Little Men

LITTLE MEN (Mascot Studios, 1934), directed by Phil Rosen, is an independently produced screen adaptation and sequel to Louisa May Alcott's book, "Little Women." Following the recent success of LITTLE WOMEN (RKO Radio, 1933) starring Katharine Hepburn (Jo March) and Paul Lukas (Professor Fritz Bhaer), that has become an all-time classic, rather than RKO Radio producing its very own sequel with Hepburn and Lukas reprising their original roles showing their characters some years after their initial marriage, this edition, distributed by another studio, features Erin O'Brien-Moore (Jo) and Ralph Morgan (Professor Bhaer) in their places. As much as this could have been a continuation to the lives of Jo's other sisters, Amy, Beth and Meg, in chapter form, LITTLE MEN focuses more on Jo and her ambition to take in orphaned/unwanted boys into her home for a better life, with the assistance of her husband as their schoolteacher.

Set several years after the Civil War, the story revolves around Jo (Erin O'Brien-Moore), married eight years to Professor Bhaer (Ralph Morgan), along with her two children, Robert (Ronnie Cosbey) and Teddy (Eddie Dale Heiden), their housekeeper, Asia (Hattie McDaniel), all living in a New England farmland with Jo's homeless "little men": Demi (Dickie Moore), Jack (Tad Alexander), Dickie (Buster Phelps), Tommy Bangs (Tommy Bupp), Bobby Cox (Stuffy), Donald Buck (Billy), Dickie Jones (Dolly), Richard Quine (Ned) and Emil (George Ernst). The home also includes girls, Daisy (Cora Sue Collins) and Nan (Jacqueline Taylor). Franz (Junior Durkin), the eldest of the teenage boys, is infatuated with the older of the girls, Mary Anne (Phyllis Fraser). Nat Blake (David Durand) comes to the Bhaer home known as the Plumfield School for Boys on a recommendation from Laurie Laurence (Robert Carleton), Jo's former beau from her younger days, now married to her sister, Amy. Almost immediately, Nat feels right at home with his new surroundings. A talented violinist, Nat plays at the birthday gathering of Laurie and his guests. On his way home by carriage driven by Plumfield handyman, Silas (Irving Bacon), Nat is reunited with his best friend, Dan (Frankie Darro), an orphan living on the streets shining shoes and selling newspapers. Nat takes Dan to Plumfield where Jo agrees in taking in another boy under her care. Bhaer, however, feels Dan would be a bad influence on the other boys. Aside from keeping Nat from his habit of lying, Bhaer finds himself separating Franz from fighting with Dan, saving the boys from a fire started by a lighted smoking pipe, and suspecting Dan from stealing a dollar from Tommy. With no other choice, Bhaer dismisses Dan from the school and takes him to the home of Schoolmaster Paige (Gustav Von Seyffertitz) where he feels the troublesome teen would get better disciplined. Live soon changes for both parties.

While Erin O'Brien-Moore makes a good substitution to the role previously enacted by Katharine Hepburn, Ralph Morgan, in a physical sense, is agreeable as Professor Bhaer, though is not accented ias the character originated by Hungarian born Paul Lukas from LITTLE WOMEN. As much as Junior Durkin and Dickie Moore assumed leading roles prior, notably Durkin as HUCKLEBERRY FINN (1931) and Moore as OLIVER TWIST (1933), their scenes here are limited here with most attention going towards actors, David Durand and Frankie Darro.

Over the years, LITTLE MEN (1935) did play on commercial television years before becoming a 45 minute featurette in a 1983 public television showing of "Matinee at the Bijou," followed by availability on both video cassette and DVD format. Regardless of how the movie follows or strays heavily from the Alcott novel, LITTLE MEN gets by on its own merits, ranging from sentimentality, some humor, and most of all, moral values and learning from mistakes. Of the few latter remakes to LITTLE MEN in later years, none are as notable and retold on screen than LITTLE WOMEN. (**1/2)

This version is the best rendering of Ms. Alcott's story, "Little Men." The acting was believable, especially from the young stars. Frank Darro was an excellent choice, having that "rough look" but a tender side as well.

Although Darro was in his late teens, he still was able to capture a youthful boy, a downfall in his career. Having seen Darro in other movies, this is one of his better performances, as we can see a tough kid, versus the softer side with the littler boys (helping them). The more remade this movie got, the worse the acting was. This is the perfect version because the acting was pretty good, not overdone. See this one first, then the others.

One tends to think of the "B" picture as the second feature of a twin bill, used by many exhibitors from the 1930s to the 1950s to attract more patrons, for a longer afternoon at the neighborhood theater. The "B" picture often had a shorter running time, was produced on a smaller budget and rented for a modest fee, and sometimes had casts with less marquee strength. Nat Levine's Mascot Pictures specialized in serials and lower-budget features, but his comparatively lavish production of "Little Men" has many of the attributes of an "A" production. It generally stood alone in showings around the Christmas 1934 season and attracted favorable reviews. It is probably Mascot's most prestigious feature film.

Louisa May Alcott's classic 19th century novels, "Little Women" and "Little Men," the first being semi-autobiographical, were adapted for the screen on more than one occasion. Levine's well-mounted production was assigned to long-time director/cinematographer Phil Rosen, who successfully recreated the era in which the story was set, with a very strong cast. Erin O'Brien-Moore charmingly portrays "Jo," the character with whom Louisa May Alcott identified, while the dependable Ralph Morgan portrays her husband, Professor Bhaer, owner and teacher at Plumfield School.

David Durand, one of the best child actors of the era, is excellent as "Nat," an orphan befriended by Jo, while Frankie Darro contributes a spirited performance as "Dan," a troubled adolescent. Screen adaptations seldom closely follow the novel on which they are based, but Rosen keeps the characters and situations appealing and interesting. The photography of Ernie Miller and William Nobles is consistent with their typically high standard. Any viewer not repelled by sentimentality will find this Mascot feature highly enjoyable, with fine performances and direction which pleasantly take us back to Louisa May Alcott's era - a time far removed from our own.

I'd not seen this version before , but found it to be very faithful to the storyline. It's much more realistic than the 1940's version, which took extreme liberties with the story.

By far the worst version of Little Men I've ever seen. Deviates so far from the story that it's not recognizable.