Alice Adams (1935)

This was a pretty good film, though, as most films are from the 1930s, horribly dated but it was pleasantly odd.
Katharine Hepburn is brilliant as the title character and deserved far more than her Oscar nomination. Alice Adams is a young girl, growing up in an unnamed town. She is poor. That's not the right word, but the one they want you to use. She is not poor by my standards. Her family has a nice house, food on the table and she never repeats a dress throughout the whole film. Sure, she is poor by the standards of the town perhaps, but that doesn't stop her brother, Walter (Frank Albertson) from going out on dates.
Mother Adams (Ann Shoemaker) and Alice are pushy. They want their husband/father, who is currently ill, to get a better job. Alice wants the money. She's tired of being ignored at fancy parties and dancing with a socially awkward guy. Finally, a guy does notice her. He is Arthur Russell (Fred MacMurray) and is described as a playboy by the description on the film, though his wild ways are never shown or even hinted at, though it is mentioned that he is supposed to be engaged to his cousin. Nothing appears to phase him, not catching Walter gambling or even finding out that Alice is really poor. However, the part is rather one-dimensional but it's hard to talk when Katharine Hepburn keeps interrupting you.
The better plot (in acting and personal preference) is the one involving the Adams family. Virgil (Fred Stone) is ill, but his job is rather understanding about the whole thing. He (and Walter) work for Mr. Lamb (Charley Grapewin, best known as Uncle Henry from The Wizard of Oz). But while working for Mr. Lamb, Virgil invented this new, better glue and his money-hungry wife wants him to build a factory. This happens and no fuss is made but then it is discovered that Walter doctored the books to cover a debt and Lamb wants revenge so he will open his own, bigger glue factory right across from the location of the Adams's factory. Luckily, Alice confronts the man and says that her father felt hopeless because of the constant bullying he overtook at the hands of his wife. Mr. Lamb must have a soft spot for her because he says that everything will work out. It is heavily implied that they will go into business together and figure out a solution for Walter's situation.
Now, back to the main plot. Alice lies to Arthur constantly. Convincing him that her family is secretly wealthy and she and her mother put on a good scene for them, though her father couldn't be more out of place in his nice suit. Hattie McDaniel is hired as the day maid, though the maid outfit they give her doesn't fit. Virgil also hates the caviar sandwiches and doesn't know what brussel sprouts are. The scene is extremely awkward, just as so many scenes in today rom-coms are. Everything works out, despite Alice's constant lying, Arthur opts to ignore everything people say about her and at the end of the film, informs Alice that he loves her. Problem solved.
The problem I have with the film is that Alice is perfectly capable of getting a job for herself. She even tells Mr. Lamb at the end that she will get a job to pay back her brother's debt. In addition, she is about to enroll in the business school when she runs into Arthur and they start talking. She is handy around the house, but that is it. I would be bored stiff if I were her. And this was before TV. That said, the film was enjoyable in an odd sort of way. Grade: A-