Davis insisted on playing Regina, not as written, not as Wyler wanted & she misinterpreted the role badly. In the play, Regina was the victim of her malignant brothers machinations. Davis, ridiculously over the top w/ chalk white ghostly makeup, decided to make Regina the villain & succeeded only in hogging screen time. She destroys the original structure of Hellman's play. I guess she thought she was a better writer than Hellman & a better director than Wyler. Her excuse was she didn't want to copy Tallulah Bankhead's performance but that wasn't what Wyler wanted either. She had the talent to make Regina her own & stay true to the play but she refused & even walked off the set. She should've stayed off. Davis fought terribly w/ Wyler & they never worked together again. It's a shame because she needed a strong director to reign in her mannerisms. Wyler had previously brought out one of her best performances in The Letter. Is she entertaining here? Of course she is. She hilariously displays a performance that is pure camp. From here on, w/ the exception of her most brilliant Margo Channing in All About Eve, something hard infused into her acting & she became a bad parody of her former talent. The rest of the cast plays it well. Tallulah should've played it.
Review of The Little Foxes
