Quote:
Originally Posted by issybird
I've never been a huge Katharine Hepburn fan as I find her too stagey and mannered and I preferred June Allyson's Jo to Hepburn's for that reason. But la Liz is unfortunate as Amy.
For your reading list (probably not  ) there's also a recent graphic novel with an updated version of the story wherein there's a blended family with different races and Jo is gay. As to the latter, I think it would have been more interesting to pick any of the other sisters and by choosing Jo it's playing to a stereotype. |
Hepburn could be a bit much in her early roles especially, but I think her characterization here fits Jo; I noticed that she would make grand pronouncements when Jo was deliberately being the misfit tomboy and then drop to a more natural voice when Jo was being real. I like her much better than Allyson. Other than Allyson, I tended to like the cast in the 1949 version better; part of it might be based on their being more familiar. I do like Liz as Amy, though it's jarring to have her as older than Beth. Wouldn't it have been fun to see her fall through the ice?
The new film's Jo (Saoirse Ronan) is outstanding--funny, smart, independent, believable.
As for the graphic novel you mentioned, I think I'll pass. Ditto for
Little Vampire Women. But I did request last year's updated
LW movie from my library when it came up in a search.