Did You Know?
Katharine Hepburn wrote in her autobiography, "This picture was heaven to do - George Cukor perfect. He really caught the atmosphere. It was to me my youth!"
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Louise Closser Hale first performed the role of Aunt March, but after her death on July 26, 1933, in the middle of filming, Edna May Oliver took over the role.
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Katharine Hepburn asked costume designer Walter Plunkett to copy a dress her maternal grandmother wore in a tintype photograph.
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Uncredited producer David O. Selznick had a difficult time convincing RKO executives to produce this film, as there was a belief in Hollywood at the time that films based on historic novels were not popular, particularly one that centered on women during the Civil War. Selznick persisted and the film was a commercial success. Because of this, later in the decade Selznick produced Gone with the Wind through his own production company, Selznick International Pictures, from the novel by Margaret Mitchell.
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"Theater Guild on the Air" broadcast a 60 minute radio adaptation of the movie on December 23, 1945 with Katharine Hepburn reprising her film role.
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"Theater Guild on the Air" broadcast a 60 minute radio adaptation of the movie on December 21, 1947 with Katharine Hepburn again reprising her film role.
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Personally supervised by David O. Selznick, even though he doesn't actually screen credit.
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Costume designer Walter Plunkett was forced to rapidly redesign Joan Bennett's costumes in order to disguise her advancing pregnancy, something that she had hidden from George Cukor at the time of her casting.
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Budgeted at $1 million - a large amount at the time - and providing employment for 4,000 people. The film took a year to produce.
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The interior of the March's home was actually modeled on the real Massachusetts home of Louisa May Alcott.
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Opened on November 16 1933 at Radio City Music Hall where it broke attendance records, earning over $100,000 in its first week of release.
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David O. Selznick had been working for RKO Radio but had become increasingly disillusioned with the way the studio was operating. His stress at work, coupled with his anxiety over the worsening condition of his father, led him to turn to MGM who had been actively courting him for some time. He agreed to join them in February 1933 but his departure left three active projects in limbo at RKO, one of which was Little Women. George Cukor had been assigned to direct the film but he followed Selznick to MGM. However, Cukor agreed to return to RKO to finish off the film as a personal favor to Selznick.
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