Little Women (1949)

Directed by Mervyn LeRoy. Starring June Allyson, Elizabeth Taylor, Margaret O’Brien, Peter Lawford, Janet Leigh, Mary Astor, Rosanno Brazzi, Lucille Watson, C. Aubrey Smith, Leon Ames, Elizabeth Patterson, Harry Davenport.

Slick visuals can’t rescue the sometimes-torturous storytelling and fussy acting in this version of the Louisa May Alcott classic, easily the least effective of the four major film adaptations; despite being roughly the same length or shorter than those others, it also feels at least a half-hour longer than any of the rest. Lavish MGM treatment negates the cozy feelings director LeRoy tries to develop—cozy enough at times, in fact, to border on the twee, to the deficit of the film’s spectrum of tragedies and triumphs—since the Technicolor photography gives it a phony postcard quality that goes against the story’s grain. Short on spunk and smarts, Allyson presents a pinched, shallow Jo March, while the supporting cast is mostly made up of seasoned old pros and soon-to-be-stars (including Taylor in a distracting blonde wig). Oscar-winning art direction-set decoration. Passing away about three months prior to the film’s release, this was veteran actor C. Aubrey Smith’s final acting role.

48/100