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      Little Men

      1940 1h 24m Drama List
      Reviews 40% Audience Score 1,000+ Ratings Jo March (Kay Francis) has left the March family (of "Little Women" fame) and married professor Bhaer (Charles Esmond). Together, they run a boarding school, helping raise spirited and troubled boys. Con man Maj. Burdle (George Bancroft) brings in Dan (Jimmy Lydon), a friend's son. With the school in need of $5,000, Bhaer entrusts Burdle with investing his savings. When Burdle loses the money, the school must come up with replacement funds before the bank forecloses. Read More Read Less

      Critics Reviews

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      George Orwell Time and Tide In short, if you either haven’t read Little Men or don’t mind seeing the friends of your childhood murdered, this is a good film. Oct 2, 2023 Full Review Elena de la Torre Cine-Mundial Louisa May Alcott's novel is somewhat dated and somewhat vulgar on the screen. [Full review in Spanish] Sep 17, 2019 Full Review Read all reviews

      Audience Reviews

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      Steve D Below average telling of a great story. Rated 3 out of 5 stars 05/25/23 Full Review Audience Member Little Men is a well sequel to the story of Little Women, and it is done beautifully. I watched it as a sequel to 2019's Little Women, the only adaptation I saw and I have not read the book. Rated 5 out of 5 stars 02/19/23 Full Review Audience Member Not an anywhere near faithful adaptation of the Louisa May Alcott book. Plumfield, originally in Maine, is now apparently in the south or a border state? Jo has lost all her spunk and vitality, and the professor (a Ph.D., for that matter) takes all the money he has and gives it over to charlatans because they are "good investors"? What has happened to the wise, lovable Fritz Bhaer of the earlier novel? Nothing happens at Plumfield, except Bessie the Cow gives birth and Danny, the new boy, gets into fights. Instead, the main emphasis is on the non-Alcott material: the charlatans who sell snake oil to the masses and who crack some interesting jokes along the way. It's watchable, but not a good movie. And it's certainly not an adaptation of Louisa May Alcott's "Little Women". Rated 1 out of 5 stars 01/14/23 Full Review Audience Member I'm still looking for the Prof. Bhaer to my Jo March.... but not this version of Herr Professor. The character actors are pitch-perfect and have a lot of fun, but Kay Francis is horribly miscast in a badly written take on my beloved Jo. Skip this. And don't even get me started about the Elsie the Cow stunt casting... Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars 02/06/23 Full Review Audience Member kinda a sequel of sorts Rated 3 out of 5 stars 01/21/23 Full Review Audience Member Little Men (1940) -- [6.0] -- This particular adaptation of Louisa May Alcott's book ends on a morally ambiguous note (I don't think children should ever be lied to), but the film is otherwise passable family entertainment. Jimmy Lydon does a decent job as Dan, the angry young man who comes to live with Jo March at her experimental school/farm for boys. The film works best when it focuses on Jo and the children, less so when it jumps to the B-storyline featuring George Bancroft and Jack Oakie as a pair of swindlers. There are some sugar-coated moments that may test your gag reflex, but the scene where Jo punishes Dan by forcing him to lash *her* hands with a switch rings true. Rated 3 out of 5 stars 02/17/23 Full Review Read all reviews Post a rating

      Cast & Crew

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      Little Men

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      Movie Info

      Synopsis Jo March (Kay Francis) has left the March family (of "Little Women" fame) and married professor Bhaer (Charles Esmond). Together, they run a boarding school, helping raise spirited and troubled boys. Con man Maj. Burdle (George Bancroft) brings in Dan (Jimmy Lydon), a friend's son. With the school in need of $5,000, Bhaer entrusts Burdle with investing his savings. When Burdle loses the money, the school must come up with replacement funds before the bank forecloses.
      Director
      Norman Z. McLeod
      Screenwriter
      Mark Kelly, Arthur Caesar
      Production Co
      The Play's the Thing Productions Inc.
      Genre
      Drama
      Original Language
      English
      Release Date (Streaming)
      Aug 11, 2016
      Runtime
      1h 24m