CAT OF THE DAY 065: LITTLE WOMEN (1933 & 1994)

Christmas won’t be Christmas without any kittens.

There are at least four kittens in this picture; see if you can spot them. See also if you can spot Winona Ryder as Sporty March, Kirsten Dunst as Baby March, Trini Alvarado as Posh March and Claire Danes as Weepy March.

Louisa May Alcott’s girls’ classic has been filmed several times, the last major adaptation being in 1994. The first big talky version was in 1933, directed by George Cukor, starred Katherine Hepburn as Sporty, and featured basketfuls of kittens.

The 1949 Technicolor adaptation, directed by Mervyn LeRoy, seems to be a kitten-free environment. (Do please correct me if I’m wrong; one day I’ll put my June Allyson allergy on hold long enough to watch it all the way through again, and if need be will come back and rewrite this then.) But as compensation, here is a publicity still of Elizabeth Taylor (in costume as Baby March) with a kitten. As well as another, later picture of Elizabeth Taylor (not in costume as Baby March) with another kitten.

And here’s an article I wrote about Sisters in the Movies for the Guardian a couple of years ago.

Related articles

• Poll: Great Adaptations of LITTLE WOMEN (thegreatkh.wordpress.com)
• Picturing Louisa (streetsofsalem.com)
• Martin Place turned into Kitten Place with the launch of a new campaign from WHISKAS in support of PetRescue (prweb.com)
• A March Christmas (vmmvblog.wordpress.com)
• Circus Tricks for Your Cat (flirtyandbubbly.wordpress.com)