Classic Movies - Famous Child Star: Margaret O'Brien - Little Women

Starring
June Allyson
Peter Lawford
Margaret O'Brien
Elizabeth Taylor
Janet Leigh

and
Mary Astor

Today let's conclude talk Classic Movie Child Star - Margaret O'Brien. We are going to skip ahead a few years to 1949. The featured movie for today is Little Women. Louisa May Alcott's beloved novel is brought to life by a stellar cast: June Allyson, Peter Lawford, Margaret O'Brien, Elizabeth Taylor, Janet Leigh, Mary Astor, Rossano Brazzi, Lucile Watson, C. Aubrey Smith, Leon Ames, and Harry Davenport.

Little Women is an autobiographical account of Alcott's life with her three sisters in Concord, Massachusettes in the 1860s. Set in New England during the Civil War, Little Women chronicles the lives and loves of four sisters. Meg, Josephine, Amy and Beth March are the little women who, together with their mother "Marmee" (Astor), keep the home fires burning while their father (Ames) serves with the Union army. The March ladies must rely on each other for strength as they face tragedies both large and small. Meg (Leigh), the eldest, is a second mother to the troupe while "Jo" (Allyson), the tomboy, takes on the role of man of the house in the absense of their father. Amy (Taylor) is proud and yearns for the good things in life, and Beth (O'Brien), the youngest and frailest of the four, overcomes her shyness as she seeks comfort in gentle music. Little Women is a simple tale of four young girls coming to womanhood, finding love and their place in the world. In the novel, Amy is the youngest sister, but in order to use Margaret O'Brien as Beth, Beth was made the youngest in the 1949 version of Little Women.

We highly recommend watching Little Women. There have been several versions made throughout the years that are exceptional. Our favorite versions are the 1933 and 1949 versions. Read "Let's Talk Classic Movies" for more classic movie presentations and trivia.

**Trivia Question for Today: The basket that Margaret O'Brien carries around in Little Women is the same basket that was carried in a previous movie. What was the name of the movie and who carried it?

Bonus Trivia: In which scene in Little Women did June Allyson actually cry real tears?

Trivia Answer for Previous Post: Van Johnson was originally cast as John Truett in Meet Me in St. Louis.

Bonus Trivia Answer for Previous Post: The house at 5135 Kensington Avenue in St. Louis, Missouri was the actual home of Sally Benson, author of the short stories that Meet Me in St. Louis was based on. Cheaper By The Dozen (1950) was the other well-known movie that used this same house for the Gilbreth family's house set in Montclair, New Jersey.

Classic Movies - Famous Child Star: Margaret O'Brien - Jane Eyre

Margaret O'Brien and

Joan Fontaine - 1944

This week we will conclude our Back to School month and talk Classic Movie Child Star – Margaret O’Brien. One of the most popular child actresses of the 1940s, Margaret O'Brien was precocious- yet-genuine, and unlike-any-other-girl-in-the-neighborhood in a variety of starring and supporting roles for MGM during the World War II and immediate post-war era. Set apart from other cute faces of the time by her mature acting abilities, Margaret even earned a special juvenile Oscar in 1944. Young Margaret made her film debut at age four in the Mickey Rooney/ Judy Garland musical Babes on Broadway (1941). She didn't sing, but had an uncredited "bit part" as a little girl who auditions for Broadway producer Thornton Reed crying, "Please! Please! Don't send my brother to the chair! Don't let him burn!" It was hardly a role, but it made an indelible impression.

After signing with MGM at age five, O'Brien was given her first starring role in Journey for Margaret (1942), also starring Fay Bainter, Robert Young, and Laraine Day. Her performance as a young war orphan in World War II London made her an instant audience favorite, and MGM wasted no time publicizing her as the most gifted child actress since Shirley Temple (avoiding comparisons with the 1930s song-and-dance prodigy). Recognizing her value as a performer lay in her grown-up acting talents, Journey for Margaret director W.S. Van Dyke called her a young Sarah Bernhardt, and the studio set about trying to find suitable vehicles for its rising star.

In 1944, Margaret was loaned to 20th Century-Fox for another supporting part. She portrayed a young French girl, Adele Varens, in Jane Eyre, which is the movie we would like to feature today. The film was adapted from Charlotte Brontë 's novel of the same name. Jane Eyre also featured two other rising child stars, Peggy Ann Garner and Elizabeth Taylor, though O'Brien received the highest billing of the three girls. Directed by Robert Stevenson, the film stars Joan Fontaine, Orson Welles, Margaret O’Brien, John Sutton, Agnes Moorehead, Sara Allgood, Henry Daniell, and Hillary Brooke.

Jane Eyre begins in Gateshead Hall, where a ten-year-old orphan named Jane Eyre (Garner) is living with her mother's brother's family. The brother, surnamed Reed, dies shortly after adopting Jane. His wife, Mrs. Sarah Reed (Moorehead), and their three children (John, Eliza and Georgiana) neglect and abuse Jane, for they resent Mr. Reed's preference for the little orphan in their midst. In addition, they dislike Jane's plain looks and quiet yet passionate character. Thus, the novel begins with young John Reed bullying Jane, who retaliates with unwonted violence. Jane is blamed for the ensuing fight, and Mrs. Reed has two of the servants drag her off and lock her up in the red-room, the unused chamber where Mr. Reed had died. Still locked in that night, Jane sees a light and panics, thinking that her uncle's ghost has come. Her scream rouses the house, but Mrs. Reed just locks up Jane for longer. Then Jane has a fit and passes out. A doctor, Mr. Lloyd, comes to Gateshead Hall and suggests that Jane go to school.

Mr. Brocklehurst (Daniell) is a cold, cruel, self-righteous, and highly hypocritical clergyman who runs a charity school called Lowood. He accepts Jane as a pupil in his school. Jane is infuriated, however, when Mrs. Reed tells him, falsely, that Jane is a liar. Jane finds life at Lowood to be grim, but is impressed with one pupil, Helen Burns (Taylor), who accepts the school's deficiencies with passive dignity, practicing the Christian teaching of turning the other cheek. Jane admires and loves the gentle Helen and they become best friends, but Jane cannot bring herself to emulate her friend's behavior. While the typhus epidemic is raging, Helen dies of consumption in Jane's arms. Jane refuses to go back to school and has given up until Dr. Rivers (Sutton) encourages her to go back to get educated and prepare her life to do God's work.

Eight years later – Jane Eyre forwards as Jane has been a teacher at Lowood for two years now, but she thirsts for a better and brighter future. Small, plain and poor, Jane Eyre comes to Thornfield Hall as governess to the young French girl, Adèle Varens (O’Brien), ward of Edward Rochester (Welles). Denied love all her life, Jane can't help but be attracted to the intelligent, vibrant, energetic Mr. Rochester, the brooding lord of a mysterious manor house and a man twice her age. But just when Mr. Rochester seems to be returning the attention, he invites the beautiful and wealthy Blanche Ingram (Brooke) and her party to stay at his estate. Meanwhile, the secret of Thornfield Hall could ruin all their chances for happiness.

Will Jane’s love be revealed? Will the secret of Thornfield Hall ruin their lives? We highly recommend watching 20th Century-Fox’s Jane Eyre. Read “Let’s Talk Classic Movies” for more classic movie presentations and trivia.

**Trivia Question for Today: Margaret O’Brien was named Angela Maxine O'Brien at birth. What inspired her to change her name to Margaret?

Trivia Answer for Previous Post: There were 11 movie adaptations made from the novel Treasure Island (including the 1934 version). The first film was made in 1920.