Main Cast: Katharine Hepburn, Fred MacMurray, Fred Stone, Evelyn Venable, Frank Albertson
Release Year: 1935
Country: US
Run Time: 99 minutes
Plot
Katharine Hepburn stars as Booth Tarkington's would-be society belle Alice Adams. The product of a family of modest means, Alice nonetheless dreams of being accepted by the "better people." Luck of luck, she meets well-to-do young Fred MacMurray at a social gathering; he is charmed by her pathetic attempts at putting on airs and accepts her invitation to dine at the Adams home. The meal is a disaster: Alice's parents (Fred Stone and Anne Shoemaker) are obviously way out of MacMurray's league, while the servant (Hattie McDaniel) that the family hired for the occasion shows up drunk and very surly. Alice Adams was the first major directorial assignment for George Stevens, as well as one of the few Katharine Hepburn vehicles of the 1930s to score a hit with the public. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Review
Alice Adams does a credible job of transferring Booth Tarkington's popular Pulitzer Prize-winning novel to the screen, even if it adds a happier ending than the one in the book. A significant part of the credit belongs to director George Stevens, who keeps the film briskly paced without sacrificing character development and atmosphere. Filmed during the Great Depression, Alice Adams takes a satirical view of the 1920s, reminding 1935 audiences of some of the shallowness of those "better days." Hepburn's performance dominates the film, and the supporting cast functions mostly as props, though Fred MacMurray, Hepburn's nominal co-lead, manages to shine in moments. The film received two Oscar nominations, for Best Picture and for Hepburn's performance, and it was also a rarity for Hepburn: a box-office hit. ~ Richard Gilliam, All Movie Guide
Alice Adams (Katharine Hepburn) is the daughter of a family of modest means but she dreams of making her way in society and being accepted by the "better people." She meets the well-to-do Arthur Russell (Fred MacMurray) at a social gathering; he is charmed by her attempts at putting on airs and accepts her invitation to dine at the Adams' home. The meal is a disaster: Alice's parents (Fred Stone and Anne Shoemaker) are obviously way out of Russell's league, while the servant (Hattie McDaniel) hired for the occasion shows up very surly.
