Little Women (1949 film)

Little Women is a 1949 American feature film with script and music taken directly from the earlier 1933 Hepburn version. Based on Louisa May Alcotts novel of the same name, it was filmed in Technicolor and directed by Mervyn LeRoy. The screenplay was written by Sally Benson, Victor Heerman, Sarah Y. Mason, and Andrew Solt. The original music score was composed by Adolph Deutsch and Max Steiner. The film also marked the American film debut of Italian actor Rossano Brazzi. Sir C. Aubrey Smith, whose acting career had spanned four decades, died in 1948 Little Women was his final film.

The spirited Jo, a tomboy in search of male companionship, strikes up a friendship with Theodore Laurie Laurence Peter Lawford, the grandson of the Marchs wealthy, but cantankerous neighbor, James Laurence C. Aubrey Smith. Later that winter, Jo so impresses Mr. Laurence with her forthrightness and her beneficial effect on the brooding Laurie, that he invites the March sisters to a fancy dress ball at his sumptuous home. At the ball, Meg is courted by John Brooke Richard Stapley, Lauries tutor, and Jo consents to dance with Laurie while Amy and Beth breathlessly view the scene from their perch atop the staircase. Mr. Laurences gruff demeanor is softened upon meeting Beth, who reminds him of the beloved granddaughter he lost, and when he learns of her musical talent, he offers her the use of his grand piano. The beautiful evening ends on a sour note, however, when Amy and Beth overhear the snobbish Mrs. Gardiner Isabel Randolph and her daughter gossiping about Marmee.As the weeks pass, Lauries affection for Jo grows, but Jo rebuffs him as a suitor, claiming that although she loves him as a friend, she will never marry. Meanwhile, Jo attempts to discourage Megs deepening feelings for Mr. Brooke, fearing that a marriage will break the bond between the sisters. Spring arrives, and Marmee receives word that Mr. March has been wounded and sent to an Army hospital in Washington, D.C. Jo asks her wealthy Aunt March Lucile Watson for Marmees train fare, but the two have a heated argument when the impatient Jo refuses to address Aunt March with the decorum the proud woman demands. As usual, Aunt March comes through for the family, but not before Jo has had her beautiful chestnut locks cut off and sold in order to pay for Marmees trip. While carrying out Marmees work for the poor in her absence, Beth contracts scarlet fever, and the distressed and frightened sisters realize how much they depend upon Marmee. Just as Marmee returns, however, Beths fever breaks, and the entire fa

Source: Wikipedia