By 1935 a young up-and-coming actress almost ended her career before it could really get going. Katherine Hepburn had just come off of a string of flops and was viewed as box office poison. All it would take is another bomb and this young actress could find herself unemployable in a business that is unforgiving and subscribes to the question: “What have you done for me lately?” She had two great performances in 1933, Morning Glory (for which she won an Oscar) and Little Women. The following year, though, The Little Minister cost so much money that it failed to turn a profit. She followed that with Break of Hearts which barely earned back its budget. Her star was falling and she desperately needed a hit.
Booth Tarkington’s 1921 novel Alice Adams was chosen to launch that comeback. The novel featured a leading lady that would be ideal for Hepburn’s on-screen persona but the ending was deemed to be too much of a downer for the film. Scripts were written that included a happy ending but were otherwise poorly received. Hepburn herself assisted in rewriting most of it and leaving the ending up in the air. This didn’t sit well with the studio execs who insisted the film end like a fairy tale with a happily ever after. In modern days whenever a film is said to have undergone studio interference it is usually because the film has turned out poorly. That is not the case here. Alice Adams benefits from this interference. Had the film ended the way the book did it would have been another bomb.
Alice Adams (Katherine Hepburn) is the young daughter of Virgil (Fred Stone) and the unnamed Mrs. Adams (Ann Shoemaker). Her father is an invalid who still draws his pay thanks to the generosity of his long-time employer Mr. Lamb (Charles Grapewin). Mrs. Adams bemoans that her husband never had the ambition to improve his lot in life the way the other families around them have, leaving them relatively poor in comparison. Their son, Walter (Frank Albertson), is a gambler who can’t hold a job. Mrs. Adams compels Walter to be Alice’s escort to a dance party given by the wealthy Mildred Palmer, a ruse intent on helping Alice social climb and impress the other girls there. At the party Alice meets Arthur Russell (Fred MacMurray), a wealthy cousin of the Palmers, who is charmed by her despite her situation.
Fed up with everything, Mrs. Adams finally succeeds in nagging her husband into using a secret glue formula he co-invented while working for Mr. Lamb to open his own factory. Mr. Lamb sees this as robbery and ostracizes them, refusing to even speak to Virgil. Eventually he comes over to inform them he intends to build his own competing factory next door and put Mr. Adams out of business. Meanwhile, word is getting around that Mr. Adams has been dishonest with his new business and Arthur, who has been seeing a lot of Alice lately, doesn’t want to believe the rumors. His doubts, coupled with an obviously staged show of wealth by the Adams as they have him over for dinner, leaves Alice certain that their relationship has come to a quick and bitter end.
There is a clear divider between the haves and the have-nots. This is made perfectly clear in the opening scene when Alice enters a flower shop to get an idea for a bouquet to take to the Palmer’s party. She looks at, and gets prices on, the various flowers them makes an excuse why she doesn’t buy any. Instead, she illegally picks some of her own to make her own bouquet. Her attempts at appearing on equal social standing with the other girls at the party are shallow and desperate as she watches the other girls command the attention of multiple men while she sits by herself, her brother putting in just one dance with her to “prime the tip jar” before disappearing off to the coat room to gamble. Throughout the party her make-shift bouquet wilts and eventually she is forced to discard it secretly. She is just about to give up for the night when Arthur Russell spots her and asks her to dance.
Hepburn and MacMurray don’t have the kind of steamy on-screen chemistry of Bogart and Bacall but there is a connection between them that cannot be denied. What weakens things is the relatively stiff performance MacMurray is giving here. Katherine Hepburn has so much energy and in their scenes together she is so dramatic and excitable that he comes across as nearly stone faced at times. There are times when this works for him, though, particularly during the dinner scene when he’s trying to be polite but is sweating bullets while eating a heavy meal inside the Adam’s overly hot home. Other times he just seems too low energy when playing off of Hepburn. This is really her movie after all and she commands the screen whenever she is there.
This is a cute little romantic drama with a likable couple but it’s not up there amongst the greatest films of all time. It’s a perfect showcase for Katherine Hepburn’s talents and she did get nominated for Best Actress, losing to Bette Davis who viewed the win as a consolation prize from the previous year that should have gone to Hepburn instead. At first Katherine appears to be just playing giddy and excitable but further into the movie it becomes obvious that this is a façade, masking anxiety and a great personal sadness. She goes from smiles and external happiness to abruptly crying against the window as the rain outside symbolically washes away her tears. Her awkwardness when trying to hide how poor her family is during Arthur’s visit is rendered expertly on his face and body language. Katherine is spot on perfect selling these moments and many more.
Alice Adams is a prime example of a studio picture made with the leading lady firmly in mind, not only in the characterization but also in the calculation of creating a film with the sole purpose of elevating a struggling star back to the top of her game. Had this one failed, too, the studios would have had to admit she was played out, no longer viewed favorably by the paying audiences. It plays heavily to Hepburn’s strengths, doesn’t overshadow her with an equally charismatic leading man, and gets you to care for Alice the way you would an unhappy sibling. She may be a social climber but we never get the sense that she’s in it for money or fame. She just wants to no longer be overlooked and on even footing with all the other girls. She wants to be happy. When Arthur comes into her life she gets just that. That makes the ending when she believes it is all over all the more heart wrenching. The film hides pretty well how this will play out in the end and reading the book ahead of time won’t change that. The ending is sweet and to the point. It wraps things up a bit too neatly but this is Hollywood aftef all, not real life, and we want things to end happily. It wouldn’t be a good romance otherwise.
Academy Award Nominations:
Best Picture: Pandro S. Berman
Best Actress: Katherine Hepburn
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Release Date: August 15, 1935
Running Time: 99 Minutes
Not Rated
Starring: Katherine Hepburn, Fred MacMurray, Fred Stone and Evelyn Venable
Directed By: George Stevens
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