Product description BASED ON A NOVEL BY BOOTH TARKINGTON.A PRETENTIOUS SOCIAL CLIMBER, ALICE ADAMS, SUFFERS THROUGH VARIOUS TRAVAILS BEFORE FINDING A MODEST, DECENT MAN WHO LOVES HER. .com Hollywood's ability to conjure up a bittersweet small town (on the studio back lot, to be sure) has rarely been on better display than in Alice Adams, a gentle adaptation of a Booth Tarkington novel. For that matter, Katharine Hepburn rarely had a better chance to radiate her early youthful glow. She plays the title character, a lonely misfit who tries--too hard--to fit in with the snooty debutantes in her class-conscious town. Fred MacMurray is the suitor who miraculously feels comfortable in the front-porch swing of the faded Adams home. In the exquisitely timed comedy of MacMurray's miserable dinner with Alice's family, director George Stevens displays the tools he learned directing Laurel and Hardy two-reelers, and the sequence becomes a funny-painful classic of social embarrassment. Hepburn's performance, whether Alice is chattering pretentiously or briefly lowering her guard and revealing her loneliness, is simply incandescent. --Robert Horton P.when('A').execute(function(A) { A.on('a:expander:toggle_description:toggle:collapse', function(data) { window.scroll(0, data.expander.$expander[0].offsetTop-100); }); }); From the Back Cover Katharine Hepburn is Alice Adams, a naive young woman who aspires to greater social status. Wanting to escape the confines of her middle-class upbringing, she presents herself to friends as a member of high-society. Then, one night as an elegant party where she really doesn't belong, she falls in love with Fred MacMurray--a veritable Prince Charming who believes Alice's fabricated stories of family wealth. But, when he's invited to meet the Adams, the ruse becomes painfully obvious. Yet, in the end, love conquers all. This film was a smash success in the 1930s, winning Katharine Hepburn an Oscar nomination. It's still fresh and funny today with its message that it isn't the position you're born to that matters, it's the person you choose to become. See more
R**T
One of the best films of the 30s.
My three favorite Hepburn performances are Little Women, A Long Day's Journey Into Night, but this one beats all. She is enchanting in this film, one of my five favorite female performances in the history of film. She deserved the Academy award, even Bette Davis said so when she won it for Dangerous. Alice yearns for a higher place in society, but she was born on the wrong side of the tracks. The ironic thing is that she is clearly one of the prettiest women at the dance sequence, but the men reject her. The dinner sequence is one of the high comic points in film history. Hattie McDaniel clearly steals the show with a rib tickling performance as Malena, the hired maid. I could not stop laughing but it was painful for Alice, trying to impress her beau. The ending may not have been faithful to the book, but I felt she should have enjoyed a happy ending.
P**D
Let Miss Hepburn's performance grow on you
My original response to Alice Adam’s the movie was not that warm. Like the Tarkington book from which it is made, I had to think and savor.A very young Katherine Hepburn, this was her 7th movie (Imdb), has the lead in an ensemble cast as Miss Alice Adams. This is Kate’s movie, but it is not just about her. Alice is basically a good person. Either by the influence of her mother or the misapprehensions of youth, she is determined to live a social life beyond the capability of her family to keep up with the emerging social elite that had been her crowd. Evan as her efforts at social claiming become more movingly desperate, into her life comes a romance with out of towner Fred MacMurray. This is a young, dashing and handsomely acted MacMurray, but his character, Author Russell is little more than a plot device.The real conflict is between the older Adams Couple. The real question revolves around how much the family is prepared to risk and to compromise in the hopes of lifting their young daughter from a marginal future built on getting by.Keep in mind that the real issues that motivated Booth Tarkington to write The Growth Trilogy among others was the role of emerging and triumphant capitalism as well as the real spirit and human values of it leadership.
N**4
Fred McMurray is a good man who can see past the snarky way his ...
Katharine as a lower middle class girl (Alice) trying to find her way onto the next rung up in society is heart-breaking at times. She underplays some scenes with just the right level of pathos. Alice's family complications are difficult for her at times. Hattie McDaniels's portrayal of the maid at the dinner for Alice's beau is a hoot. Fred McMurray is a good man who can see past the snarky way his group of friends, especially the women, treat her. George Stevens directs her well. (What can I say, "I'm a sucker for romance", as Marsha Mason said in the Goodbye Girl-another of my faves.)
J**T
Great dvds
Great dvd. Movie was from the early 1930s and was good to see the actors when they were so young.
A**S
Gotta Love Katherine!
I’ve never seen a Kate Hepburn film I didn’t like! Love her in this film!
P**T
Great film
Was pleased to find this old film on DVD as it is one of my favorite Katharine Hepburn pictures.
H**Y
Good movie.
Well done movie. Faithful to the Pulitzer prize winning book, except for the Hollywood ending.
I**R
An Overlooked Gem
In Hepburn's long and varied career, this film showcased her in a surprisingly perfect light for one of her early films. Everything about the story worked, and it was so good after seeing it on TV that I had to get my own copy to watch again!
S**E
Five Stars
Great
N**H
Five Stars
This film is amazing, and a great example of Katharine Hepburn's talent
I**.
il primo amore di Alice
Dalla leggendaria RKO questa INCANTEVOLE commedia che George stevens trasse dal romanzo di Newton Booth tarkington,peraltro vincitore del premio Pulitzer ( ne consiglio la lettura ! )katharine Hepburn è Alice Adams,un'ambiziosa fanciulla nella provincia americana dei ruggenti anni 20l'opera lanciò anche il bravo fred Mac Murray,allora giovanissimo.E'l'interpretazione che personalmente più amo di kat"single"( cioè non ancora in coppia con spencer tracy )Assolutamente da avere benché,purtroppo,il doppiaggio non sia quello d'epoca...i sottotitoli sono in italiano.
D**C
it was a gift
I got it for someone for a gift.
M**A
molto bello
questo film l'ho visto molti anni fa e mi è sempre rimasto nel cuore,trovando il dvd su Amazon l'ho subito ordinato. Direi che è perfetto per chi ama i vecchi film romantici,c'è una giovanissima Katharine Hepburn che mi piace molto. Arrivato perfettamente integro e in pochi giorni.Sono soddisfatta.
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