Little Women Tagged Articles at Cinematical

A few years ago, I wrote a Cinematical Seven on my favorite dysfunctional families in films. Everyone has a crazy messed-up movie family they love, whether it's the Hoovers in Little Miss Sunshine or the Bullocks in My Man Godfrey or the Corleones in the Godfather saga. I thought that this year, it would be fun to make a list of families that got along, worked together, and supported one another. You know, happy families ... but not dull, one-dimensional bundles of endless cheer.

It's a lot more difficult to find seven movies with happy-but-not-sappy families than it is to find the screwed-up kind, especially if you are looking for something more interesting than the Cleavers. Since I'm visiting my relatives for the Thanksgiving holidays, I asked them for suggestions. They were all very helpful, and I'm sorry I couldn't include all the suggestions, which ranged from The Thin Man to The Sound of Music to The Hills Have Eyes. Let me know what else we missed in the comments.

The Parrs in The Incredibles (suggested by my husband)

The Parrs aren't perfect. After all, Bob (aka Mr. Incredible) sneaks around behind his family's back to use his superhero powers again, after they've all decided to live a life as ordinary non-powerful folks. And Violet is rather sulky, but that's what teenagers do. But when someone is in trouble, everyone rushes to help. I was torn between The Incredibles and another movie about a family full of action heroes (or potential heroes), Spy Kids. Both feature strong families, but are never boring.

A few years ago, I wrote a Cinematical Seven on my favorite dysfunctional families in films. Everyone has a crazy messed-up movie family they love, whether it's the Hoovers in Little Miss Sunshine or the Bullocks in My Man Godfrey or the Corleones in the Godfather saga. I thought that this year, it would be fun to make a list of families that got along, worked together, and supported one another. You know, happy families ... but not dull, one-dimensional bundles of endless cheer.

It's a lot more difficult to find seven movies with happy-but-not-sappy families than it is to find the screwed-up kind, especially if you are looking for something more interesting than the Cleavers. Since I'm visiting my relatives for the Thanksgiving holidays, I asked them for suggestions. They were all very helpful, and I'm sorry I couldn't include all the suggestions, which ranged from The Thin Man to The Sound of Music to The Hills Have Eyes. Let me know what else we missed in the comments.

When you ask people to name their favorite holiday movies, the same answers crop up everywhere: It's a Wonderful Life, A Christmas Story, Miracle on 34th Street, and perhaps some version of A Christmas Carol (Muppet Christmas Carol and Scrooged seem most popular these days). A few people might try to be different and name Die Hard or Bad Santa, and a few traditionalists might reminisce about Meet Me in St. Louis. And of course there's the Silent Night, Deadly Night crowd. Personally, I would have to bring up Auntie Mame.

But the movies I'm about to mention have only a few fans these days. Most are widely available on DVD, and are not shown very often during the holiday season. Some are forgotten treasures, some date badly. One is a well-known Oscar winner that may be too depressing for some New Year's Eve viewers. But if you are tired of watching Jimmy Stewart and Donna Reed, or have had enough of the leg lamp and the Red Ryder BB gun, consider some of these films for your holiday viewing ... if you can find them.

How many filmed adaptations of Little Women are there, anyway? At least a dozen, if you count made-for-TV movies and TV series based on the Louisa May Alcott novel. The best known are the 1933 adaptation, directed by George Cukor and starring Katharine Hepburn as Jo; the 1949 Technicolor version with a showy all-star cast, including June Allyson as Jo; and the 1994 version starring Winona Ryder as Jo, which I also consider the only version with an attractive Professor Bhaer (Gabriel Byrne). Some of the TV movies and series have such unbelievable casting that I wish I had the chance to see them; I am thinking particularly of the 1978 TV movie starring Susan Dey as Jo, Eve Plumb as Beth, Meredith Baxter Birney as Meg, and -- wait for it -- William Shatner as Prof. Bhaer. I'm sorry, I can't read that last sentence without bursting into giggles, every single time.

My favorite Little Women is the 1933 film (although I like the 1994 one too, and will have to dig up a suitable photo to post so I can tell you why). Hepburn is truly the best Jo of them all, and the most believably tomboyish. True, Laurie (Douglass Montgomery) is a bit too wimpy for my taste, and Paul Lukas isn't the most handsome Prof. Bhaer (but then he's not supposed to be, in the book), but Joan Bennett is an appropriately pert and lively Amy, and Edna May Oliver is a top-notch Aunt March.

I was reminded of the 1933 film because today is actress Frances Dee's birthday; she played the virtuous and sweet oldest sister Meg. Dee took supporting roles in a number of successful 1930s dramas, such as Of Human Bondage and Becky Sharp. She also had the Jane Eyre-ish lead role in the 1943 film I Walked with a Zombie. Dee was married to Joel McCrea and retired from acting in the 1950s to raise their children. She died in 2004. Dee is at the far right in the above photo; the other actresses portraying the March sisters in that photo are Joan Bennett, Jean Parker, and Katharine Hepburn.