The film begins in a gentle fashion and slips away smoothly without any forced attempt to help the finish to linger in the minds of the audience. Little Women is just as honest in its story as Jo's nature.
100
Time Out
Time Out
Surely the definitive version of Louisa May Alcott's novel, sweet, funny, perfectly cast, and exquisitely evocative in its New England period reconstruction.
90
The New YorkerPauline Kael
The New YorkerPauline Kael
A lovely, graceful film, and surprisingly faithful to the atmosphere, the Victorian sentiments, and the Victorian strengths of the Louisa May Alcott novel.
90
TV Guide Magazine
TV Guide Magazine
This unabashedly sentimental adaptation of Louisa May Alcott's novel remains, to this day, an example of Hollywood's best filmmaking.
88
The Seattle TimesJohn Hartl
The Seattle TimesJohn Hartl
This George Cukor adaptation is nevertheless regarded as the definitive Hollywood treatment. Katharine Hepburn and Spring Byington are particularly well-cast. [15 Dec 1994, p.E3]