Little Women

'Little Women', filmed for the BBC in 1970, is one of their rather low-budget and blandly cast dramas which are watchable, worthy, but a bit long-winded. One big mistake was having obviously English actors trying to do American accents, with mixed success.

As the four sisters, despite being too old, Angela Down (Jo), Jo Rowbottom (Meg), Janina Faye (Amy) and Sarah Craze (Beth) are adequate and watchable, while Stephen Turner is a rather more rounded Laurie than seen in the film adaptations of Alcott's novel. Stephanie Bidmead is a resigned and vaguely saintly Marmee, while Patrick Troughton is underused in the thankless role of Mr March.

Locations aren't fantastic, with many interiors and the outdoor scenes showing their age in the deterioration of the film. Europe is particularly unconvincing. But still, the material is good enough to pass and despite being a little creaky, this drama is still fairly engrossing, even if it feels longer than its three hour running time.

This adaptation aired in my country when I was a child and it introduced me to Louisa Alcott's masterpiece. I was fascinated by the 4 sisters and their friendship and I thought 'Marmee' was the sweetest lady since Rose Maylie in 'Oliver Twist.' I related with Jo because I'm a writer myself (have 3 published children's books under my belt) but I did NOT like her. I found her weird, temperamental, awkward and SO tomboyish the way she talked and felt her objection to Meg marrying was selfish. She was only gentle when she was around Beth and I liked her devotion to her. But after reading the book, I got to know her better and found her a more relatable and human character. And I also saw that the 4 actresses were way too old for the roles, particularly Beth and Amy and I hated the scenes where Amy and Jo quarrelled. But it's not an adaptation I can forget since it was the reason how I ended up reading the book.

This runs 3-4 hours and feels like it. Produced by the BBC, there are very few exterior scenes, unfortunately. They would have tweaked the pace. There is a big blooper which incredibly evaded the editor: when Amy is in some European city (Florence? Paris?) with Aunt March, they quickly show stock aerial footage of some bustling city. The footage is obviously too modern, from the 1950s probably, and you can see cars zooming along the roads. Not good when "Little Women' takes place during the 1860s!

The 4 actresses playing the roles are too old, and some have better American accents than others. That said, pretty good performances are given by Jo, Meg, Beth & Marmee. Although the costumes are good, the wigs are terrible. You're better off renting the video/DVD to the 1994 version with Wynona Rider, although BBC or Alcott fans will enjoy this.

"Little Women" (1970), a BBC mini-series, was directed by Paddy Russell. It stars Angela Down as Jo March, whose ambition is to become a writer and leave Concord, Massachusetts for New York City or for Europe. She is one of the four March sisters, whose interactions with each other and their friends and family make up the plot of the novel.

Angela Down does very well as Jo. Every other actor I've seen playing Jo has been strikingly attractive. (Remember that Katherine Hepburn and Winona Ryder starred as Jo.) Angela Down is not strikingly attractive in the film. If anything, her hair and makeup detract from her looks. She calls herself "plain" in the script. Making Jo into a young woman of average appearance was director Russell's choice, and I applaud it.

Also well cast were Stephen Turner as Laurie, and Frederick Jaeger as Professor Bhaer. I've seen (and then reviewed) several versions of Little Women, and I don't think any other actors were superior to these two in their respective roles.

This movie has a very low IMDb rating of 6.2. There are some problems with it. All the lead roles are played by English actors, and they have to use American accents. I was surprised at just how well they did this. (They are professionals, and that's part of their job, but it couldn't have been easy.)

When the movie was released in 1970, it was on VHS cassettes. The film isn't available on DVD or even new, sealed VHS. So, if you're watching a movie on the small screen, on a used VHS cassette, with faded colors, it's hard to fully enjoy it. Even so, it's better than the 6.2 rating would imply. If you enjoy the novel, and if you like BBC mini-series, it's worth finding and seeing.