1935

'Alice Adams,' 1935
(Handout)
In George Steven's "Alice Adams" (1935) Katharine Hepburn is both arch and lyrical as the upwardly hopeful daughter of an unlucky clerk. With her piercing voice, knife-like posture and switchblade limbs, Hepburn is still "Hepburn." But she uses her individualistic talents to strike never-before-heard notes of triumph or despair - and to touch universal emotions. When Alice tries to put on airs, you simultaneously wince and laugh. Few American movies rival this social comedy-drama's acute class consciousness.