DEAR SUN SPOTS: The Turner Museum & Historical Association is updating our display of vintage Turner photos. We’re in need of older wooden picture frames in sizes 7 by 9 inches up to 12 by 15 inches. If you could help by donating frames, they can be left at the library or at our rooms in the old Leavitt Institute building in Turner Center.

— Barbara, association curator

DEAR SUN SPOTS: How many times has “Little Women” been made into a movie? I saw the latest one and it’s my favorite.

— Elaine, no town

ANSWER: I have seen the newest release of “Little Women,” too, and I just adored it. The film has so much energy! And it’s been a while since I was in a theater where the audience clapped and cheered at the end. I highly recommend it and plan to go see it again next week.

The book, “Little Women,” written by the beloved Louisa May Alcott, has been adapted to the big screen, the stage, and even television many, many times. According to pbs.org: here is the “definitive list” and then some:

The first-ever adaptation was a British silent film production in 1917. The following year, an American silent film was made right at and around the Alcott home in Concord, Massachusetts.

In 1933, George Cukor directed the first “talkie” of “Little Women,” which starred Kathryn Hepburn as Jo.

In 1949, the film was shot in Technicolor and packed with popular starlets of the time, including June Allyson as Jo. Janet Leigh took on the role of older sister, Meg, Margaret O’Brien played Beth, and Elizabeth Taylor was Amy.

Nearly five decades passed before the 1994 version of this wonderful story was made into a feature film, this time directed by Gillian Armstrong and nominated for three Academy Awards. Its all-star cast consisted of Winona Ryder as Jo, Kirsten Dunst as young Amy and Samantha Mathis as older Amy, Trini Alvarado as Meg, Claire Danes as Beth, (nobody plays the sickly Beth better than Claire Danes!), and Susan Sarandon as Marmee.

In the latest version, Meryl Streep plays a formidable Aunt March, Saoirse Ronan is Jo, Emma Watson is Meg, Florence Pugh is Amy and Eliza Scanlen is Beth. Marmee is played by Laura Dern.

At the risk of sending my readers into information overload, I also want to share that PBS’ Masterpiece Theater did a three-part series of “Little Women” in 2018. Besides that, adaptations of the book were made into movies for television in 1939, 1946, 1949, and twice in 1950. In 1958 and 1970, the BBC televised two versions. Oddly, the story was made into a Japanese anime series in 1981.

In 1912 and again in 2005, the story of the March daughters has been performed as a Broadway play. In 1969 there was a ballet, and in 1998 “Little Women” was transformed into an opera and has been staged in over 20 productions since then.

This column is for you, our readers. It is for your questions and comments. There are only two rules: You must write to the column and sign your name. We won’t use it if you ask us not to. Please include your phone number. Letters will not be returned or answered by mail, and telephone calls will not be accepted. Your letters will appear as quickly as space allows. Address them to Sun Spots, P.O. Box 4400, Lewiston, ME 04243-4400. Inquiries can also be emailed to sunspots@sunjournal.com.

 

 

 

 

 

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