Alice Adams – 1935
I’m not exactly sure what to make of this movie. It was entertaining, but in a very uncomfortable way. What I mean by that is that it was a movie that was supposed to be a romantic comedy. There was plenty of romantic drama, but there didn’t seem to be much comedy. It was there, but I think it was mostly based on incredibly awkward social situations.
The character of Alice Adams, beautifully played by a very young Katherine Hepburn, was a young girl in a poor family who was trying catch a husband. But because of her family’s lack of money, she resorted to lying as her means of attracting a man. She put on airs and tried to deceive the rich ladies and gentlemen into believing that she was as wealthy as they. When she meets Arthur Russell, played by Fred MacMurray, she starts in with her stories. But a relationship based on such lies can make for such an incredibly awkward situation when the lies are finally and inevitably revealed.
This was one of Katherine Hepburn’s early film roles. She had been in the Best Picture nominee Little Women two years previous, and so she was the hot ticket of the day. In fact she had won the Best Actress award two years earlier in a different film called Morning Glory. Her portrayal of Alice Adams earned her another Best Actress nomination.
But despite the fact that she was not yet the iconic star that she has become today, she was still delightful to watch. It is hard to say anything bad about her performance. Hepburn had a face that the cameras loved and a quick and witty personality that was utterly attractive. Despite Alice’s lies and the drama that they created, we loved her and rooted for her to make her relationship with Mr. Russell work. Every time one of her lies was revealed, she experienced not only the shame of the lie, but the shame of the poverty that the lie was supposed to have concealed.
And she really pulled off the drama masterfully. When she tries to get him to leave her because she is too embarrassed by the dinner party, which we’ll get to in a moment, the tears in her eyes were so real. I don’t know how she was able to hold them in her eyes so long without letting them roll down her cheeks. She really was wonderful.
But despite Alice’s many fabrications, Arthur falls hopelessly in love with her anyway. MacMurray was also a pleasure to watch. I have never been a huge fan of his, but he was young and very attractive. He had a certain kind of innocence about him that made his smiles seem warm and genuine. He was perfect in the role of the romantic lead.
Another academy award winner, though she did not win her award until 1939, was Hattie McDaniel, who played the small part of Malena. Malena was a colored maid who the Adams family hired for their dinner party. She was funny, especially when her little maid’s hat kept falling over her eyes.
The party was supposed to be funny, but I couldn’t help but seeing it as anything but pathetic. Embarrassed by her own family’s extreme poverty, Alice tried so hard, but simply didn’t have enough money to make the lie anything even close to convincing. The pretense was awkward for Alice, awkward for Arthur, awkward for Alice’s family, and even awkward for Malena. It was one of those situations where you just want to say, “Let’s stop pretending that we are enjoying ourselves and put an end to this farce.”
A little sub-plot that was mildly interesting was one in which Alice’s brother Walter, played by Frank Albertson, was a self-involved guy who could not hold a job, was friends with colored people, and even eventually stole money to help a friend with his gambling debts. Albertson was a handsome young man and did a good job
This was an interesting movie, and though I loved Hepburn, I’m not sure I would have nominated it for Best Picture. She deserved her Best Actress nomination, sure, but I wouldn’t put the film up on that level.