Katherine Hepburn had already made Little Women, and a bunch of her "names" films of the early 1930s. here, she's Pamela, headstrong, outspoken, and thirsty for knowledge. for which she is reprimanded. Dad is Donald Crisp, with the downright upright british accent. and comes down on Pamela when she gets caught reading and trying to improve herself. the awesome Lucile Watson (Mother, in The Women!) is her governess, and encourages her to read and learn. Van Heflin has a small part as well. Pamela meets Thomas, who seems to work for the embassy. (Herb Marshall was seventeen years older than Hepburn. ) the picture is great, but the sound is pretty rough. Trials and tribulations for Pamela and her sister while in Italy. so they head home. and bump into Thomas. again. he wants to spend more time with her, but Pamela has plans to work. and that just wasn't common, or appreciated at the time. directed by Mark Sandrich. died at 44 of a heart attack. had directed Top Hat and Gay Divorce, two really fun films! novel by Netta Syrett, who actually had been born in 1865, so she would have been twenty in 1885 ! sounds like the story of her own life. or an acquaintance. or who she wanted to be. sadly, the old time customs and slow pace of the story keep the film dragging a bit. it's certainly interesting as a Hepburn film, and was considered one of her "loser" films. it's also a standout film as an early pro-women-equality film.
Review of A Woman Rebels
