Taken at face value, this 4K digital restoration is a screen test of Katharine Hepburn, in costume and in character as Saint Joan of Arc. May 1934 was almost certainly a tumultuous time for Hepburn—still flying high on the success of playing Jo in Little Women, freshly divorced and pursuing a torrid romance with her agent, Leland Hayward, and grappling with the release of her first flop, Spitfire, just two months prior. Despite Hepburn’s luminous appearance, this version of Joan of Arc would never be made.
