falls through the ice after following Jo and Laurie to the river, and when Amy and Laurie fall in love in Europe.
- Jo and Laurie, while they are best friends in the book, Jo even having a special nickname for him ("Teddy"), have a still somewhat close but much less intimate relationship in the film.
Awards
Won- 1950 - Academy Award for Best Art Direction - Set DecorationAcademy Award for Best Art DirectionThe Academy Awards are the oldest awards ceremony for achievements in motion pictures. The Academy Award for Best Art Direction recognizes achievement in art direction on a film. The films below are listed with their production year, so the Oscar 2000 for best art direction went to a film from 1999...
(Cedric GibbonsCedric GibbonsAustin Cedric Gibbons was an Irish American art director who was one of the most important and influential in the field in the history of American film. He also made a great impact on motion picture theater architecture through the 1930s to 1950s, the period considered the golden-era of theater...
, Paul GroessePaul GroessePaul Groesse was a Hungarian-born American art director. He won three Academy Awards and was nominated for another eight in the category Best Art Direction.-Academy Awards:...
, Edwin B. Willis, Jack D. MooreJack D. MooreJack D. Moore was an American set decorator. He won an Academy Award and was nominated six times in the category Best Art Direction.-Selected filmography:...
)
Nominations
- 1950 - Academy Award for Best CinematographyAcademy Award for Best CinematographyThe Academy Award for Best Cinematography is an Academy Award awarded each year to a cinematographer for work in one particular motion picture.-History:...
(Robert Planck, Charles SchoenbaumCharles SchoenbaumCharles Edgar Schoenbaum was a popular cinematographer whose career began in 1917 and ended with his abrupt death in 1951.He worked on over 100 films, including several of the Lassie films in the late 40s. He was nominated for an Academy Award in 1949 for his work on Little Women.-Partial...
)
Cast
- June AllysonJune AllysonJune Allyson was an American film and television actress, popular in the 1940s and 1950s. She was a major MGM contract star. Allyson won the Golden Globe Award for Best Actress for her performance in Too Young to Kiss . From 1959–1961, she hosted and occasionally starred in her own CBS anthology...
as Josephine 'Jo' March - Peter LawfordPeter LawfordPeter Sydney Ernest Aylen , better known as Peter Lawford, was an English-American actor.He was a member of the "Rat Pack", and brother-in-law to US President John F. Kennedy, perhaps more noted in later years for his off-screen activities as a celebrity than for his acting...
as Theodore 'Laurie' Laurence - Margaret O'BrienMargaret O'BrienMargaret O'Brien is an American film and stage actress. Although her film career as a leading character was brief, she was one of the most popular child actors in cinema history...
as Elizabeth 'Beth' March - Elizabeth TaylorElizabeth TaylorDame Elizabeth Rosemond "Liz" Taylor, DBE was a British-American actress. From her early years as a child star with MGM, she became one of the great screen actresses of Hollywood's Golden Age...
as Amy March - Janet LeighJanet LeighJanet Leigh , born Jeanette Helen Morrison, was an American actress. She was the wife of actor Tony Curtis from June 1951 to September 1962 and the mother of Kelly Curtis and Jamie Lee Curtis....
as Margaret 'Meg' March/Brooke - Rossano BrazziRossano Brazzi-Biography:Brazzi was born in Bologna to Adelmo and Maria Brazzi. He attended San Marco University in Florence, Italy, where he was raised from the age of four...
as Professor Bhaer - Mary AstorMary AstorMary Astor was an American actress. Most remembered for her role as Brigid O'Shaughnessy in The Maltese Falcon with Humphrey Bogart, Astor began her long motion picture career as a teenager in the silent movies of the early 1920s.She eventually made a successful transition to talkies, but almost...
as Marmee March - Lucile WatsonLucile Watson-Career:Watson began her career on the stage debuting on Broadway in the play Hearts Aflame in 1902. Her next play was The Girl With Green Eyes, the first of several Clyde Fitch stories. At the end of 1903, Lucile appeared in Fitch's "Glad of It"...
as Aunt March - Sir C. Aubrey Smith as Mr. Laurence
- Richard StapleyRichard StapleyRichard Stapley, also known by the stage name Richard Wyler, was a British-born American actor and writer.-Early life:...
as John Brooke - Leon AmesLeon Ames (actor)Leon Ames was an American film and television actor. He is best remembered for playing fatherly figures in such films as Meet Me in St. Louis , as Judy Garland's father, and in Little Women ....
as Mr. March
Originally intended as a 1948 release, the premiere of Little Women was delayed until March, 1949, when it was presented as the Easter attraction at New York's Radio City Music Hall
Radio City Music Hall
Radio City Music Hall is an entertainment venue located in New York City's Rockefeller Center. Its nickname is the Showplace of the Nation, and it was for a time the leading tourist destination in the city...
. It is believed that the reason for the delay was to make the movie part of
M-G-M's Silver Anniversary Celebration. Little Women became one the top grossing films of 1949.
Selznick version
David O. SelznickDavid O. Selznick
David O. Selznick was an American film producer. He is best known for having produced Gone with the Wind and Rebecca , both of which earned him an Oscar for Best Picture.-Early years:...
was originally going to produce the film. Filming began in September 1946 but Selznick decided he could not tackle a major production so soon after the ordeal of filming Duel in the Sun (1946) so he sold the property and script to MGM. The cast for the David O. Selznick version included Jennifer Jones (Jo), Diana Lynn
Diana Lynn
Diana Lynn was an American actress.Born Dolores Marie Loehr in Los Angeles, California, Lynn was considered a child prodigy because of her exceptional abilities as a pianist at an early age, and by the age of 12 was playing with the Los Angeles Junior Symphony Orchestra.-Film career:Dolores Loehr...
(Amy), Bambi Linn
Bambi Linn
Bambi Linn is an American dancer, choreographer, and actress.Linn trained extensively with noted choreographer Agnes de Mille. At the age of seventeen, she made her Broadway debut in the original production of Oklahoma!...
(Beth), Rhonda Fleming
Rhonda Fleming
Rhonda Fleming , is an American film and television actress.She acted in more than 40 films, mostly in the 1940s and 1950s, and became renowned as one of the most beautiful and glamorous actresses of her day...
(Meg), and Anne Revere
Anne Revere
Anne Revere was an American stage, film, and television actress.-Early life:Born in New York City, Revere was a direct descendant of American Revolution hero Paul Revere. Her father, Clinton, was a stockbroker, and she was raised on the Upper West Side and in Westfield, New Jersey...
(Marmee).