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Little Men

  • 1940
  • Approved
  • 1h 24m
IMDb RATING
5.7/10
438
YOUR RATING
Little Men (1940)
Period DramaComedyDrama

Jo March and her husband Professor Bhaer operate the Plumfield School for poor boys. When Dan, a tough street kid, comes to the school, he wins Jo's heart despite his hard edge, and she defe... Read allJo March and her husband Professor Bhaer operate the Plumfield School for poor boys. When Dan, a tough street kid, comes to the school, he wins Jo's heart despite his hard edge, and she defends him when he is falsely accused of theft. Dan's foster father, Major Burdle, is a swind... Read allJo March and her husband Professor Bhaer operate the Plumfield School for poor boys. When Dan, a tough street kid, comes to the school, he wins Jo's heart despite his hard edge, and she defends him when he is falsely accused of theft. Dan's foster father, Major Burdle, is a swindler in cahoots with another crook called Willie the Fox. When the Plumfield School becomes... Read all

  • Director
    • Norman Z. McLeod
  • Writers
    • Mark Kelly
    • Arthur Caesar
    • Louisa May Alcott
  • Stars
    • Kay Francis
    • Jack Oakie
    • George Bancroft
  • See production info at IMDbPro
  • IMDb RATING
    5.7/10
    438
    YOUR RATING
    • Director
      • Norman Z. McLeod
    • Writers
      • Mark Kelly
      • Arthur Caesar
      • Louisa May Alcott
    • Stars
      • Kay Francis
      • Jack Oakie
      • George Bancroft
    • 16User reviews
    • 5Critic reviews
  • See production info at IMDbPro
  • See production info at IMDbPro
    • Awards
      • 3 wins total

    Photos5

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    Top cast43

    Edit
    Kay Francis
    Kay Francis
    • Jo
    Jack Oakie
    Jack Oakie
    • Willie
    George Bancroft
    George Bancroft
    • Maj. Burdle
    Jimmy Lydon
    Jimmy Lydon
    • Dan
    Ann Gillis
    Ann Gillis
    • Nan
    Carl Esmond
    Carl Esmond
    • Prof. Bhaer
    • (as Charles Esmond)
    Richard Nichols
    Richard Nichols
    • Teddy
    Casey Johnson
    • Robby
    Francesca Santoro
    • Bess
    Johnny Burke
    Johnny Burke
    • Silas
    Lillian Randolph
    Lillian Randolph
    • Asia
    Sammy McKim
    Sammy McKim
    • Tommy
    Edward Rice
    • Demi
    Anne Howard
    • Daisy
    Jimmy Zahner
    • Jack
    • (as Jimmy Zaner)
    Bobby Cooper
    • Adolphus
    • (as Bobbie Cooper)
    Schuyler Standish
    • Nat
    Paul Matthews
    • Stuffy
    • Director
      • Norman Z. McLeod
    • Writers
      • Mark Kelly
      • Arthur Caesar
      • Louisa May Alcott
    • All cast & crew
    • Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

    User reviews16

    5.7438
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    Featured reviews

    4TheLittleSongbird

    Terrible as an adaptation, and apart from some virtues mediocre on its own terms

    'Little Men' is a charming, entertaining and heart-warming book. If you like the more popular 'Little Women' and 'Good Wives', 'Little Men' won't disappoint as it does have much of the ingredients that make those two books so good. The main reason why there is a personal preference towards the other two is to do with that 'Little Women' and 'Good Wives' are stories I've known and loved since childhood whereas 'Little Men' was introduced to me quite some years later.

    While this 1940 adaptation of 'Little Men' didn't do much for me, it does have virtues that prevent it from being a complete disaster. Visually it is quite handsomely mounted, with sumptuous black and white photography, elegant costumes and evocative sets and scenery. Roy Webb's score complements beautifully, and it is a lusciously orchestrated and rhythmically characterful score in its own right, never feeling too twee or overly-jaunty. A couple of performances are good, with very funny Jack Oakie and lively George Bancroft coming out on top. Jimmy Lydon does well, and his reform does provide the one moment in the film where a tear really is brought to the eye. Elsie the Cow is also very cute.

    Sadly, the rest of the cast are not particularly memorable and struggle to bring life to characters that are just not interesting. Even though Jo is much older than the spirited yet hot-tempered youthful Jo seen in 'Little Women', Kay Francis is far too subdued, disadvantaged by how blandly as a result of being mostly stripped of that liveliness and spirit Jo is written. Charles Esmond is also much too stiff as Mr Bhaer, and rather too buffoonish and naive too. The other children don't generate much spark, only Dan shows any signs of development.

    It's not their fault though, because they don't have much of worth to work with, which would have been far less problematic if the film had stuck more to the book. Speaking briefly about how 'Little Men' fares as an adaptation, out of all the film adaptations of Alcott's books it is by far and large the weakest and most uninspired. Although none of the other film adaptations of Alcott's work are completely faithful to their source material and there are significant alterations and omissions in some, this is the only one to change the original story beyond recognition to the extent that if the title and characters' names hadn't been left intact it would have been something else entirely.

    Judging films and adaptations as standalones this reviewer has always found a fairer way to judge, but apart from a few good things 'Little Men' is pretty mediocre on its own terms. The script is rather messy, the subtle social commentary and gentle tone is predominantly replaced by overused and increasingly idiotic slapstick, maudlin sentiment, mostly teeth-gritting humorous moments (Oakie does have some very amusing moments though admittedly, just that the more repetitive ones suffer eventually from being overly-absurd) and dialogue that takes one completely out of the time period and setting.

    Didn't find myself particularly engaged by the story in 'Little Men' either, with the first half-hour being particularly slow-going with a lot of dialogue but not much going on in the story-telling. Due to so many changes and omissions, which hurt the energy and flow, it's also rather limply paced, dramatically dreary, can feel choppy and just everything that made the original story such a lovely read is not present here.

    Overall, a few merits here but mediocre and disappointing as an overall film, while faring terribly as an adaptation. 4/10 Bethany Cox
    6planktonrules

    It should be retitled "

    Elsie the Cow Before you watch this 1940 version of "Little Men", you should be aware that it is only BASED on the Louisa May Alcott story. So much of it is a creation of the studio that at times, it's almost unrecognizable from the source material. I really wanted to see the original, but the story I did see was still pleasant.

    The story begins with a baby being dropped in the lap of a film-flam man (George Bancroft). Not surprisingly, the child, Dan, grows up to be a smaller version of his dad--full of the devil and way too old for his age. However, after years of traveling the country selling patent medicine and lying up a blue streak, it becomes inevitable that Dan should go to school. So, he's placed in the boarding school run by Jo (the main character from "Little Women") and the boy fits in about as well as a stripper at a Baptist Bible college!! In addition, Jo's husband unwisely believes Dan's father is a decent man and industrialist and entrusts them with the home's assets. What happens next? See the film.

    The emphasis in this "Little Men" is clearly on Dan as well as on laughs. Now the film was quite enjoyable--the acting was nice (especially Kay Francis as Jo) and the script nice. It just wasn't "Little Men"!
    7bkoganbing

    CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS, Jo's All Grown Up

    Though Louisa May Alcott's Little Women is definitely the superior book by most standards, Little Men certainly has its supporters and like Little Women it has seen many filmed versions. This particular one from RKO in 1940 starring Kay Francis as the now grownup Jo March is probably the best known.

    Jo's a woman now and married to that visiting professor guy played by Carl Esmond here and they're running a school now, the Plumfield School where they try to make young gentlemen out of spirited boys. Back in the day girls were not considered to need an education, but they're kind of snuck in anyway.

    George Bancroft and sidekick Jack Oakie stop by one day and deposit Bancroft's son with the school, Jimmy Lydon. Esmond who's not a worldly sort is so taken with Bancroft that he gives him their savings to invest. For all his pretensions Bancroft and Oakie are a pair of amiable grifters.

    Oakie gives the best performance in the film, he steals whatever scene he's in. In fact he's the guy who comes up with a unique solution to everybody's problems in the end.

    Jo March was one of Katharine Hepburn's earliest film successes back in 1933. If Kate had still been with RKO it might have been interesting to see her naturally age into the part again. As it is Kay Francis does well by Jo.

    Little Men also reminds so much of a 19th century Boys Town so much so you keep waiting for Mickey Rooney to pop up. He also would have been a natural for Jimmy Lydon's part.

    This version of a timeless literary classic still holds up well and is great family viewing.
    8Spuzzlightyear

    Does not star Danny DeVito

    Though I wasn't a big fan of the original and the countless remakes of the original Little Women, for some odd reason I really enjoyed Little Men, though the title is a bit misleading, there's only one 'little man' to speak of, he's the one growing up in this movie, But I'm guessing this continues where Little Women left off?? I know the character Jo from Little Women (I began to watch Little Women, but I didn't finish it, so excuse my ignorance), I guess she has her own private school for kids now. They're of various ages. The plot involves a Father who gets into one shady business deal after another who decides to send his adopted boy to school to legitimately educate him. However, the way the boy was brought up and the way the school operates don't exactly add up. And also, the school is wowed by the Father so much to trust him with the school finances (something, well, I find a little hard to believe), and oh yeah, the school is seriously running arrears of it's bills! So there's all these little things happening, but it's not too overly difficult to follow what's going on, and even the kids will enjoy this movie.

    Best moment: when Jo and her new student go into the barn, Bessie the cow volunteering to go in with them and starts mooing VERY loudly.
    4PudgyPandaMan

    Not nearly as good as Little Women

    I was a little disappointed in this one as it didn't live up to my expectations. It was not nearly as good as Little Women - also written by Louisa May Alcott.

    Part of the problem was the poor quality of the film itself on TCM. It had lots of scratches and white spots, as well as a soundtrack that dragged at times (especially noticeable during music). There was also frequent jumping to the film which was distracting.

    I wonder the reason they replaced Katherine Hepburn's character, Jo March, with Kay Francis? Hepburn made the character so spirited - whereas Francis played it like milquetoast. The only resemblance was when Jo says the familiar "Christopher Columbus!" exclamation.

    Jo March is married now with children. Her and her husband run Plumfield School Boarding school for children. George Bancroft plays a former shyster, Major Hurdle, who is "bequeathed" a baby boy, Dan, from a former hoodlum who was murdered. He grows fond of the boy and tries to live straight. When he is finally made to enroll Dan in school, he takes him to Plumfield.

    There is one scene that was meant for humor - but I didn't find it at all funny. Hurdle's crooked buddy that visits the school with him gets his coat stuck in the school safe when he accidentally opens it. They go on and on with him trying to get it unstuck, finally cutting his coat loose, then trying to even the coat up - yawn, yawn, yawn.

    The best thing the film has going for it is an adorable boy named Teddy (Richard Nichols) and Elsie the cow, who has the biggest, most expressive eyes. Apparently she was quite famous from the New York World's Fair and Borden milk ads.

    Overall, I found the plot boring and the pace extremely slow. Not much to see here - unless you are a huge fan of Alcott and want to complete more of her film adaptations.

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    Storyline

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    Did you know

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    • Trivia
      This film uses several of the Autant en emporte le vent (1939) exterior sets, including Tara, the train shed, and several of the Atlanta street buildings. One of the best close-up views of Tara's front porch and door.
    • Goofs
      At about five minutes, the baby turns completely around in its box between shots.
    • Quotes

      Major Burdle: [to Willie] I won't lose his love and respect, not even if i have to steal the money to prove than I'm honest.

    • Connections
      Version of Little Men (1934)
    • Soundtracks
      Roll Jordan Roll
      (uncredited)

      Traditional Negro spiritual

      Sung a cappella by Lillian Randolph

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    Details

    Edit
    • Release date
      • November 29, 1940 (United States)
    • Country of origin
      • United States
    • Language
      • English
    • Also known as
      • Louisa May Alcott's Little Men
    • Filming locations
      • RKO Studios - 780 N. Gower Street, Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, USA(Studio)
    • Production company
      • The Play's The Thing Productions Inc.
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Tech specs

    Edit
    • Runtime
      • 1h 24m(84 min)
    • Color
      • Black and White
    • Aspect ratio
      • 1.37 : 1

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