Little Women

[Frith1975]

I’ve had to switch over - so disappointed.

The girls are supposed to be 12, 14, 16 and 18. The actors are nearly my age and similar in age to the actor playing Marmee. And they have all got different accents.

was a bit hurried at the end eh? thought Joand prof meeting at the marches house was Jo being a bit cold with him, not romantic.
agree, Amy came across as a spoilt brat. and Laurie went very quickly from jis adoration for Jo to marrying Amy.

didnt know who was who in last scene.

were the kids schoolkids or the sisters children? were Jo and Prof married by then? where was father?

but it was a good way to spend a cosy evening with a wee drink and a drama.

I read recently that LMA decided not to let Jo and Laurie be together, just to be awkward and because she knew it was what the readers would want! Apparently she admitted she regretted it in later years.

Watched the last one this morning. All rushed at the end. A fairly dull three hours of TV and quite a disappointment for me.

Clawdy, you are right

Little Women was a book LMA never wanted to write, her publisher told her there was a big market for "moral pap for the young"

She was half appalled by the book's success and punished its fans by killing off Beth, and letting Jo marry professor Baehr...

Still love the books, but there is a darker edge/anger over inequality voiced by Jo the adaptations often leave out

Just watching the last one now, the scene when Marmee cries when Beth tells her she's going to die was moving but the rest has been quite flat. Deckoff I agree with your DH, she looks evil, I think there's something annoying about her face.

I really enjoyed, it was a bit disappointing how much was left out, Amy was far more annoying and tedious that I remembered. I sobbed in parts, felt the acting was good, particularly Jo.

I really enjoyed it. I saw the film (with Elizabeth Taylor in it) when I was about 10, then saw the Winona Ryder film in the 1990s. I have also read the books, but it was a long time ago.

I just don't have the memory for every detail that so many of you have so I couldn't tell if there were any glaring mistakes.

I just watched the last one - cried a lot!

On the whole I thought it was very well done, but the romance between Laurie didn't seem believable. Mind you it didn't in the book either!

Agree the Amy-Laurie romance was about as hopelsssly unconvincing as in the book. But they left out too much of the Professor i think because LMA did convince the reader it was the right move for Jo.

I enjoyed it. Shed a little tear for Beth and also lamented the lack of Amy’s character arc.

I am obsessed with the book. It's brilliant. Enjoyed the adaptation and cried a couple of times.

-Only Hannah the maid had an Irish accent.
-Amy much nicer in the book.

• Arf at sleep training chapter

I found the Amy/Laurie romance much more convincing in the book: he had moped about missing Jo but then fell for Amy who looked good, enjoyed similar stuff and had always worshipped him!

Interesting how everyone’s got different views. I’ve not actually read the book (hides in shame) and have only watched the 1994 film. Haven’t seen this. Having seen photos I do think the girls look a bit old, Amy’s meant to be 12 at the start. People look very different at 12 than they do at 19. Then again the person who played Phyllis in that adaptation of The Railway Children (ie Jenny Agutter et al) was much older than the character...

I do now want to find my copy and re-read it.

It’s out of copyright so it’s available free online or on Kindle.

I've just caught up with it. I've not read the book, and I'm wondering whether I should?

I found the adaptation sickly with too much wafting about for my taste.

bugger I've a feeling it's one of those books that if you didn't read it for the first time as a child you'd think it was a load of twaddle if you read it as an adult. There are a lot of feminist problems with it but I think part of that is that it's of its time and LMA was making a point perhaps? But you tend to miss these as a child and IME when I've re-read it as an adult I can forgive it as I love it so much

I must give it a try after what I'm currently reading, which is a massive tome on the life of the Brontës.

Something about this adaptation didn't ring true for me, even though I haven't read the book. I can't imagine that the sisters would have been so huggy and kissy with each other, especially given the probably quite strict moral message in the book. I imagine the vibe of the times to have been much more stern and far less tactile. Also- would the girls and men have been allowed so much unsupervised time together?

All a bit romantically pappy.....

Interesting, deckoff. What's the deal with the flowing hair, though? Would that be appropriate for older women? although I'm very confused because I've no idea how old they're supposed to be.

Yes, putting your hair up was a female rite of passage in those days! In the Katy books, which were of a similar era, it's a sign Cecy is 'grown up' when she appears with her hair up and wearing a 'pannier'.

... there's a line in LW where Jo says (something like) "if putting my hair up means I have to be a young lady, I'll wear it in two tails till I'm twenty' and she shakes her hair down - I think that's fairly near the beginning of LW.

I thought it was brilliant-and closer to the book than any other adaptation I’ve seen. The girls did seem a bit old- but once I got past that.........

I loved it. I agree it was the nest adaptation I've seen

The music was fab as well

I cried and cried