Alice Adams (1935)

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

Director:

George Stevens

Writers:

Booth Tarkington (novel), Dorothy Yost (screen play)

Stars:

Katharine Hepburn, Fred MacMurray, Fred Stone

Nominated for 2 Oscars. Another 1 win & 1 nomination.

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Katharine Hepburn	...	Alice Adams
Fred MacMurray	...	Arthur Russell
Fred Stone	...	Virgil Adams
Evelyn Venable	...	Mildred 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 (as Hattie McDaniels)
Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Walter Brennan	...	(scenes deleted)

Storyline

In the small town of South Renford, Alice Adams comes from a working class background, although she aspires to be among the upper class. Alice's mother blames her husband for their low social standing, despite his working hard and Alice not blaming him for anything. Regardless, Alice tries to do whatever necessary to put on appearances of wealth and social standing, despite everyone in that class in town knowing who she is, and thus largely ignoring her because of her false airs. First meeting at a society ball, Alice surprisingly catches the eye of Arthur Russell, surprisingly as he purportedly is engaged to débutante Mildred Palmer. As Alice continues to hide her true social standing from Arthur as he courts her, Mrs. Adams pressures Mr. Adams into doing something he doesn't want to do in an effort truly to become part of the business class, that measure which entails sinking all his money into a business venture. Beyond the time when Arthur finds out the true nature behind Alice's ...

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Plot Keywords:

song | singer | pulitzer prize novel | italian violinst | black servant | 

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Taglines:

BOOTH TARKINGTON'S PULITZER PRIZE NOVEL (original herald-all caps)

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Genres:

Comedy | Drama | Romance

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Certificate:

Passed

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

13 November 1935 (Argentina)

Also Known As:

Booth Tarkington's Alice Adams

Filming Locations:

RKO Studios - 780 N. Gower Street, Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

RKO Radio Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

99 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Victor System)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

RKO executives wanted Randolph Scott for the Fred MacMurray role, but he was involved in the production of So Red the Rose (1935).

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Goofs

In a closeup, Alice is putting long stemmed flowers into a vase and they droop. In the long shot, the flowers are standing straight up in the vase.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Florist: Good afternoon.
Alice Adams: Yes, I'd like to buy a corsage, something nice to wear to the party.
Florist: Yes. Ooh, that's the - that's the Palmer party, I suppose.

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Connections

Featured in Katharine Hepburn: All About Me (1993)

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Soundtracks

I CAN'T WALTZ ALONE
(1935) (uncredited)
(incorporated into score)
Music by Max Steiner

User Reviews

Just wonderful - a wonderfully true story of class and embarrassment

I had heard of the famous Tarkington novel (but not read it) and had known that Katherine Hepburn won the Best Actress Oscar for this. So, I rented it.

It's just so moving. What I think some of the negative reviewers forget is just how much a girl's prospects in a small town in the 1920s are determined by whom she marries. For the intelligent, lively, vibrant, charming, warm-hearted Alice Adams - with a pitifully weak (but very sympathetic) and rather poor father, Alice's chance to "make anything" of her life is determined socially.

My heart ached with the snubs Alice receives - the routine unthinking cuts she receives at the hands of those from "better" families. Wearing a two year old dress with a corsage of violets illegally picked from the park, her loutish brother in his old beaten-up borrowed car as her date, she tries SO HARD to fit in - and doesn't because no one will let her. It's the most opaque of glass ceilings.

If you've ever felt (at a job, a party, a family gathering) that there was nothing you could do - no matter how hard you tried - to fit in - yet it was important that you did, you'll feel so much for this charming girl.

I do agree with others that the Arthur Russell part is underwritten.

But the movie boring? Not on your life. The painful moments are more difficult to watch than most war movies in which the protagonist is killed - because it is so well-done -

-- the pains of humiliation borne within, the disability one cannot hide, the old dress, the rude and outrageous relation, the thwarted eagerness - these are far more likely to be the painful moments in one's life (that one does not wish to remember) than any actual bullet wounds.

I love how the movie does not show a saintly Alice - she would love to snub others (e.g., the chubby boy at the dance), would love to parade before others in finery. yet her warmth toward her family - her essential sweetness, her strong frustrated yearning - are completely captivating.

We love this girl - and because of that, we love the movie.