Katharine Hepburn gives a sensational performance in this screen adaptation of Booth Tarkington's novel.
Hepburn plays the titular Alice, a young social climber who's embarrassed by her humble origins and working class family and dreams of inclusion among the upper crust of society. One said member, played by Fred MacMurray, falls for her against all odds, and a large bulk of the film details a disastrous dinner party she throws for him in her home, a cringe-worthy dinner if ever there was one, during which she pretends the entire time to be something she's not and which ends with a prolonged monologue that by its end has her convincing him that he doesn't really want her because she's so flustered and mortified by how badly everything went. It's an amazing little bit of acting on the part of Hepburn in a film that earned her her second of twelve career Academy Award nominations for Best Actress.
I've not read the book the film is based on, but I'm guessing that it doesn't end anywhere nearly as patly or tidily as the movie. I guess I could be wrong.
In addition to Hepburn's nomination, "Alice Adams" was also nominated for Best Picture in a year that saw twelve nominees.
Grade: A
Hepburn plays the titular Alice, a young social climber who's embarrassed by her humble origins and working class family and dreams of inclusion among the upper crust of society. One said member, played by Fred MacMurray, falls for her against all odds, and a large bulk of the film details a disastrous dinner party she throws for him in her home, a cringe-worthy dinner if ever there was one, during which she pretends the entire time to be something she's not and which ends with a prolonged monologue that by its end has her convincing him that he doesn't really want her because she's so flustered and mortified by how badly everything went. It's an amazing little bit of acting on the part of Hepburn in a film that earned her her second of twelve career Academy Award nominations for Best Actress.
I've not read the book the film is based on, but I'm guessing that it doesn't end anywhere nearly as patly or tidily as the movie. I guess I could be wrong.
In addition to Hepburn's nomination, "Alice Adams" was also nominated for Best Picture in a year that saw twelve nominees.
Grade: A