The 92nd Academy Awards nominations were announced Monday morning with Little Women (2019) earning six Oscar noms, bringing the total nominations for all adaptations of the novel to 14.
Though the first feature-length adaptation of Louisa May Alcott’s novel was a silent film released in 1918 (it was filmed in and around Alcott’s home in Concord, Massachusetts), the 1933 version starring Katharine Hepburn was the first to be nominated by the Academy; it earned nominations for best picture and best director. Its writers, Victor Heerman and Sarah Y. Mason won for best adapted story, with Mason becoming the second woman ever to win an Academy Award (the first was Frances Marion for best original story for 1930’s The Big House).
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The 1949 version earned two nominations for more technical achievements, chiefly cinematography and art decoration, winning in the latter category.
It wasn’t until 1994 that an adaptation would earn Oscar nominations again, this one earning three for costume design, music and actress in a leading role for Winona Ryder. However, it did not win in any category.
Though Greta Gerwig’s 2019 adaptation did not receive a best director nomination, its six noms span a breadth of the categories: best motion picture, adapted screenplay, achievements in costume design and original score and best actress performances for Saoirse Ronan and Florence Pugh (lead and supporting, respectively).
Notably, Ronan is the second-youngest four-time acting nominee at age 25. The only actor younger than her to be nominated four times is Jennifer Lawrence, who was last nominated for Joy in 2015, a few months younger than Ronan at the time of her nomination.
The 92nd Annual Academy Awards will be presented at the Dolby Theater in Los Angeles on Sunday, Feb. 9, and broadcast on ABC.
