Alice Adams (1935)

Director:

George Stevens

Writers:

Booth Tarkington (novel)
Dorothy Yost (screenplay) ...

Release Date:

30 January 1936 (Denmark)

Genre:

Comedy | Drama | Romance

Tagline:

Twenty-two and wonderful ... as Booth Tarkington's loveliest heroine!

Plot:

The misadventures of two social-climbing women in small town America.

Plot Keywords:

Dinner | Small Town | Band | Obesity | Garden Party

Awards:

Nominated for 2 Oscars.

Cast

Katharine Hepburn	...	Alice Adams
Fred MacMurray	...	Arthur Russell
Fred Stone	...	Virgil Adams
Evelyn Venable	...	Mildred 'Georgette' Palmer
Frank Albertson	...	Walter Adams
Ann Shoemaker	...	Mrs. Adams
Charley Grapewin	...	J. A. Lamb
Grady Sutton	...	Frank Dowling
Hedda Hopper	...	Mrs. Palmer
Jonathan Hale	...	Mr. Palmer
Hattie McDaniel	...	Malena Burns, Maid Serving Dinner (as Hattie McDaniels)
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Walter Brennan	...	(scenes deleted)

Also Known As:

Booth Tarkington's Alice Adams (USA) (complete title)

Runtime:

99 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Victor System)

Certification:

USA:Approved (PCA #1101) | Argentina:Atp | Portugal:M/12 (DVD rating)

Filming Locations:

RKO Encino Ranch - Balboa Boulevard & Burbank Boulevard, Encino, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

RKO Radio Pictures

Trivia:

There was a disagreement among Katharine Hepburn and George Stevens about the post-party scene. The script called for Hepburn to fall onto the bed and break into sobs, but Stevens wanted her to walk to the window and cry, with the rain falling outside. Hepburn could not produce the tears required, so she asked Stevens if she could do the scene as scripted. Stevens yelled furiously at Hepburn, which did the trick and the scene was filmed Stevens' way, and Hepburn's tears are real.

Goofs:

Continuity: In the scene where Alice walks with Arthur toward her house for the first time you can see a woman watering her shrubs and a letter carrier walk up, then back down her porch steps twice. The background scene repeats itself, letter carrier, woman setting down hose, etc. The letter carrier approaches Alice moments later where she then has to shamefully admit to Arthur that this is indeed her house that she is in front of. Obviously a rear projection scene that was duplicated.

Quotes:

Arthur Russell: A penny for your thoughts. A poor little dead rose for your thoughts, Alice Adams.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in George Stevens: The Filmmakers Who Knew Him (2001) (V)

Soundtrack:

I CAN'T WALTZ ALONE

Alice Tries To Get A Fellow

Showing her versatility Katharine Hepburn gets her best part since her Oscar winning Morning Glory in the title role of Alice Adams. Alice and Eva Lovelace are worlds apart. Eva leaves her small town in search of fame and fortune in the theater. But poor Alice just wants to compete with the rest of the girls in her midwest Indiana small town that Booth Tarkington wrote about and land a real Prince Charming of a fellow.

The Prince shows up at a dance she goes to in the person of Fred MacMurray. She's taken with him, but she's ashamed of her family's rather humble living condition. When MacMurray does come calling they have a family dinner that turns into a real disaster.

Kate got one of her Oscar nominations for her role and MacMurray also gets one of his best early film parts as well. Kate's family is also nicely cast with Ann Shoemaker, Frank Albertson, and especially Fred Stone filling out the roles of mother, brother, and father. I do kind of feel sorry for Stone, he's really put upon by his family. In today's world Ann Shoemaker would have gone out and gotten a second job for another income, back then that would have been unthinkable.

Alice Adams is a nice nostalgic trip by Booth Tarkington into the lives and mores of small town Indiana. This film was also George Stevens's first major film and he'd work with Kate again in Woman of the Year.