My Opinion on the 1978 Little Women Adaptation

The costumes are not accurate at all, something that drives me crazy is that their hair is never done and they don’t wear bonnets. It’s noticeably very bad. Also, Jo’s hair stays the same length when years are supposed to pass.
The production is very 70s, from the costumes, to the actors, to the hairstyles. The locations feel more real and not just like sets, but it’s still not ideal. The March family house is very rich, and the girls complain about being poor but that’s not represented in their house or clothes, but especially not their well-furnished and beautiful house. They didn’t show the girls not having any Christmas presents until Aunt March’s money, but instead showed Beth having around ten beautifully wrapped gifts. Their poverty is not shown once but just complained about a couple of times, and it really takes away from the girls’ character developments, especially Meg’s and Amy’s.
Ann Dusenberry as young Amy looks way too old, and the girls all look really similar, it is especially hard to tell Beth and Amy apart. I liked Amy more in Ep. 2. Meredith Briney as Meg is fine, Eve Plumb as Beth is not great, Dorothy McGuire as Marmee is not great, and Susan Dey as Jo is good. Robert Young as Mr. Laurence and Richard Gilliland as Laurie are both good.
Already they start changing the storyline and don’t open with the presents and the reading of the letter which is interesting to me because it’s where we get introduced to the girls’ personalities. By jumping into the ball we don’t know anything about them or their lives, and it feels confusing.
The pacing is absolutely horrendous, for a miniseries that is about 3 hours long we are basically done with childhood within 50 minutes. I’m not a fan of Susan Dey’s narration, but it doesn’t happen too often so it’s fine. We get no time to get to know the girls, and the plot is extremely rushed. We finally get Meg at the ball, even though they didn’t get into it enough, and Amy burning the book, but for a miniseries I excepted more character development. However, they did really well at expanding Laurie and Mr. Laurence’s characters which I’ve been wanting.
I really love the development of Laurie and Mr. Laurence, especially Mr. Laurence and his relationship with Laurie. I really see him as his own character and not just there to further the development of other characters. I also loved his relationship with all the girls and we got to see his care for his grandson and neighbors.
I wish they added more to the sisters’ relationships. I loved how the 1949 adaptation added more to Amy and Beth’s relationship, and I wished this version did this as well. I wish they added more to Jo and Beth’s relationship because it’s important to their characters and Beth’s death plotline that they are close, and since we don’t see that it makes no sense when Jo says they have always been closer.
I’m happy they finally showed Laurie convincing Amy to go to Aunt March, while in the earlier versions we never even see them interact before they get married. I also like how they showed Amy’s burning the book, Amy falling into the ice, and just a little of Meg at the ball, even though I wish they elaborated on that further.I also like how they showed Meg buying the cloth for the dress and John’s reaction. I am also glad we finally see Amy in Europe and we get a mention to Fred Vaughn. It’s crucial knowing that Amy turned down a richer man for Laurie, as we get to see that she truly loves him and isn’t just after money.
I wish they showed more Laurie’s affection to the whole family, but this is better than earlier versions. I also wish they had shown more of Amy’s art and her passion for it. It’s a big part of her character in the books, but it always gets forgotten or skimmed over.
I’m confused at to why they cut out giving their breakfast to the Hummels, because when Beth goes there we have no idea who they are. It’s another aspect of them ignoring Beth’s character.
I enjoyed seeing Jo actually go to the publishers and pursue her writing, which is kind of glossed over in the previous versions. We get to see her write more and pursue being an author.
Unfortunately, they reduced Marmee’s character and she was more book accurate and progressive in the two previous movies. Here we don’t see her working with the soldiers at all, and she is extremely mild and placid. We also don’t see her helping the Hummels, when she is very charitable and hardworking.
Susan Dey’s “Christopher Columbus” and “capital” are the only ones that feel natural to me.
Meg’s wedding was not good, I have no idea why it was indoors, and they didn’t even show Beth at all in the beginning of episode 2. I’m very glad that Laurie, Mr. Laurence, Amy, and Meg get more character development, but Beth gets absolutely none and I’m not a fan of the actress either.
I was also not a fan of the proposal scene, it didn’t feel passionate, and I feel disappointed because I thought the actors had good chemistry and could have done a better proposal scene if it had been written differently. This leads me into my next point, which is that Jo and Laurie had a lot of romantic chemistry. I’m confused to whether I like this or not. It adds a lot of clarity as to why Laurie falls in love with her, and I like that Richard Gilliland adds a lot of lingering looks to Jo throughout the series. They didn’t feel siblings at all, and you could tell they were supposed to have a romantic plotline. On the other hand, it doesn’t make sense why they don’t get together. We don’t see them fight or disagree, which they do in the book, and Susan Dey isn’t a particularly headstrong or tomboyish Jo, so all I see is two people who have romantic chemistry, seem to work well together, and a man who is passionately in love, which means it makes no sense that they don’t get together. Of course they shouldn’t, but it’s the director and writer’s jobs to show that Laurie and Jo are on different paths in their lives, and Jo is much too headstrong, wild, and focused on her writing to devote herself to Laurie at the level that he needs. They also have a sibling-like bond, which Laurie mistakes for romantic love, and him and Amy bring out the best in each other while being the partner the other needs. While I appreciate them adding more to Amy and Laurie’s relationship, I wish they would have made Laurie and Jo more youthful and fun, and added just a little more to Laurie and Amy. However, it’s a big improvement on their relationship from the previous adaptations.
I really like seeing more of Meg and John’s married life. I wasn’t a fan of them courting, but they have more chemistry when married and the blue silk and overcoat storyline was very sweet. I also like finally hearing about Meg’s pregnancy. Jo and Mr. Bhaer have really good chemistry, and we get to see Jo be more sweet and gentle when she is with him. It’s definitely visible that Jo is interested in him romantically, unlike Laurie. However, I wished they showed some more. When she meets him it makes more sense as to why she isn’t with Laurie. It also finally makes sense that Amy and Laurie get together and I feel like they have good chemistry. I love that they reference how Laurie’s heroine was based off of Amy. I was actually very pleasantly surprised with the portrayal of their relationship. I didn’t feel like he should’ve gotten with Jo at all, and him and Amy felt right. This should be the bare minimum, but coming from the 1933 and 1949 versions where we didn’t get any of this I’m very grateful.
I found Beth’s death to be tear-inducing and emotional, more so than 1933 but less than 1949.
Jo’s personality is not very accurate, we don’t get anything of her wanting to be a boy, and she isn’t particularly tomboyish. She isn’t very argumentative or assertive, and overall seems sweet and forgiving. She gets angry but slightly raises her voice and then forgives soon after. She also doesn’t seem very artistic or imaginative.
Everyone was decent to me, they weren’t the best but they weren’t crazy bad. When I think of a portrayal of this character I won’t think of them, but they are definitely enjoyable. Everyone was fairly pleasant but not accurate enough to the book.
Overall I give it a 7/10. The cast was fine but unmemorable, but I really like how they included things not included in previous adaptations, such as Amy at Aunt March’s, Meg at the ball, and Meg and John’s married life. They also developed relationships that other adaptations don’t, such as Laurie and Mr. Laurence, Mr. Laurence and the March family, and Amy and Laurie. However, the pacing was weird and I feel like they could’ve included more storylines or expanded on others. The March family was much too rich and they didn’t include anything about the war. There wasn’t a lot of depth, especially for a miniseries, and it lacked warmth, soul, and emotion. I personally enjoyed it, but I think it’s a hit or miss, and I can see some viewers disliking it.

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