FAQ

While their father is away fighting in the American Civil War [1861-1865], the four March sisters -- Meg (Frances Dee), Jo (Katharine Hepburn), Beth (Jean Parker), and Amy (Joan Bennett) -- grow up before their mother Marmee's (Spring Byington) eyes.

Little Women is a classic novel by American novelist Louisa May Alcott (1832-1888). The novel was first published in two parts in 1868 and 1869. Both parts were published as a single volume in 1880. The novel was adapted for this movie by screenwriters Sarah Y. Mason and Victor Heerman. Little Women is loosely based on Alcott's experiences with her own three sisters: Anna, Elizabeth, and Abigail Alcott. The popularity of the novel has given rise to numerous other screen adaptations of the story including two silent movies, Little Women (1917) and Little Women (1918), and (so far) five other "talkies": Little Women (1946), Little Women (1949), Little Women (1958), Part I (1978), Little Women (1994), and Little Women (2019), as well as several TV series.

In the novel, Meg is the oldest at 16, Jo is 15, Beth is 13, and Amy is 12. Exact ages are not given in the movie. However, Katharine Hepburn was about 25 years old at the time the film was shot, 10 years older than her character Jo. Joan Bennett, who plays the youngest sister Amy, was 23 at the time, 11 years older than her character.

As the professor (Paul Lukas) explains to Jo after singing the song, that was Nur wer die Sehnsucht kennt (None But the Lonely Heart), lyrics by the German novelist and polymath Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749-1832) and music by the Russian composer Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky (1840-1893).

Jo returns from New York to find that Meg has given birth to twins and that Amy and Laurie have gotten married while traveling in Europe. During the welcome home party, Professor Bhaer stops by to give Jo a copy of her book, which his friend has published. However, Jo has gone out to buy milk and Bhaer, thinking that Jo has company, goes away, meeting her just as he walks out the gate. In the final scene, they stand together on the porch under Jo's umbrella. Bhaer proposes to Jo in a very roundabout manner, claiming he has nothing to give her except for his heart and his empty hands. 'They're not empty now' Jo replies, accepting his proposal. They go into the house together as Jo says, 'Welcome home.'