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Wednesday, January 18, 2012

Little Women (1949) "Mujercitas"



Director: Mervyn LeRoy
June Allyson, Elizabeth Taylor, Peter Lawford, Janet Leigh, Margaret O'Brien, Mary Astor, Lucile Watson, C. Aubrey Smith, Leon Ames, Rossano Brazzi










 

































I've seen other versions of Little Women and this is by far my favorite. The only problem I had was with the actress who played Marmie....it was just too fake. I read some of the other comments about O'Brien's performance and her whimpering voice. Quite frankly I think she is/was the best child actress of her or any time. She played timid Beth to perfection. She may have hammed it up a bit, but her melodramtic style was mirroring the style of the times. In order to judge a film you have to take in account the times in which it was made. I have no problem with the Ryder version being more feminist. I had no problem with everything being on a set. For some reason it made it seem more like watching a painting come to life than a movie. Perhaps I got that feeling from Lawrence's voyeurism. My favorite quote is "Be elegant or die". It's my hope that one day June Allison will be known for capturing perfectly the spirit of Jo March rather than depend commercials. Elizabeth Taylor's selfish, vain Amy was hilarious. I love this movie and watch it every x-mas. It's a definate holiday classic.


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