All language subtitles for Little.Women.1994.1080p.WEBRip.DD5.1.x264-FGT-English

Is this too fast?

Harder!

(LAUGHING)

JO: My sisters and I
remember that winter

as the coldest
of our childhood.

A temporary poverty had
settled upon our family
some years before.

The war had made fuel
and lamp oil scarce.

But necessity is indeed
the mother of invention.

Somehow in that dark time,

our family,
the March family,

seemed to create
its own light.

Marmee!
Marmee's home!

Marmee! Marmee!

Marmee! Marmee!

We waited and waited!
We've been expectorating
you for hours!

Have you, my darling?

Expecting, featherhead.

Oh, Marmee,
you're frozen!

Yes, if you could see
the people lined up

outside of Hope House
in this bitter cold.

Mmm, your cheeks are so warm.

Thank you, cricket.

You finished your
Christmas bundles?

So many this year.
We were handing out...

Oh, how is your cold?

Better.

That's good.
We were handing out food

as quickly as we could
make up the baskets.

Now, Miss Amy,
what is this in my pocket?

Father!

"My dearest family,
I am well and safe.

"Our battalion is
encamped on the Potomac."

Potomac.

Potomac.

"December makes
a hard, cold season for
all of us so far from home.

"I think of my girls
day and night,

"and find my best comfort
in your affection.

"I pray that your own
hardships will not be
too great to bear.

"Give them all my
dear love and a kiss.

"Tell them
I think of them by day,
pray for them by night."

(WHISPERING)
Poor father.

I'm a selfish girl.

(EXCLAIMS)

Little ones.

MARMEE: It's Christmas Eve.
Father wouldn't want
us to be sad now.

(ALL SINGING)
* Ding dong merrily on high

* In heav'n the bells
are ringing

* Ding dong! Verily the sky
Is riv'n with angel singing

* Gloria

* Hosanna In Excelsis

To bed, Miss Amy.
Merry Christmas, sweetheart.

Merry Christmas.

* Let steeple bells
be swungen

* And "Io, io, io!"

Merry Christmas.

Merry Christmas.

* Gloria

Merry Christmas, love.

Love you.
I love you.

* Hosanna in excelsis!

My Jo.
Merry Christmas.

Merry Christmas,
Marmee.

* Hosanna In Excelsis

And don't sit up
too late.

I won't.

* May you beautifully rime
Your evetime song,
ye singers *

(READS SOFTLY)

JO: Late at night,
my mind would come alive
with voices and stories,

and friends as dear to me
as any in the real world.

I gave myself up to it,
longing for transformation.

Oh, what
miraculous food!

Isn't this just like
the old days, Hannah?

Oh.

(CHUCKLES)

We shouldn't eat it.
We should just look at it.

I'm going to eat it.

Jo?
Jo, come down!

JO: I'm awake!

Horrible piano.

Hannah's put together
an absolute Christmas miracle.

Is that sausage?

Wait!

AMY: Butter! Oh, oh,
isn't butter divinity?

Oh, God, thank you
for this breakfast.

Jo, angel,
fetch your Marmee.

She went out at the crack
of dawn to see some Germans.

Hummel, the boy said.
Not a word of English.

His da's gone.
Six children and she's
about to issue another.

May as well take 'em
a stick of firewood.

Sure they haven't got any.

Or breakfast either.

Perhaps we could send
the Hummels our bread.

Might as well send
the butter too.

Butter's not much use
without bread to put it on.

JO:
Oh, wonderful snow!

Don't you wish you could
roll about in it like dogs?

Once one of our
finest families.

JO: Lovely weather
for a picnic!

Come along, Theodore.
We'll be late for church.

Jo, you should let
them speak first.

What will they
think of us?

Oh, don't look back!

* Here we come a-wassailing
Among the leaves so green

* And here we come a-wandering
So fair to be seen.

* Love and Joy come to you,
And to you your wassail too

* And God bless you and
send you a Happy New Year

* And God send you
a Happy New Year *

(GIRLS LAUGHING)

JO: "Knights and ladies,
elves and pages,
monks and flower girls

"All mingled gaily
in the dance.

"Pauline cried out in horror
as her bridegroom's mask fell,

"disclosing not her lover
Ferdinand, but the face of his
sworn enemy, Count Antonio.

"'Revenge is mine!' quoth he."

Continued in
the following edition.

Excellent installment,
Mr. Snodgrass.

Oh, I love
forbidden marriages!

You ought to publish it, Jo.

Really!
Not just in
The Pickwick Portfolio.

Mr. Tupman, are you demeaning
our fine newspaper?

Mr. Winkle.

(CLEARS THROAT)

"One periwink..."
Advertisement.

"One periwinkle sash
belonging to Mr. N. Winkle,

"has been abscondated
from the wash line,

"which gentleman,
desires any reports
leading to its recovery."

Gentlemen of the press,
hear, hear!
I call to your attention

our Mr. Tupman's
The History of the Squash.

Oh, don't read mine.

Beth, this isn't a story.
It's a recipe.

Oh, dear,
I never know what to write.

First rule of writing,
Mr. Tupman, is never
write what you know.

What do we think
of the boy?

Is he a captive like Smee
and Nicholas Nickleby?

He looks lonely.
You don't think
he'll try to call?

Maybe he has a secret.
A tragic, European secret.

He's had no upbringing
at all they say.

He was reared in Italy
among artists and vagrants.

Doesn't he have
a noble brow?

If I were a boy, I'd want
to look just like that.

Imagine giving up Italy
to come live with
that awful old man!

Oh, Jo, please
don't say "awful."
It's slang.

I'd be terrified
to live with him.

MEG: I shouldn't mind
living in such a fine house,
and having nice things.

Oh, it doesn't seen
like Christmas this year
without presents.

I'm desperate
for drawing pencils.

I wish I didn't have to work
for Great-Aunt March,
that crabby old miser.

And you, Beth.
What's your Christmas wish?

I'd like the war to end
so Father can come home.

Oh, sweet Beth.
We all want that.

They do have
a beautiful piano.

Wait till I'm a writer.
I'll buy you the best
piano in creation.

And if she doesn't,
you can come over
and play mine.

When I marry,
I'm going to be
disgustingly rich.

And what if the man
you love is a poor man,
but good like Father?

Well, it isn't like
being stuck with the
dreadful nose you get.

One does have a choice
to whom one loves.

BETH: You have a lovely nose.

I wouldn't marry
for the money.

I mean, what if his
business goes bust?

Besides, down at
The Eagle, they pay $5
for each story they print.

Why, I have ten stories
in my head right now!

Gentlemen, I dislike
all this money talk.
It isn't refined.

Well, if lack of attention
to personal finances
is a mark of refinement,

then I'd say the Marches
are the most elegant
family in Concord.

We'll all grow up
someday, Meg.

We might as well know
what we want.

That'll do, that'll do.
Put the carriage away
and look smart about it.

MAN: Very good, sir.

LAURIE: Merry Christmas!

I have the most wonderful
feeling about tonight.

Meg and Jo, you have to
tell me exquisitely everything
about Belle Gardiner.

What her nose looks
like and about her ring.

Annie Gardiner
says it's an emerald.

Can you imagine?
Everyone's lucky but me.

I'm glad I don't have
to go and be with
those frightening people,

and try to think
of things to say.

Hush now.

Oh, mind you, Jo,
don't eat much at supper.

And don't shake
hands with people.
It isn't the thing anymore.

Jo, your dress!

Oh, I know!

You always stand
too close to the fire.

Oh, dear.
Well, just keep
your backside to the wall.

Meg, look.
What cunning little heels.

BETH: They're rather small.

MEG: That's all right.
It's only for one night.

You don't suppose anyone
will notice they came out
of the rag bag, do you?

You have to have heels.

(SNIFFING)
What's that strange smell?

(SNIFFING)

AMY:
Like burnt feathers.

(EVERYONE SCREAMING)

HANNAH: Heavens above!

You've ruined me!

I'm sorry! I'm sorry.
You shouldn't
have had me do it.

Meg, don't worry.
It'll grow back soon enough.

JO: I spoil everything!

(GASPS)
I can't go out like this!

Good!
I'm not going either.

Here, we'll place
my bow in front.

BETH: Yes, that covers it.

It's very becoming, Meg.

I'll never have any suitors.
I'll just be
a dried-up old spinster.

You don't need
scores of suitors.

You only need one,
if he's the right one.

Listen to the child.

Meg isn't going to
be married
right away, is she?

With Jo's help,
I never will.

Oh, you must be so happy.

Oh, Belle,
it's enchanting.

Well, I best go
and help mama.
Excuse me.

(INSTRUMENTAL MUSIC PLAYING)

LADY:
I think it's Mrs. Barkley.

She's going to try it.
Watch her.

Oh, yes, I would
like it very much.

(GASPS)
Jehoshaphat!
I'm sorry.

No, no, stay!
It's not a bad
hiding place.

You see, I don't know anyone
so I felt awkward standing
and staring at people.

Should I put on my jacket?
I never know the rules.

Um, um, I'm Laurie.

Theodore Laurence,
but I'm, uh,
I'm called Laurie.

Jo March.

So, who were
you staring at?

Uh, you, actually.
What, what game
were you playing?

I don't know,
but I think I won.

Who else?

Well, I was...

I was quite taken
with that one.

That's Meg.
That's my sister.

She's completely
bald in front.

Is it true that you lived
in Italy among
artists and vagrant?

My mother was Italian.
A pianist.

Grandfather
disapproved of her.

Truly?

I saw a play like that once.
Do you like the theater?

Oh, yes.

Were you born there?

Where?
In Italy.

Do you speak French
or Italian?

English at home.
Francais a l'ecole.

The music conservatory
in Vevey.

But grandfather's
having me tutored now.

He insists I go to college.

Oh, I'd commit murder
to go to college.

Actually,
I'm going to Europe.

Well, at least I hope I am.
My Great-Aunt March says
she'll go one of these days,

and she has to take me
with her because I work
as her companion.

I have to read to her
for hours and hours.

But I do
all the voices!

I'll bet you do.

If I weren't going to be
a writer, I'd go to New York
and pursue the stage.

Are you shocked?

Very.

I'm sorry.

(JO GIGGLING)

I'm sorry.
Meg always makes me take
the gentleman's part at home.

It's a shame you
don't know
the lady's part.

Why are you looking
at the back of my dress?
You cheat.

It doesn't look so bad.
Honestly.

JO: You promised
you wouldn't look.

Oh, Jo,
I've sprained my ankle.

I shouldn't wonder
in those shoes!
Does it hurt?

Oh. Oh, no, no.
I'm quite well,
thank you.

This is our neighbor,
Laurie, the captive.

Oh, poor Meg.
I'll go tell Mrs. Gardiner.

Oh, no, Jo.
She'll think I've
been sampling the punch.

A perfectly
good party ruined.

Well, I have
my carriage.
Let me take you home.

Oh, yes!
Oh, no, thank you.

Thank you.

MARMEE: Lean on me.
Thank you, Mr. Laurence.
That's very kind of you.

LAURIE: Not at all.

Goodbye, Laurie.
Goodnight, Mrs. March.

Wherever did you
get this shoe?

Did you ride in his carriage?
Oh, you two have all the luck.

Oh, Jo,
is he very romantic?

Not in the slightest!

We're very much
obliged to him, but,
he's a dreadful boy.

Well, he did a good deed
putting snow on this ankle.

He put snow
on your ankle?

To bed, Miss Amy.

With his own hands?

Oh, stop being
so swoony!

I won't have my girls
being silly about boys.
To bed, Jo, dear.

Does this hurt?

Everything lovely
happens to Meg.

Oh, yes indeed!

You mustn't be soppy
about Laurie anymore
than you should be soppy

about those silly
girls at school.

We shall be
good friends with him.

With a boy?

He isn't a boy!
He's Laurie!

JO: Faster!

Faster!

Faster!

(SCREAMING) Laurie!

Your young ladies
are unusually active,
Mrs. March, if I may say so.

You may indeed,
Mr. Brooke.

It is my opinion that
young girls are no different

than boys in their
need for exertion.

Feminine weakness
and fainting spells
are the direct result

of our confining young
girls to the house,

bent over their needlework
in restrictive corsets.

Marmee!

Your young student
is an athlete.

He is, thank you,
a good one.

But he makes
an unruly scholar.

I regret that his
grandfather is away much.

One hopes
that your girls

will be a
gentling influence.

Indeed, Mr. Brooke.

Marmee, must you speak
to everyone about corsets?

Oh, Meg.

Do I?

(LAUGHTER)

JO:
Blast these wretched skirts!

AMY: Don't say
"blast" and "wretch."

Amy, don't be such
a ninny-pinny.

I wish I was Beth
so I could stay home
and do pleasant things.

Oh, if you call
doing laundry and
housework pleasant!

Blast!

MEG: Amy, hurry.
I'll be late for work.

There's Mrs. King.
I'm tardy again.

Lovely children.

Oh, Meg,
must I go to school?
I'm so degradatated.

I can hardly
hold my head up.
I owe at least a dozen limes.

Limes?

Are limes
the fashion now?

Of course they are.
It's nothing but limes now.

Everyone keeps them in
their desks and trades
them for beads and things.

And all the girls
trade each other at recess.

If you don't bring limes
to school, you're nothing.
You might as well be dead.

I've had ever so many limes
and I can't pay anyone back.

Well, no wonder you
don't learn anything
at that school!

I know how it feels to do
without any little luxuries.

Meg!

But we are not
destitute, not yet.

Here's a quarter.
Marmee gave me the
rag money this month.

Go on.

JO: "Secondly,
the immortality of the soul

"is asserted
to be in consequence

"of its immateriality

"as in all
leipothymic cases

"consistent with the idea
of immortality,

"and immorality,
and physicality..."

(WHISPERING)
And I think you
finally dozed off.

(CRYING)

AUNT MARCH: Josephine,
there's a draft!

(BARKING)

Is it father?

Teacher struck me.

He put the limes out
into the snow.

May Chester said my
limes must have been
donated to Hope House.

And then I said that
she wouldn't get
a single lime from me.

And then she told Mr. Davis
they were hidden in my desk,
and then he struck me.

We ought to go over there
and beat the tar out of
him with his own stick!

Jo, we must not
embrace violence.

I'll write this man a letter.

A letter?
That'll show him.

MEG: You failed to mention
to me they were forbidden.
A whole month's rag money?

Amy, I shouldn't
have given it to you.

I'm sorry!

All those lovely limes.
I'm perfectly desolated.

I'm not sorry
you lost them.

It's a frivolous concern
in times like these.

You are more intent
upon reshaping
your dear little nose

than in fashioning
your character.

It's an appalling school.
Your spelling's atrocious,

your Latin absurd.

Mr. Davis said it was as
useful to educate a woman
as to educate a female cat.

I really must strangle
Mr. Davis!

"Mr. Davis,

"what right have you
to strike a child?

"In God's eyes
we are all children
and we are all equals.

"If you hit and humiliate
a child, the only lesson
she will learn

"is to hit and humiliate."

Amy, do you think you can
discipline yourself

to learn at home
as Beth has done?

"I withdraw my daughter
Amy from your school."

It serves
the scoundrel right!

Jo will now supervise
your education.

(SIGHS)

Jo, tell me
what happens next.

After the duke turns his back
on his family fortune
and saves Lady Zara.

Don't know.
It's all murder and gore.

The damsel's in distress.

Oh, I love your
damsels in distress.

Oh, Beth, truly,
I don't know if I could
ever be good like Marmee.

I rather crave violence.

If only I could be
like father

and go to war and stand up
to the lions of injustice.

And so Marmee does
in her own way.

Yes.

But I want to do
something different!

I don't know what it is yet,
but I'm on the watch for it.

You will find it, Jo.

Hello! Jo!

Come over here.
You too, Meg.

Dull as tombs
around here.

Mr. Laurence, one doesn't
shout at ladies as
if they were cattle.

My apologies.

(MEOWING)

All right.

(SIGHS)

What do those girls do
over there all day?

Over the mysteries
of female life

there is drawn a veil
best left undisturbed.

(HUMMING)

Oh, dear countess,
pray for me,

for I have sinned
against meself and
me brother Rodrigo.

You've got to say sinned
as if you've really sinned!

Sinned! Sinned!

Rodrigo!

You arrive seeking
the Duke of Lankershire.

Hark ye.
Who goes there?

Oh, I forgot
the cymbals.

Why it's...
It's Rodrigo!

Rodrigo?

I want to be
Lady Violet.

I'm exhaustified
of being the boy.

The play is the thing, Amy!
You're too little
to be Lady Violet.

Here, be the
Countess de Montanescu.

You don't have any lines.

Besides, who would
be our Rodrigo?

(CLEARS THROAT) Gentlemen,

I propose the admission
of a new member
to our theatrical society.

Theodore Laurence.
We'll put it to a vote.

Nay. He'll laugh
at our acting and
poke fun at us later.

He'll think it's
only a game.

No, he won't.
Upon my word
as a gentleman.

Jo, when it's only ladies,
we don't guard our
conduct in the same way.

We bear our souls and tell
the most appalling secrets.

He would find us improper.

Oh, Teddy would do
nothing of the sort.

Oh, please?
Let's try him.

Shall we?

(LAUGHING)

(GASPING) Jo!

AMY: Traitor!

Fellow artists,
may I present myself.

As an actor,
a musician

and a loyal and very humble
servant of the club.

We'll be the judge of that.

In token of my
gratitude, and as
a means of promoting

communication between
adjoining nations,

shouting from windows
being forbidden,
I shall provide

a post office
in our hedge.

To further encourage
the baring of our souls

and the telling of
our most appalling secrets.

I do pledge

never to reveal
what I receive
in confidence here.

Well then,

do take your place,
Rodrigo.

Sir Rodrigo.

JO: And so Laurie was admitted
as an equal into our society,

and we March girls
could enjoy the daily novelty

of having a real brother
of our very own.

(GASPS)

I want to go to the theater.
I never get to go anywhere.

You're too little.
Beth, where in tarnation
are Marmee's opera glasses?

AMY: I'm not too little.
You're just hogging Laurie.

Please, can't I go?

Oh, Amy, I'm afraid Laurie
only reserved four seats.

Do I look too shabby?

Oh, Jehoshaphat, Meg,
this isn't a coronation.

It's just Laurie,
and that awful Mr. Brooke.

Jo, can't you ask Teddy
to get another ticket?

No!

You have a cold, dear.
Rest your eyes.

Evangeline and I will make
you some ginger tea.

You're weeks
behind in algebra.

Now, I want you to do all
the pages that I've marked.

I won't have a sister
who's a lazy ignoramus.

And don't sulk.
You look like a pigeon.

Coo! Coo!

Goodnight.

You'll be sorry
for this, Jo March!

(CARRIAGE APPROACHING)

MAN: Whoa! Whoa, there.

Oh.

Thank you.

Oh, Mrs. Nell Watson.
Wasn't she
a wonderful swooner?

If only I were
the swooning type.

If only I were
the catching type.

Young Laurence informs me
that you are an aficionado
of the theater, Miss March.

Well, I enjoy
reading plays.

Yes.

I find it most,
most pleasurable myself.

Though I confess I'm
distracted at the theater.

Thinking of the
peculiar lives of
the actors themselves.

When one considers
the immodesties
Mrs. Nell Watson suffers,

one wonders what sort of
lady would seek such a life.

Meg is a
sensational actress!

We're always putting on
wild theatricals.

Oh, it's just something
that we play at.

Well, as,
as a matter of fact,

at school I engaged
in debating.

What do you think of that?
Let's see what they do.

I had a wonderful time,
Mr. Brooke.

As did I.

BROOKE: It was a most
delightful evening.

And I'd very much like...

Thank you very much.
Goodnight.

Oh, goodnight.
Goodnight.

That was rude.

You plastered
yourself on him.

It's proper to take
a gentleman's arm
if it's offered.

MARMEE: How was the theater?
Amusing?

It was wonderful!
I was absolutely inspired
by the love scene.

You look flushed, Meg dear.
Was the theater overcrowded?

Still sulking?

(SIGHS)

(WHISPERING)
Beth, where did
I put my manuscript?

Beth?

No!

No! No!

Oh, no.

I didn't do it!

I'm gonna kill you!
I'm gonna kill you!

AMY: Marmee, help me!

JO: I'm gonna kill you!
Do you hear me?

How can you do this to me?

Jo!

Jo, stop it.
You're hurting her.

Marmee!

Jo! Jo!
Let go of her!

What's happened?

I hate you!
I hate you!

No, Jo!

MARMEE: Don't touch it.

MARMEE: Come, just let it go.

You're dead!
You're nothing!

JO: I never want
to see you again!

It is a very great loss
and you have every right
to be put out.

But don't let the sun
go down upon your anger.

Forgive each other.
Begin again tomorrow,
huh?

I will never forgive her.

I'm sorry, Jo.

(CHATTING
AND LAUGHING)

JO: Looks like the last ice
we'll have this year.

Say "Go."

Laurie, Jo, wait for me!

Ignore her.

Ready...
Blast!

Jo, please?

(CRACKLING)

(EXCLAIMS)

(AMY SCREAMS)

Amy!

Jo!

Hold on.
I'm coming!

JO: Hold on, Amy.

Get a rail!

Grab the stick, Amy.
Grab it!

Come on!
Grab it!

LAURIE: Hold on!

There we go.
That's it, that's it.

Josephine March,
you walked all the way
from Walden pond

in only these bloomers?

As if she
even noticed.

Dear Amy.

How could I
have been so horrible?

Thank God for Laurie.

AMY: Jo, do you love Laurie
more than you love me?

Oh, don't be
such a beetle!

I could never love anyone
as I love my sisters.

I'm not a beetle.

Oh, look out.
You're leaving out
the best part.

When Lady Zara succumbs
to the duke's rival.

Oh, right, yes!

Sir Hugo.

I quite prefer
him myself.

JO: In the spring, we turned
orchard house upside down

with preparations
for Meg to attend
Sally Moffat's coming out.

Myself, I'd sooner
have been hung by the neck
than attend a fancy ball.

Wait till all of Boston
sees you in this dress, Meg.

I told Laurie he has to
show you off and keep you
from being a wallflower.

Upon penalty of death.

Oh, where is
that miserable glove?

Abigail, I shake my head
at the way you're
managing Margaret.

How is she to be married
without a proper debut?

Now, Aunt, in our
present circumstances...

Your circumstances
will not change
with your husband's return.

My nephew is as foolish
with money as he is
in his new philosophies.

The one hope for your family
is for Margaret to marry well.

Though I don't know
who marries governesses.

Marmee!

And this one has
entirely ruined her
disposition with books.

Oh, are those for me,
Josephine?

No. Meg's taking them
to the Moffat's.

Marmee, Meg's frantic.
She lost her glove and
she only has one pair.

She cannot go without gloves.
The Moffats are society.

You're absolutely correct.
Tell Meg she may borrow mine.

Meg, you can
take Marmee's!

Oh, dear!

Oh!

More tea?
No, thank you.

Sally Moffat, you won't
be able to draw your laces.

At my coming out party,
I didn't eat for
weeks beforehand.

Oh, Meg, I do like
that color on you.

It's just like
forget-me-nots.

The nicest I've seen
that kind of fabric
since the war broke out.

But you had it
made up so plain.

Well, I do
my own sewing and...

Mrs. Finster's on
Charles street carries
silk pieces ready-made.

Tomorrow I'll take you there.

Marches haven't
bought silk in years.

They have views
on slavery.

Meg, isn't it true
your father's school
had to close

when he admitted
a little dark girl?

The silk at Mrs. Finster's
isn't milled in the South.

It's made right here,
over in Linfield.

This isn't China silk?

They use little
children for labor.
All the silk mills do.

The poor are
always with us.

You are so good
to remind us.

May I tell you
something?

This is
an afternoon dress.

I'm going to
make you my pet.

Hortense?
(REPLYING IN FRENCH)

(GIVING DIRECTIONS IN FRENCH)

Tonight Miss March
shall have as many
conquests as she likes.

You have no corset.

(GASPS)

(WHISPERING) Come on.

(INDISTINCT CHATTING)

No, I believe the
next dance is the polka.
With me.

Well, I would dance
with you, Mr. Parker,

but I fear for
my new slippers.

My credo is,
"Don't tread on me."

Miss March.
I thought your family
were temperance people.

Laurie.

Oh, no.
No, don't cover up.

There may be one or two
gentlemen here who haven't
seen all of your charms.

I did promise Miss Jo
I would show you off.

The girls dressed me up
and I rather like it.

Yes, it reveals
a whole new Meg.

What do you call this?

(WHISPERING) Meg.

I'm sorry.

Please don't tell Jo
how I've behaved.

Of course not.

If you won't tell anyone
how I've behaved.

I was only
playing a part.

To see how it felt
to be Belle Gardiner with

four proposals
and 20 pairs of gloves.

You're worth ten
of those other girls.

LADY: Did you see the way
this March girl has gone
after the Laurence heir?

Best thing that could
happen to the Marches.

Oh!
This ridiculous dress!

I've been tripping
over it all night.

Tie something around
your neck where it
can do you some good.

JO: I don't like people
speculating about Laurie
and our Meg.

As if they were
characters in some play.

MARMEE: And nothing
provokes speculation more

than the sight
of a woman
enjoying herself.

Why is it Laurie may do
as he likes and flirt
and tipple champagne...

And no one thinks
the less of him?

Well, I suppose for
one, practical reason,

Laurie is a man
and as such,

he may vote, hold
property and pursue
any profession he pleases.

And so he is not
so easily demeaned.

Why should anyone care
what they think?

I do.

It's nice to be
praised and admired.
I couldn't help but like it.

Of course not!

I only care what
you think of yourself.

If you feel your value lies
in being merely decorative,

I fear that someday
you might find yourself

believing that's all
that you really are.

Time erodes all such beauty,
but what it cannot diminish

is the wonderful
workings of your mind.

Your humor,
your kindness.

And your moral courage.

These are the things
I cherish so in you.

I so wish I could give
my girls a more just world.

I know you'll make it
a better place.

Hmm?

"...Resounded,
resounded with song
of the nightingale."

No.

(SIGHS)

No, I don't want
them now.

And keep the music.
I won't be going near
a piano for ages.

You need your
books in college.
Here's your Dombey and Sons.

I could've sworn
there was another volume.

Honestly, Jo.

I won't be taking
all of Dickens
to Harvard with me.

Oh, no.
You'll have much more
important things to read.

Nothing's going
to change, Jo.

I wish I could go.

I wish you could too.

You'll come back knowing
all sorts of things
I don't know,

and then I'll hate you.

Oh.

Well, as it happens,

I already know something
you don't know.

About Meg,
and a certain former
tutor of mine,

soon to be employed
at the firm of
Laurence and Laurence.

Liar.

Has Meg mislaid a certain
personal article

such as

a glove?

Meg, John Brooke
stole your glove!

What glove?
Not my white one?

Brooke's had it forever.
Laurie says he
keeps it in his pocket.

You must tell him to return
it. Hannah, don't you think
he ought to give it back?

Tisn't what I think
that matters.

MARMEE: Jo? Meg?

It's a telegram

from Washington hospital.

Your father's been wounded.

Come on, Amy.
That's it.
There are six.

The household account is
in this ledger. It should
see you through the month.

Of course.
Don't worry about us.

Oh, Beth?

Dear, look in on the
Hummels for me, will you?

I will, Marmee.

Where's Jo?
It's almost 6:00.

Doing battle with Aunt March
for Marmee's railway ticket.

MARMEE: Carry a letter
to Mrs. Juba at
the Hope House.

John!
Mr. Brooke.

I've come to offer myself
as an escort to your mother.

Cook packed this up and
grandfather sends a bottle
of spirits for Mr. March.

Oh, that's lovely.
Thank you.

Marmee?

Mr. Brooke is here.
Mrs. March.

Mr. Brooke.

As young Laurence
no longer requires a tutor,

Mr. Laurence has commissions
for me in Washington.

I should like to be
of service to you there.

We couldn't let you
travel alone.

Mr. Brooke,
how kind of you.

May I?
Thank you.

Are we to go
on the 6:00 train?

Yes, I sent Jo off,
but she hasn't...

I'm here!

Jo, finally.

$25?
Can Aunt March spare this?

I couldn't bear
to ask her.

I sold my hair.

Jo, how could you?

Your one beauty.

It isn't going to affect
the state of the union.

It'll grow back.

It suits you.

Tell father
that we love him.

Tell him we pray for him.
Bring him home.

I'll never forget
his kindness.

Hannah, thank you.

Oh, I shall miss
my little women.

(JO CRYING)

Are you thinking
about father?

No. My hair.

Oh.

GIRL: Little harder.

BOY: Yeah, I hit him
on the noggin.

Wait for me!

Blast! Oh, dear.

This stove!
We'll eat them
anyway.

There's no more
cornmeal nor coffee.

The grocer won't let us
have any more on account.

What can I bring
the Hummels?

Oh, fry the Hummels!
You spent hours
there last week.

The boys are sick.

I mustn't write
of this to Marmee.

She has enough
burdens now.

I hate money!

Your potatoes!

Come on! Here!

MEG: Air the beds.
And be careful cleaning.

And don't forget
your studies, Amy.

AMY: I won't.
I will. Go!

Beth!

(SPEAKING GERMAN)

I don't understand.
I brought you a potato.

(SPEAKING GERMAN)

Laurie's home
for the weekend!

In need of funds, no doubt.

We'd have a week's
groceries with what
he spends on billiards.

Oh, Jehoshaphat!

(EXCLAIMING)

Meg! Meg,
you won't believe it!

I've sold the
Lost Duke of Gloucester!
Five whole dollars!

I'm an author!

Beth?

The Hummel
baby is sick.

I feel so strange.

MEG: She's burning up, but she
says that she's freezing.

She has a terrible thirst,
but she won't drink.

Sounds like arsenicum,
but she looks more like
belladonna.

HANNAH: I saw the Hummels.

Two children
taken up to Jesus.
Scarlet fever.

You and Miss Jo
won't be harmed.

You had it when
you were babies.

But Miss Amy,
we have to send you away.

She won't die.

Will she, Laurie?
God wouldn't let her die.

I don't wanna go away.

I'll come
and see you
every day.

I swear it.
You won't be alone.

(SIGHS)
I'm afraid
of Aunt March.

If she's unkind to you,

I'll come
and take you away.

Where will we go?

Paris?

(LAUGHING)

If I get scarlet
fever and die,

give Meg my box
with the green
doves on it.

And Jo must have
my turquoise ring.

I'll see to that.

I don't wanna die.

I've never even
been kissed.

I've waited my
whole life to
be kissed.

And what
if I miss it?

I tell you what.

I promise to kiss you
before you die.

(DOG BARKING)

MAN: Whoa!

(GASPING)

MEG: I don't know.
I don't think Marmee
should leave father.

Beth needs Marmee.
She depends on her.

But what if we
send for her and
father gets worse?

How in the name of all
that's holy would
we pay for the train?

AMY:
"That he profane not
my sancteraries..."

AUNT MARCH: Sanctuary.
"Sanctuaries.

"For I, the Lord,
do sanctify them.

"And Moses told it
unto Aaron and
to his sons.

"And unto
all the children
of Israel."

Go on.

(SIGHS)

"And the Lord spoke
unto Moses saying..."

(KNOCKING AT DOOR)
MEG: Jo,
Mr. Laurence is here.

If we may,

I wish my
personal physician,
Dr. Bangs,

to examine
the little girl.

There's nothing
to be done.

If I bleed her,
it would finish her.

Best to send
for the mother.

LAURIE:
Forgive me.

I've already done so.
Mrs. March arrives on
the train this night.

(WHISPERING)
Hail Mary, full of grace,
the lord is with thee.

Blessed art thou
amongst women and...

MEG: Jo!

Cricket.
Marmee's here.

Icy cold. Jo.

Jo, fetch a basin with
vinegar water and rags.

Meg, my kit.

Must draw the fever
down from her head.

It's all right.

It's all right.

It's all right now.
That's my love.

(BIRD TWITTERING)

(SOBBING)

JO:
Beth!

JO:
And so our dear Beth
came back to us,

although the fever
had weakened her
heart forever.

We did not know then
that a shadow had fallen.

We prepared for another
Christmas without Father.

Try each corner.
Thank you.

AUNT MARCH: No, no!
One bow is enough!

Mr. Laurence.
Thank you.

Oh, I'm so sorry.

It happens
all the time.

LAURIE:
How's this?

Here she comes!
Come on! Come on!

What should I do
with these bows?

AUNT MARCH:
Don't scare her to death.
She's been sick, you know.

Hide the chairs.
Hide them, Amy!

(WHISPERS)
Quick.

(GIGGLING)

The house is beautiful.

They're friends of mine
from college.

Freddy Vaughan
and Averill Watson.

They won't bite.

No, don't sit there!
Sit...

Here.
Sit here, child.

Merry Christmas!
ALL: Merry Christmas,
Beth!

ALL TOGETHER:
Merry Christmas, Beth.

I should've given it
to you long ago.

It belonged to
my little girl
who had to leave us

when she was very young.

But now, it will
make music again.

Thank you,
Mr. Laurence.

Merry Christmas.
Merry Christmas.

Play something,
Beth.

Shall I?

(PLAYING DECK THE HALLS)

(ALL SINGING)
* Deck the halls
with boughs of holly,

* Fa la la la la,
la la la la.

* Tis the season
to be jolly,

* Fa la la la la,
la la la la.

* Don we now
our gay apparel,

* Fa la la, la
la la, la la la.

* Troll the ancient
Yule tide carol,

* Fa la la la la,
la la la la.

(GIGGLING)
* See the blazing
Yule before us,

(ALL SINGING)
* Fa la la la la,
la la la la.

* Strike the harp
and join the chorus.

* Fa la la la la,
la la la la.

* Follow me
in merry measure,

* Fa la la la la,
la la la la.

* While I tell of
Yule tide treasure,

* Fa la la la la,
la la la la *

(CLAPPING)
That was good!

MARMEE:
I fear you would have
a long engagement.

Three or four years.
John must secure a house
before you can marry.

And do his service
to the union.
John? Marry?

You mean that pokey
old Mr. Brooke?

JO: How did he weasel his way
into this family?

Jo!

John has been very kind
to go visit father in
the hospital every day.

He's dull as powder!
Can't you at least marry
someone amusing?

I'm fond of Mr. Brooke.
He's a good man.
He's kind and serious.

I'm not afraid
of being poor.

Marmee, you can't just
let her go and marry him!

MEG: I'd hardly just go
and marry anyone!

I would rather Meg marry
for love and be a poor
man's wife,

than marry for riches
and lose her self-respect.

So... So you don't mind
that John is poor?

No, but I would rather
he have a house.

Why must we marry at all?

Why can't things
just stay as they are?

It is only a proposal.
Nothing need be decided.
Now, girls!

(PIANO PLAYING)

Let's not spoil the day.

ALL SINGING:
* Hark the herald
angels sing

* Glory to
the newborn king

* Peace on earth
and mercy mild *
MEG: Father. Father.

Merry Christmas, everyone!
What a wonderful
Christmas present!

AMY: Father!
Oh, father,
you're home!

Meg!

You're more handsome
than ever!

Beth,
my little cookie.

Thank God you're well.
AUNT MARCH:
Clear the way.

Give the man
room to breathe.

Jo!

Oh, my wild girl!

Well, this could
become the fashion.

MARMEE:
Watch his arm.

I'm not used to this.
Be careful.
Be very careful now.

Don't coddle
this soldier too much.
Father, it's time...

AMY: Oh, Father!

Hannah,
God bless you.

It's good to see you.

It's good to have
you home, Mr. March.

Now let me look
at my girls.

Take them and give them...

The cholera took more
men than the Rebs,
as I understand it, sir.

Agriculture isn't taught,
and it should be.

It should
be required.

Perhaps the freedmen
should be given land
in the West.

What happened between
you and John Brooke?

Never you mind.

Isn't it wonderful, Jo?

Yes, it's wonderful.

GIRL: Welcome home,
soldier.

Would you like
some water, sir?

(ALL SINGING)
* ...From our birth

* Over and around us lies.

* Lord of all,
to Thee we raise,

* This our hymn
of grateful praise

* For the beauty
of each hour *
JO: Change will come

as surely as the seasons
and twice as quick.

We make our peace with it
as best we can.

Or as Amy once said when
she was still a little girl,

"We'll all grow up someday.
We might as well know
what we want."

* ... And stars of light.

* Lord of all,
to Thee we raise,

* This our hymn
of grateful praise.

* Lord of all,
to Thee we raise,

* This our hymn
of grateful praise *

AUNT MARCH:
So you feel our
Amy has talent?

Oh, Miss March
excels at drawing.

But you know,
her landscapes
lack emotion.

I definitely feel
Amy would benefit
from further study.

But she won't get it
around here.

AUNT MARCH: Where do
you suggest?

TEACHER:
Cape Cod has
a fine artist colony.

But Europe
is the best place.

Teddy! Teddy!

Your houseman said
you wouldn't be
home till night.

I couldn't
wait so long.

Hail the conquering
graduate!

Is Grandfather
exceedingly proud?
Yes.

And exceedingly bent
on locking me up
in one of his offices.

Why is it Amy
may paint china and
you can scribble away,

while I must manfully
set my music aside?

Why must you?

If I don't, I'd have
to defy Grandfather.

Yes, and not
the whole of society.

I can't go against
the old man.

When I imagine myself
in that life,

I can think
of only one thing

that would
make me happy.

Oh, no. Teddy.
Teddy, don't.

No, wait, Teddy.

We have to talk
about this reasonably.

I have loved you

since the moment
I clamped eyes on you.

What could be
more reasonable
than to marry you?

We'd kill each other.
Nonsense!

Neither of us
can keep our temper.

I can.
Unless provoked.

We're both stupidly stubborn,
especially you.
We'd only quarrel!

I wouldn't!

You can't even propose
without quarreling.

(CHUCKLING)

Jo.

Dear Jo. I swear
I'll be a saint.

I'll let you win
every argument.

I'll take care of you
and your family.

(SIGHS)
I'll give you every luxury
you've ever been denied.

You won't have to write.
Unless you want to.

Grandfather,

wants me to learn
the business in England.

Can't you see us
bashing around London?

London.

Oh, Teddy, I'm not
fashionable enough
for London.

You need someone
who's elegant and
refined.

I want you.

Teddy,
please don't ask me.

Teddy, I'm
desperately sorry.
No, don't.

I do care for you.
No.

With all of my heart.
You're my dearest friend.

I just can't
go be a wife.

You say you won't,
but... You will.

I won't! I won't.
One day...

You'll meet some man.

A good man.

And you will love
him tremendously.

And you will live
and die for him.

Teddy, please.
You will!

Jo,

I know you.

And I'll be hanged,

if I stand by
and watch.

Jo, are you ill?

She has refused
Laurie.

Well, I'm sure she
can take it back.

It's just
a misunderstanding.

No.

No.

(PIANO PLAYING)

Oh, listen to him.

(PIANO CONTINUES)
I must get away.

Of course.

Aunt March
is going to France.

Oh! France!

That's ideal!
I'll put up
with anything to go!

Aunt March
has asked me to go.

To Europe?

My Europe?

JO:
When?

It was decided
just today.

Well, I am
her companion now.

She wishes me
to study painting abroad,

and hopes I might make
a good match there.

Oh.

But perhaps she
wouldn't mind if you
stayed at Plumfield.

While we are gone.

Of course Aunt March
prefers Amy over me.
Why shouldn't she?

I'm ugly and awkward,
and I always say
the wrong things.

I fly around
throwing away perfectly
good marriage proposals.

I love our home,
but I'm just so fitful,

and I can't
stand being here!

(CRYING)
I'm sorry.
I'm sorry, Marmee.

(SIGHS)
There's just something
really wrong with me.

I want to change,
but I... I can't.

And I just know
I'll never fit
in anywhere.

MARMEE: Oh, Jo.

Jo, you have so many
extraordinary gifts.

How can you
expect to lead
an ordinary life?

You're ready to go out
and find a good use
for your talent.

(WHISPERING)
Though I don't know what
I shall do without my Jo.

Go. And embrace
your liberty.

And see what
wonderful things
come of it.

(HORSE NEIGHS)

JO: Laurie sought his refuge
in London and abroad.

Marmee helped me find a place
in the great city of New York.

And so I stepped over
the divide between

childhood and
all that lay beyond.

Mrs. Kirk?

Josephine! Oh.

Yes.
How do you do?

Kitty, Minnie!
This is Miss March.

Her father was
Colonel March.
He knew your papa.

It was cold!
MRS. KIRK: Watch your feet,
Mr. Costigan.

MAN: You'll never
get it straight.
Do come in, my dear.

JO: Dear Beth,

Marmee's friend, Mrs. Kirk,
has made me feel
quite at home.

My little students,
Kitty and Minnie,
are dear girls.

(MEN LAUGHING)

How curious to grow up
in a busy boardinghouse
with no father,

and your own mother
the innkeeper.

I felt bold
on leaving Concord.

But I confess
I find New York
rough and strange,

and myself strange in it.

Please pass these
down the table.

Thank you kindly,
Professor.

JO: Mrs. Kirk
believes that I am here
for a brief interlude

of sensational experience
before succumbing to
a matrimonial fate.

Excuse me, miss.
JO: And while there's
surely no lack

of sensational experience
of every kind available
in such a city,

MAN: Come in!
I hope, though I've
had no luck yet,

that any experience
I gain here will be
strictly literary.

And that all events
of a romantic or
sensational nature

will be entirely confined
to the page.

Our subscribers are
not interested in sentiment
and fairy stories, miss.

They're not
fairy stories.

Try one of
the ladies' magazines.

BOY: Come on, Will.
Hurry up!
WILL: I'm coming!

Oh! Oh!

I'm so sorry.
I'm so clumsy.

Oh, no. No.

FRIEDRICH: You know
that when first I saw you
I thought,

"Ah, she is a writer."

What made you
think so?

(GIGGLES)
Oh!

Yes, I know
many writers.

Ah, in Berlin
I was...

I was professor
at the university.

Here I am just
a humble tutor,
I'm afraid.

No, please.
Sit down.

Thank you.

You are far from home,
Miss March.

Do you miss
your family?

Oh, very much.

My sisters especially,
and Laurie.

She is your sister?

No, no.
He's a friend.
Whew.

Do you like
your coffee?

Oh, it's...
Just very,
very strong.

I like it.

You have
quite a library.

Did you bring
all these books
from Germany?

A few of them.

May I?
Of course.

Most of these
I could not bear
to leave behind.

I sold everything I owned
to get my passage
to come here,

but my books...
Never.

Oh.
Shakespeare.

Some books
are so...
Familiar.

Reading them is like
being home again.

Will you be
returning to Berlin,
Professor Bhaer?

Friedrich.
Call me Friedrich.
Friedrich.

No.
Uh, sadly...

The fatherland of
Goethe and Schiller

is no more.

I adore Goethe.

My father used to read me
all the German poets
when I was a child.

Really? That is
most surprising.

Well, my mother
and father were
part of...

A rather unusual
circle in Concord.

Do you know the word
"transcendentalist"?

But this is German
romantic philosophy!

We throw off all
our constraints and
come to know ourselves

through insight
and experience.

But it got out
of fashion now.

Not in the March family,
I'm afraid.

It's just that with all
this transcendence

comes much emphasis
on perfecting oneself.

Ah! This gives
you a problem?

(SIGHS)
I'm hopelessly flawed.

If only we could

transcend ourselves
without perfection,

like your poet,
Walt Whitman,

who rides up and down
the streets of Broadway
all day

shouting poetry against
the roar of the carts.

"Keep your silent woods,
O nature.

BOTH TOGETHER:
"Your quiet places

"by the woods."
"by the rivers."

By the woods.
Woods. Yes.

BOTH: "Give me
the streets of Manhattan."

I think we are all
hopelessly flawed.

JO: He is as poor
as one might imagine

an itinerant
philosopher to be.

Yet, as the weeks go by
I see that he is

unfailingly generous
to all of us who
live in the house.

I am grateful
to have a friend.

(CHILDREN SCREAMING)

(LAUGHING)

MAN: That's the system
our nation was founded on.
Come now!

It was nothing short
of a betrayal of
our country's ideals.

Our country's ideals?

A constitution that denies the
basic rights of citizenship
to women and black people?

They just passed
the 15th Amendment, Jacob.
They can vote.

JACOB: Black men can vote,
Charles.

MAN 2: A lady has no need
of suffrage if she
has a husband.

Wh... No, no.

You don't take wine?
Only medicinally.

Well, pretend that
you've got a cold.

I agree!

But if women are
a moral force,

shouldn't they have
the right to govern, preach,
and testify in court?

Whoa, whoa!

What is it,
Miss March?

I find it poor logic
to say that because
women are good,

women should vote.

Men do not vote
because they are good.

They vote because
they are male.

And women should vote,
not because they are angels
and men are animals,

but because
we are human beings and
citizens of this country.

You should've been
a lawyer, Miss March.

I should have been
a great many things,
Mr. Mayer.

(MAYER CHUCKLING)

(VIOLIN PLAYING)

Friedrich!
Oh, I'm sorry.

No, please.
Please.
Come in.

I have some
good news.

A newspaper
has published
two of my stories,

and they wish
to see more.

This is wonderful!
Right there.

The Daily Volcano.

"The Sinner's Corpse,"
By Joseph March.

Hmm.

Lunatics. Vampires.
This... This interests you?

Well, people like
thrilling stories, Friedrich.

This is what
the newspapers want.

Yes.
Yes, I suppose.

I suppose
that is true.

Yes. Well, it'll buy
a new coat for Beth,

and I'm sure she'll
be grateful to have it.

Jo...

(KNOCKS AT DOOR)

Oh.
I...

I do not want
to be your teacher.
No, understand me.

I am saying only that
you should please yourself.

My opinion is
of no importance.

Do you forgive me?

Well, of course.
Can I make a gift?

An experience.
Do you like the opera?

Ah! Oh, I do!

I mean, I think I do.
We don't seem to get
a lot of opera in Concord.

Well, I don't have
an opera dress.

You will be perfect.

Where we are sitting
we shall not be so,
uh... Formal.

(WOMAN SINGING OPERA)

(SINGING CONTINUES)

Leila is a goddess.

She has made a promise
never to love.

If she breaks her vow,
all will be lost.

(SINGING CONTINUES)

FRIEDRICH: Oh, look.
Trouble is coming.

What's going to happen?

The inevitable.

(MAN SINGING)

Leila's soul is opening.

She's drawn to an idea.

He says,
"Love has a fatal power."

(BOTH SINGING TOGETHER)

Your heart...

Understood mine.

In the depth
of the fragrant night,

I listened
with ravished soul,

to your
beloved voice.

Your heart
understood mine.

(LOUD BANGING)

(SINGING CONTINUES)

(APPLAUSE)

(CHATTERING)

(LAUGHING)

(SPEAKING FRENCH)

Oh, Laurie!
You wicked...

We heard you were
in Greece or somewhere.

WOMAN: Laurie!
Come, come!

You've been much occupied
with business, I am sure.

I'm not pursuing
business just now.

Grandfather agreed
I should concentrate
on my music for a while.

You know Fred Vaughan.
Freddy.

Good day, Laurence.
Yes.

I see you've taken up
a passion for art, Freddy.

Aunt March!
You look splendid.

I cannot say the same
for you, my boy.

Amy, dear,
will you be long?
I must retire.

Yes, Aunt March.
Do come see us.

Are they engaged?

Not yet.

GIRLS: Hop, hop!
One, two, three, four.

Hop, hop, hop, turn.

Friedrich, how long
would it take strychnine

to dissolve in brandy?

Oh!
About eight minutes?

And is a dagger
worn at the waist,
or is that a saber?

I think that in these novels
the dagger is usually
concealed in the boot.

By a man with
a dark moustache.

(DOOR CLOSES)

(THUNDER CRACKING)

Go this way.

(LAUGHING)
Oh!
Hurry, hurry.

Ah.

Well.

Oh, Laurie,
how lovely!

It isn't what
it should be,

but you have
improved it.

Please don't.

I liked you much better
when you were blunt
and natural.

It did not
serve me well.

I find you changed.

In fact,
I despise you.

You laze about spending
your family's money,
and courting women.

You aren't serious
about music.

My compositions
are like your paintings.

Mediocre copies
of another man's genius.

Then why don't you go
to Grandfather in London
and make yourself useful?

I should.

Why don't you
reform me?

(SNICKERS)

I've someone
more practical in mind.

You do not love
Fred Vaughan.

Fred Vaughan is stable
and well-mannered...

And has $40,000 a year.

I've always known
I would not marry a pauper.

I expect a proposal
any day.

You'll regret it.

I'll regret it.

I'm reminded
of a promise.

Didn't I say
I would kiss you
before you die?

Do you hear from Jo?

She has befriended
a German professor.

(CHUCKLES)

Yes, well, no doubt
he's showing her

the ways of the world.

I do not wish to be
courted by someone
who is still in love

with my sister.

I'm not in love with Jo.

Then how do you
explain your jealousy?

I envy her happiness.

I envy his happiness.

I envy John Brooke
for marrying Meg.

I hate Fred Vaughan.

If Beth had a lover,
I would despise him too.

Just as you
have always known

you would never
marry a pauper,

I have always known
I should be part
of the March family.

I do not wish
to be loved
for my family.

Any more than Fred Vaughan
wishes to be loved
for his $40,000 a year.

(SPEAKING FRENCH)

LAURIE: My darling Amy,

it is you I want,
and not your family.

I've gone to London
to make myself worthy of you.

Please, do not do anything
we shall regret.

WOMAN: Monsieur Vaughan,
mademoiselle.
May I show him in?

Friedrich,
did you read it?

Yes.

It's, uh...

Oh, it's well written, Jo.

And the first novel.
What... What
a great accomplishment!

I'm going to be showing it
to your publisher friend,
Mr. Fields, today.

He liked
"The Sinner's Corpse."

What is it?

Mr. Fields is a good man.
He will...

He will give you
an honest opinion.

Oh, I see.

What is your
honest opinion?

I'm a professor
of philosophy, Jo.

I'd really like
to know what you think.

You...
You should be
writing from... From life,

from the depths
of your soul.

There is nothing
in here of the woman that
I am privileged to know.

(FOOTSTEPS APPROACHING)

Friedrich,
this is what I write.

(MAN CLEARS THROAT)

My apologies if
it fails to live up
to your high standards.

Jo, there is more to you
than this,

if you have
the courage to write it.

(SOBBING)

(SIGHS)

Meg!

Jo?

Jo!

Oh, Meg!

Oh, why didn't
you tell me?

Well, one hardly
speaks of such things.

Oh, how wonderful.

How is Beth?

You will find her
much altered.

(WHEEZING)

Marmee.

She wouldn't let us
send for you sooner.

The doctor has been here
a number of times,

but it's beyond all of us,
and I think...

(WHISPERING)
I think she's been
waiting for you.

Before...

(WHEEZING)

JO: Drink up
all this good broth.

I'm glad you're home.

So am I.

JO IN BRITISH ACCENT:
"Mr. Pickwick changed color."

"'Ah,' said Mr. Wardle.

"Well, that's important.
There's nothing suspicious
then, I suppose."

I feel stronger
with you close by.

I'm gonna get you
better yet.

If God wants me with him,
there is none
who will stop him.

I don't mind.

I was never like
the rest of you,

making plans about
the great things I'd do.

I never saw myself
as anything much.

Not a great writer
like you.

Oh, Beth. I'm not
a great writer.

But you will be.

Oh, Jo,
I've missed you so.

Why does everyone
want to go away?

I love being home.

But I don't like
being left behind.

Now I am the one
going ahead.

I am not afraid.

(SOBBING)

I can be brave
like you.

But I know I shall be
homesick for you...

Even in heaven.

(SOBBING)
Oh, Beth.

No.

(SOBBING)
I won't let you go.

Oh, my Jo.

(WIND GUSHING)

(WINDOWS RATTLING)

Oh.

Aunt March is bedridden,

and would not survive
a sea voyage.

Amy must bide her time
and return later.

It's just as well.

Will we never
all be together again?

(PANTING)

(BIRDS SCREECHING)

(SOBBING)

Lovely morning.
Good morning.

Ah.
Thank you, sir.

JO: Dearest Laurie,

you may not have heard
our sad news of Beth.

"Meg has entered
her confinement,

"and poor Amy must stay
in Vevey with Aunt March."

JO: This is far too great
a sorrow to bear alone.

Please come home to us,
Teddy, dear.

Your faithful, Jo.

Oh, Laurie.

I knew you would come.

(SIGHS)

BETH'S VOICE:
The real charm of it lay
in Beth's happy face

as she leaned over
the new piano,

and lovingly touched
the beautiful black
and white keys.

YOUNG AMY'S VOICE:
During the next few minutes,
the rumor circulated

that Amy March had got
24 delicious limes.

MEG'S VOICE:
I told you they dressed me up,
but I didn't tell you

that they powdered
and squeezed,

and made me look
a fashion plate.

JO'S VOICE:
As she spoke,
Jo took off her bonnet.

A general outcry arose,
for all her abundant hair
was cut short.

YOUNG AMY:
Jo, how could you?
Your one beauty.

LAURIE: Nothing's going
to change, Jo.

(MARCH GIRLS SINGING)
* For the beauty of the earth

* For the glory of the skies,

* For the love
which from our birth

* Over and around us lies.

* Lord of all,
to Thee we raise,

* This our hymn
of grateful praise *

Surprise!

(BABY CRYING)
John, you have
a daughter.

And a son.

Oh, Marmee,
I can't believe you
did this four times.

Yes, but, but...

Never two at once,
my darling.

(BABY COOING)
Oh, Daisy.

Oh, Meg.
She's so beautiful.

And him!
He is handsome.

He's gonna look
just like his papa
when he grows up.

Yes, he does
look like John.

Have you heard
from the professor?

No. No.

We did not part well.

John and I
don't always agree,
but then we mend it.

(KNOCK AT DOOR)

Who could that be?

Jo!
Teddy!

Oh, this is magic!
You are absolutely...

Covered in flour.
Oh, dear! Come in.

No, Jo, not yet.
May I tell you something
without the others?

You're my dear friend.

I'm glad you shall be
the first to know.
What?

May I present...
My wife.

Jo.

Amy!
Oh, my!

Here. Flowers.
Oh, you're so...
Thank you.

Come in!
Come in!

(GASPS)
MARMEE: Brussels lace.
Oh!

I went to Europe to paint
the great cathedrals,

but I couldn't
get our home
out of my mind.

Oh, look how Amy
has captured Orchard House.

Lovely.
Oh, it's beautiful.

Not as beautiful as I wanted,
but I am still learning.

(COOING)
Dear little angel.

Jo, you must tell me
the truth as a sister,

which is a relation
stronger than marriage.

Do you mind at all?

Oh. Oh, no.

I was surprised.

Mind you, I had it on
good authority

that our Teddy would
never love another,

and now he's gone
and gotten married.

It's good to hear you
call me Teddy again.

At last
we're all family as we
always should have been.

You must promise me
that you will always
live close by.

I couldn't bear losing
another sister.

AMY: Jo, it's so gloomy
and chilly.

One would require an income
just for the coal
to heat this place.

What could the dear girl
have been thinking?

JO: Most likely
she felt sorry for me.

(SPEAKING GRUFFLY)
Decrepit homeless spinster!

Jo.

Oh, poor Aunt,
living here
all those years alone

in this useless old house.

Yes, her blessings
became a burden because
she couldn't share them.

Wouldn't this have made
a wonderful school?

A school.

What a challenge
that would be!

(DOG BARKING)

Hello, Tuppy.
Hello.

Good boy.

My book!
Someone's publishing
my book!

Hannah! Hannah!

Someone's publishing
my book!

Heaven help us!

It came with no letter.
How did it arrive?

Foreign gentleman
brung it.

Strange kind of name.
Can't think of it.

Hannah!

Oh, fox or bear
or such.

Bhaer!
Did you ask
him to wait?

I thought he was one of
Miss Amy's European friends
coming with a wedding gift.

I said, "Miss March
and Mr. Laurie are
living next door."

Hannah, you didn't!
And he said
he had a train to catch.

Friedrich!

(THUNDER CRACKING)

Oh, Friedrich,
thank you for my book.

Well, when I didn't
hear from you,
I thought you hated it.

Oh, no. no.
Reading your book
was like...

Opening a window
into your heart.

James Fields took it out
of my hands, and he would
not give it back to me.

I said,
"Such news I have
to give to her myself."

Well, it was...
It was a silly impulse.

No, no.
Not silly at all.

It's so good to see you.
Come and meet my family.

(THUNDER RUMBLING)
No, I...

Thank you, but, uh...

I have to catch a train.

I... I'm going
to the West.

My ship leaves
from Boston
tomorrow morning.

Oh.

Yes. The, uh, schools
in the west are young.

They need professors,
and, uh,

they're not so concerned
about the accent.

I don't mind it either.

You see, my, my aunt
left me Plumfield.

It isn't a field.
It's a house, actually.
A rather large house.

And it isn't really good
for anything except a school.

And I want
a good school,

one that would be open to
anyone who wanted to learn.

Well, I'll be
needing someone who
knows how to teach.

Is there nothing
I might say to
keep you here?

I confess that...

I was hoping that I might
have a reason to stay,

but congratulations
on the celebration
of your marriage.

Oh, no! No!
No, that's...
That's Amy.

She's my sister Amy,
and Laurie, actually.

No, I'm...
I'm not married.

Please don't go
so far away.

Jo.

Such a little name for...
Such a person.

Will you have me?

With all of my heart.

But I have nothing
to give you.
My hands are empty.

Not empty now.