After our last class discussion I went home and did a little research on Ms. Katharine Hepburn…or Kate as she preferred to be called. I knew that she was considered one of the greatest actresses to ever grace the silver screen, but I wanted to find out a little more about Katharine Hepburn, the person. To be honest, I was a little surprised at how many people in the class were not impressed by her performance in “Little Women.” After rewatching it, I found it to be quite an honest portrayal of the character Jo March. I will admit that Hepburn could be loud, and maybe a little over the top at times throughout the film; however, when I read Little Women, that’s exactly how I imagined Jo to be…loud, and boisterous; not caring what anyone thought of her…that, to me was Jo March. In reading about Katharine Hepburn, I don’t think the film makers could have found a more perfect person to play Jo. She was a no nonsense woman who was her own person, and didn’t compromise her wants or beliefs for anyone. That brings me to my comparison of June Allyson’s performance in the 1949 version of “Little Women.” I don’t think that she did a bad job; however to me her performance was quite insignificant compared to that of Hepburn’s. In the 1933 film version, Hepburn completely took over that film with her presence. This is how it should have been since in my opinion, the character of Jo is the central, and most important character in Alcott’s novel. However, in the 1949 film I felt Allyson’s performance to be good, yet not memorable; even finding Elizabeth Taylor’s portrayal of Amy to overshadow Allyson. The whole film in general was not my cup of tea. It just seemed to be more of a television movie of the week than a feature film. I half expected to hear a laugh track at certain moments in the film when the movie was obviously going for comic relief rather than substance.
Anyway, back to Hepburn. I think that she is a bit like Hillary Clinton…people either love her or hate her. I happen to love her, and think that she had that special something about her acting that is hard to find in actresses these days.
If you want to see one of Hepburn’s more subdued performances, you should definitely check out the film “On Golden Pond.” The movie itself is amazing, and you will not be disappointed. 🙂

Internet Source : http://www.imdb.com/find?s=all&q=katharine+hepburn