Little Women

Much rested on the slender shoulders of Little Women. Hollywood wanted to see if an adapted literary classic could strike box-office gold. Jo March and her sisters nimbly shouldered the load.

Directed by George Cukor, this charming 1933 version of Louisa May Alcott´s novel won overwhelming support (plus an Oscar for Best Adaptation Screenplay). It also looks and sounds its best in years via this new digital transfer from restored fine-grain film elements and optical audio tracks. All gawky tomboyishness and spunk, Katherine Hepburn is Jo, the center of the Civil War-era tale of heart and hearth (revisited in 1949 and 1994 versions). "Released during the depths of the Depression, [it] buoyed Americans´ spirits. It still does". (1933)