Little Women Blu-ray Review
1933’s “Little Women” remains the best film adaptation.
Based on the classic Louisa May Alcott novel and adapted for the screen by writers David Hempstead, Victor Heerman and Sarah Y. Mason, “Little Women” revolves around the March family in Concord, Massachusetts during the period of the Civil War. The family is comprised of Mr. and Mrs. March and their 4 daughters Jo, Amy, Meg and Beth. The free flowing story begins around Christmas time and jumps around in time. Among the storylines focused on here are Jo falling for her neighbor Laurie, tutor John developing a romance with Meg, Beth’s illnesses, Jo moving to New York and living in a boarding house where she meets Professor Bhaer, Amy finding love, and Jo’s writing career.
1933’s “Little Women” is often cited as the best film adaptation of the iconic novel and it’s hard to argue with that (although some may champion the 2019 version). With director George Cukor at the helm, he effortlessly navigates the non-conventional narrative with a graceful take on the story that boasts lavish production values across the board. While some may argue that the story centers a bit too heavily on Jo and gives less screen time to the other sisters (which is entirely valid), the characters are still given their due. At the end of the day, what matters most here is that the heart of this coming-of-age tale comes through in this big screen effort. It’s a story about family, change, love, dreams and none of that is lost here.
‘Women’ notably has a stacked cast that contains Katharine Hepburn, Jean Parker, Joan Bennett, Paul Lukas, Francis Dee, Douglass Montgomery, and Edna May Oliver. Naturally, Hepburn gets the most attention here and rightly so. The legendary actress makes such a big splash here with a passionate and spirited performance as Jo. It’s one of the many great performances she gave. Everyone else nails their respective parts, but Edna May Oliver deserves a lot of acclaim for her role as the grouchy Aunt March.
“Little Women” is available on Movie Zyng and through other online retailers.
Video/Audio:
Presentation: 1.37:1 1080p. How does it look? The B&W film has been given a stunning restoration as is to be expected from the fine folks at Warner Archive.
Audio Track: 2.0 DTS-HD MA. How does it sound? Audiences can expect a nice clean track.
Extras:
* Original theatrical trailer
* Audio only of scoring stage suite of recordings
*2 Merrie Melodies cartoons titled “I Like Mountain Music” and “The Organ Grinder.”
* A 21 minute comedy short film titled ”Salt Water Daffy.”
* “In The Dough”- A Fatty Arbuckle comedy short.
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