The Little Foxes (1941) User Reviews

Crisp Dialog, Great Acting & Photography

[ccthemovieman-1 · 9/10 · 27 September 2006]

This was a surprisingly good movie - for me, not people who like Bette Davis and melodramas. They got what they hoped for, another solid film with her starring in it. I don't particularly care for Davis or "soaps," but I liked this film and see it more of a straight drama, anyway, especially because of the crisp dialog.

It's a story about money and how to use it or how to acquire more of it through deceit and greed. Davis, as "Regina Gidden," is the most greedy of the Gidden clan, vying for more money with her brothers who aren't exactly trustworthy people themselves. Among the three, there wasn't anyone to root for since the family shared in their lust for money. Davis does her normal excellent acting job but I enjoyed Charles Dingle as "(Uncle) Ben Hubbard" best. I liked his lines more than anyone's and the way he delivered them. Carl Benton Reid played the other greedy Hubbard brother, "Oscar" and Dan Duryea was interesting as Oscar's dumb son, 'Leo."

Herbert Marshall was good, too, as Regina's husband "Horace." He was an honest, principled man and thus, the black sheep in that household. Unfortunately, he was dying and his death played a big part in this story.

The sub-plot in this tale is the coming-of-age of Hubbard daughter "Alexandra" played by Teresa Wright. Her "coming of age" translates to finally standing up to her domineering mother. Richard Carlson plays her reluctant boyfriend "David Hewitt" who, in the end, is won over when "Alexandra" grows up.

So, this excellent cast, complemented by an outstanding director in William Wyler and world-class cinematographer Gregg Toland all adds up to a solid, memorable film.

Hubbard Family Values

[bkoganbing · 9/10 · 5 April 2007]

Lillian Hellman's The Little Foxes went from Broadway to Hollywood after it ran 410 performances in the 1939-1940 season through the good offices of Sam Goldwyn. Five members of the Broadway cast came west and repeated their roles, Patricia Collinge, Carl Benton Reid, Charles Dingle, Dan Duryea, and John Marriott. But the lead part of Regina Giddens which gave Tallulah Bankhead her career role on Broadway went to a proved movie name, Bette Davis. Bette then made the part all her own.

Davis is the sister of Ben and Oscar Hubbard, Charles Dingle and Carl Benton Reid. They are a family of trades people, poor white trash in those halcyon years in the South before the Civil War. When the war laid the genteel planter class low, these are the people who prospered and became what was euphemistically entitled 'the new South.'

They're a tough and ruthless family, but they are survivors though the next generation shows little promise because Dan Duryea who is the son of Reid and Patricia Collinge is an idiot and Teresa Wright, the daughter of Davis and Herbert Marshall will be rejecting the values of the previous Hubbard generation.

I don't think Lillian Hellman's Marxist leanings were ever more prominently on display in her writing as in The Little Foxes. Though the characters she creates are brilliant, the elder Hubbards are a rather heavy handed symbols for greedy capitalism. It's not quite clear where Teresa Wright and her suitor Richard Carlson will be on the political spectrum having rejected Hubbard family values.

The plot of the play itself is that Dingle and Reid are ready to invest in a cotton mill with northern businessman Russell Hicks. But they need more money which they're hoping Marshall and Davis will provide. That leads to all kinds of complications, legal and moral for the family.

Hellman left it open as to what will happen. My guess is that she honestly didn't know. Like most Marxists of the day, especially American Marxists, they sat and waited for the great come and get it revolution like fervent Pentacostals waiting for the Judgement Day. Wright in fact wishes for a society where people like her mother and uncles don't run things.

Sadly and this is the weakness of The Little Foxes is that Hellman drew her characters too well. I'd be willing to bet that Ben and Oscar would find a way to wind up Commisars if they had been transplanted into Russia during the revolution. Idealists had a short life span in the early days of the Soviet Union, never more so than after Joseph Stalin took over. Whatever else they are, the Hubbards ain't idealists.

Still The Little Foxes is a riveting drama that will keep your interest through the whole film even if you don't buy the message totally.

Turn To Stone

[BumpyRide · 9/10 · 29 September 2004]

Like a fine locomotive, this film picks up steam with each passing scene. Each building upon the next, gaining speed until it culminates in a cinematic masterpiece, and the expression "Betty Davis Eyes" is born!

Not having seen the entire movie until recently, I knew about the "staircase" scene, and everyone knows which one I'm referring to, my heart raced as I kept waiting for it to happen. It's a superb, disturbing moment, with Bette giving a look that could turn Medusa to stone!

Theresa Wright has long been a favorite of mine. Some people have said her character was too nice and sweet. Perhaps, but Xan was probably supposed to be around the age of 16, but she holds her own against Bette. Patricia Collinge was incredible, giving a controlled yet brittle performance of an abused wife who turns to alcohol. In fact the entire ensemble works so well together that there is no weak link in the production.

Davis is unforgettable

[rupie · 1 September 1999]

This film fully deserves its reputation as one of the most scorching dramas of greed and corruption ever placed on celluloid. A deceptively slow start soon draws into the machinations of the Hubbard clan whose brazen backstabbings and betrayals even today make our jaws drop. Davis' stunning portrayal of the supremely grasping Regina Giddens leads a stellar cast which does a superb job of delineating a finely drawn group of characters. Charles Dingle's deceptively warm smile masks the cooly intelligent deviousness of Ben Hubbard. Carl Reid's Oscar Hubbard is just as malicious but his inferior intelligence makes him yield to his brother's and sister's lead. Dan Duryea nicely portrays the imbecilic and immature Leo Hubbard, a characterization which borders on but never crosses over into comedy. Patricia Collinge breaks our hearts as the broken-spirited and alcoholic Birdie, Oscar's wife. Herbert Marshall's performance as the doomed Horace, Regina's husband, delineates the pain, anger, and sense of betrayal burning beneath his deathly illness. The star of the proceedings, however, is clearly Davis. Wyler's superb direction blends all these characters into a masterful whole.

Hellman's skill as a dramatist must be credited for much of this, but her Marxist inclinations clearly peep through the seams of the dialogue.

I'm glad I finally had a chance to see this undoubted classic. Thanks again to that great channel, American Movie Classics.

The Little Foxes Fatter than ever in 2018

[martindonovanitaly · 10/10 · 14 October 2018]

I always loved Lillian Hellman, way ahead of her time - she may have been controversial with powerful enemies and treacherous groupies but I'm always reminded of the stuff the lady was made of by going back to the letter she wrote to the House Of Un-American Activites that she wrote knowing that she was risking everything. She paid a heavy price but now we know who the real, patriotic Americans were - Lillian Hellman right up there - I saw The Little Foxes last night - first time in two decades - and I was enveloped in its relevance. Lillian Hellman herself wrote the screenplay based on her play about greed, the banquet of the 1 per cent and the blatant social injustice. Class, race and all the rest of it. As if that wasn't overwhelming enough, William Wyler and Bette Davis - what an brilliant combination - Davis was only 33 when she played Regina - Astonishing performance. This must be one of her very best, The film also has the extraordinary Patricia Collinge as Birdie and Teresa Wright. This is a film to visit and revisit for its historical relevance and cinematic brilliance

Restrained, But Emotionally Jarring Film

[nycritic · 10/10 · 5 May 2005]

Film-making at its best is what describes THE LITTLE FOXES, directed by William Wyler, shot by Gregg Toland -- he of deep focus fame -- adapted from a Lillian Hellman play and with Bette Davis playing a ruthless matriarch with a velvet glove.

How far can greed take a person? This seems to be the question lingering over anyone who witnesses the story of the Hubbard's plot to secure money for a cotton mill they plan to run to expand their wealth even more. It's certainly a question that doesn't faze any of the Hubbard siblings -- they need 75,000 dollars to complete it and will get it one way or another --, certainly not Regina Giddens, who also intends to use her estranged husband's bonds for this purpose. That she effectively manipulates her daughter Alexandra into bringing him back to the house proves just what she can do to get what she wants, and an easy proof is the way she lazily relaxes over the sofa, regarding everything with semi-droopy eyes, knowing full well the extent of what she owns, and that it won't take long for her to own even more. That even when he shows signs of failing health she doesn't back down -- she will hound him for every penny he's got, even if it means letting him die without his medication, as she calmly does after a scene of verbal recriminations.

A cruel story that never feels preachy, THE LITTLE FOXES translates better on the screen than on the page: much like THE CHILDREN'S HOUR, much to the respect of those who admire Lillian Hellman's plays, there are many flaws throughout that seem a little forced in either resolution or non-resolution. The film version goes much deeper in establishing the moral decay of a family while adding another -- that of David Hewitt, played by Richard Carlson -- to give some contrast to the amount of unlikeable characters that populate Hellman's view of 1900's America. Having Toland take full charge of his particular way of composition in service of the story as opposed to style over substance is the key to making this movie and its performances work; otherwise it would be just another chamber drama in three acts. His and Wyler's direction allow for every minute detail in Davis' top-notch performance to come through: the chilling scene with her sitting in the sofa, looking dead ahead, as her husband crawls to his death up the stairs, is one of remarkable power -- more so due to its restraint of emotion, as is the final scene when she watches Alexandra leave and retreats from the windows into shadows.

There's an interesting similarity in this film and Ingmar Bergman's CRIES AND WHISPERS. Both films had a virtuous person who was near death, both films had characters who were essentially monsters flaunting their ugliness to each other, each movie had one sympathetic female who walks away from the claustrophobic household and into a better future. Obviously the similarity is thematic; siblings as monsters have been seen since Shakespeare, but in a time where period dramas relied more on romance and less on the underlying yet savage cruelty people inflict on each other, THE LITTLE FOXES is definitely one who has dated well. The only scene which lacks a little punch is the final scene in which Alexandra confronts Regina. It diminishes Alexandra's character somewhat, makes her weak, but I think also it's the choice Teresa Wright took when applying herself to this role; plus, it was her first film appearance against none other than Bette Davis in full command of Who she was. Aside from that, this is a somewhat difficult yet absorbing drama to watch, and after seeing Davis as Regina Giddens, it would be hard to see Tallulah conveying Regina's cold cruelty. A great film.

..bravo for "The Little Foxes"..

[fimimix · 10/10 · 29 May 2006]

....I've read every comment, and am wondering why there aren't more....the only answer that is plausible is so few people know about it.

Davis, Hellman and Wyler - what a magic combination. There may never again be a combination of such talent to produce another film so riveting. I am old enough to have seen it when it was first released; it has never left my mind, and I am a big movie-buff. As so many users wrote, the movie never drags - I don't understand why a few say it is "slow" in the beginning. Don't you first have to set the scene to give the viewers an idea to build upon? "Ms. Regina ain't one to be kept waiting'" is a potent message there are going to be fireworks.

Several commentators mentioned what a huge success the stage-production had been - with none other than La Bankhead, how could it have been otherwise ? No matter how electrifying live performances can be, there is nothing like the camera to catch close-up expressions, especially for drama. Was Davis not the all-time queen of "the eyes"? Ms. Bankhead did her magic in "Lifeboat" - Pure Heaven ! Had I had my druthers, there would be two identical movies, one with Davis, one with Bankhead - I would watch the marathon with awe.

Davis had to be a bitch during the filming to make certain her character-interpretation would be filmed as she saw it - after all, she would inevitably be compared to the "Queen of the Stage" who originated it. She was masterful and forceful in every scene - the closing one reminiscent of "The Corn is Green" - a window and "eyes".

Hellman no doubt was determined her brilliant stage-play would not be maligned. She COULD have taken the money and run. Wouldn't you agree she intended to see this masterpiece recorded as it should have been? Film is forever. There were no wasted lines in this movie.

Wyler drilled his actors/actresses until they got it right - so right, the other interpretations fell far short.

As some users have written, Patricia Collinge was brilliant in the pathetic role of "Birdie". How perfect she was, because so many aristocratic, young ladies of The South lost their "belle" status - just as she did - after convenient marriages to not-so-aristocratic gentlemen. They were used as chattel, just as the young ladies of nobility were used - be brilliant, then get lost and run the house.

Dan Duryea was as insipid as Wyler wanted him to be. This role was one that helped his longevity in movies. "Mr. Giddens" was perfect, showing that gentle men are just as vulnerable to heartbreak as women are. Richard Carlson gave us a glimpse of sincere gentility. Ms. Wright was the epitome of young ladies of that era - she grew with her role. All of the other players gave fabulous performances, no matter how important or supporting.

Younger viewers most probably couldn't get into the film, because there were no explosions nor violence...only those that occur in every-day life. This film is to be celebrated - don't miss the celebration.

Suffer Us The Little Foxes

[theowinthrop · 10/10 · 11 February 2007]

It is 1905 (or so). Ben Hubbard is still (apparently) head of the Hubbard family. He certainly is the stronger of the two brothers (Oscar is now a sullen cypher due to his marriage to chatterbox, delicate lady Birdie Bagtry - we later learn that Oscar does not hesitate to slap his poor wife around). Oscar does have a son, Leo, but Leo has inherited all of his father's youthful stupidity, and has none of the smarts that grandfather Marcus and Uncle Ben (or even daddy Oscar) have. Regina is still in third position - but Ben is aware that if it were a matter of brains she might replace him (as she wants to, badly). She is married to Horace Giddens, the president of the town bank, and they have a daughter Alexandra. Unlike the socially challenged (and viciously stupid) Leo, Alexandra has managed to pick up her father's gentle personality, and is (when he is around) quite happy. She also has a boyfriend, the local newspaper reporter David Hewlitt (Richard Carlson).

A northerner (Russell Hicks) is interested in a scheme the Hubbards have in which they supply him the grown, picked, and processed cotton in their mills, ship them to him, and he turns them into cotton clothing and goods. Hicks is really interested, but he needs financial reassurance (on their parts) in a couple of weeks. Ben and Oscar are ready with their money - but Regina is stalling. She explains that she is waiting for Horace (who is in poor health - he has a heart condition) to return home before she gives their share. For Ben and Oscar figure that it is Horace who will be their partner.

This is the beginning of THE LITTLE FOXES. Ben and Oscar (Charles Dingle and Carl Benton Reid - both from the Broadway cast) are surprised when Horace shows total hostility to the scheme (he detests his greedy in-laws, and hates the thought of assisting them in anything). Regina tries to reassure them, but Ben is not trusting her.

The marriage of Horace and Regina is quite dead. We know that Regina loved another (John Bagtry) but Horace made the mistake of falling for Regina, and then marrying her. He has found her icy and unloving and as greedy as her two brothers. The only good thing to come out of the marriage is the birth of his daughter Alexandra, who fortunately takes after him.

Leo (Dan Duryea - also from the original cast) turns out to have the key to saving the business deal. He knows that Horace has a set of bearer bonds in his safety deposit box that are meant for Alexandra when she marries. He tells Oscar about these bonds, and Oscar relates the news to Ben. The good thing about these bonds is anyone can use them. And it's not difficult to replace them. So Leo (after he is shown that he is definitely not going to be a partner in this business deal) steals the bonds. Horace should not ask for the bonds soon - shouldn't he?

Of course, Horace does. But he springs a surprise on Regina which displeases her, and leads to their final confrontation: a painful and fatal one. Horace hates Ben and Oscar for their opportunistic economics to get to the top on the shoulders of everyone else. He wouldn't help them because he hates their kind, who may threaten the country. But he does loathe his wife - and that might change his mind.

The film is one of the best filmed plays from Hollywood's "Golden Age". Bette Davis' evil Regina has been called a woman in an unearthly mask, covering all her emotions to the highpoint of the story - but letting her eyes tell what is in her mind. This film may also be the best dramatic performance by Herbert Marshall (although his wronged husband opposite Davis in THE LETTER is close). The four pros from Broadway do wonderfully, particularly Dingle (who occasionally reveals a playful streak - like a panther toying with it's victims), and Duryea as an opportunist who otherwise is quite stupid and vicious. Dingle even boasts that one day he and his type will rule this country (in answer, in a way to Horace's fears). Reid looks soulless and vindictive, and Pauline Collinge (as Birdie) arouses the audience's sympathy. As for the young lovers, Wright gained her first Academy Award nomination in her confrontation scene with Davis, and Carlson gains our general approval by demonstrating what should have been done to Leo years earlier.

As for the title, it comes out of the Old Testament. Oddly enough the actual quote includes the title of another film of the 1940s, "for our vines have tender grapes".

Family of Snakes

[claudio_carvalho · 7/10 · 19 May 2013]

In 1900, in the Southern town of Linnet, the notorious Hubbard family is hated by the residents since they explore the poor and the black people in their business. Regina Giddens (Bette Davis), née Hubbard, is married with Horace Giddens (Herbert Marshall), who is a good man that is interned in a hospital in Baltimore due to a heart condition. They are estranged and they have a daughter, the naive Alexandra Giddens (Teresa Wright) that has a crush on the local David Hewitt (Richard Carlson) but she is controlled by her merciless mother.

Regina's brothers are the exploitative Ben Hubbard (Charles Dingle), who is single, and Oscar Hubbard (Carl Benton Reid), who is married with the wounded Birdie (Patricia Collinge), and they have a son, the scum Leo (Dan Duryea) that works in a bank. Oscar and Regina have made arrangements to marry Leo with Alexandra. When Ben and Oscar invite the wealthy businessman William Marshall (Russell Hicks) to come to Linnet to build a mill to improve their business and pay low wages to the locals, they need US$ 75,000.00 from Regina. She manipulates Alexandra to bring Horace back home to convince him to lend the money. However, Horace does not accept the business and Leo steals his railroad bonds from the safe in the bank to invest in the business with Marshall, expecting to return the money without Horace noticing. Bur Horace goes to the bank and finds the embezzlement. What will Horace and Alexandra do?

"The Little Foxes" is a movie directed by William Wyler and based on a play that shows a Southern family of snakes in the turn of the Twentieth Century. The unpleasant story is supported by magnificent performances and had nine nominations to the Oscar. Bette Davis and William Wyler had relationship problems along the production and they never worked together again. My vote is seven.

Title (Brazil): "Pérfida" ("Perfidy")

Davis at Her Evil Best

[evanston_dad · 10/10 · 24 February 2006]

A gleefully macabre and intensely suspenseful movie based on the Lillian Hellman play. Bette Davis sinks her teeth into the role of icy bitch Regina Giddens with such relish that you can practically hear her sighing with satisfaction at getting away from the noble sufferer roles that had so recently made her famous in films like "Jezebel" and "Dark Victory." She's monstrous here as the frigid wife of Herbert Marshall, waiting impatiently for him to die so that she can get her talons on his inheritance. A group of conniving brothers are trying to outsmart her and claim the inheritance for themselves, but they have no idea who they're dealing with. We ultimately can forgive Davis for her reptilian selfishness, because she's driven to it out of survival. If you want to play with the big boys, the movie seems to say, you have to learn to be one yourself.

This is a lesson her sister-in-law, Birdie, hasn't learned, and as a result is a fluttering, neurotic mess of a woman, bulldozed by her husband and supreme example of exactly the kind of woman Regina refuses to be. Birdie is played by Patricia Collinge in a devastatingly heartbreaking performance. Just watch her in the scene where her husband slaps her; you can almost literally see the life drain out of her as she accepts her misery as a cage from which she doesn't ever really hope, or feels she deserves, to escape.

And as the moral conscience of the film, Teresa Wright plays Regina's daughter, Alexandra, slow to pick up on the treacherous games her own mother is playing.

The classic scene in this film is the one in which Regina's husband actually dies. She's sitting feet away from him, watching him gasp for breath while refusing to get the medication that could save his life, and Davis's creepy, empty expression shows us just how little compassion or sympathy, or even any emotion other than greed and vengeance, remains in this grotesque, twisted creature. Marvelous!

Grade: A+

Davis impressive & completely wrong

[joclmct · 6/10 · 1 July 2021]

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.

Hurricane Regina

[rpvanderlinden · 10/10 · 15 November 2010]

Here's a thought. What if your spouse was not your best friend but your worst enemy? What if she was on the take and would not hesitate to do you harm? Let me introduce you to Regina, played by Bette Davis, scheming and badgering her sick and invalid husband, Horace (Herbert Marshall) to get her hands on $75,000. It's for a partnership with her two wealthier brothers in a cotton mill, an enterprise which, by the way, will garner huge profits by using exploited labour. The situation is grotesque.

And it doesn't stop there. One of the brothers, Oscar, is married to Birdie (Patricia Collinge, in a heartbreaking performance) a kind and gentle, but alcoholic, chatterbox constantly subject to her husband's contempt and cruelty. In an early scene he slaps her face in public, an act of such wanton brutality that I involuntarily cried out. Oscar's son (Dan Duryea), a meek and sycophantic ne'er-do-well bank clerk (his name, Leo, is comically inappropriate), is given a task by his dad - "borrow" the $75,000 in bonds from Horace's safety deposit box. Imagine, if you can, a father shamelessly advising his son to steal, not directly, mind you, just in so many words. This conversation takes place in a bathroom where both men are shaving. Their backs are toward each other - they can't look at each other face-to-face - and they see only parts of each other through mirrors, reflecting, if you will, the elliptical nature of the conversation. It's a wonderful, if sickening, scene with inspired direction by William Wyler.

Teresa Wright plays Regina and Horace's innocent daughter, Alexandra, a work in progress. Her boyfriend, David, is a newspaperman, and he loves her with the best kind of love possible - he wants her to become a fully realized person. More specifically, he wants her to grow a backbone and stand up to her mother and the rank immorality that she represents (her mother has wedding plans for her, and they don't include David). Alexandra already knows that she could end up like Birdie. There's a scene where all of the "good" people in the story - Alexandra, David, Horace and Birdie - are huddled in a circle around a table on the patio, as if they are taking comfort in each other, and Birdie admits that she drinks alone in her room. I can imagine that. And I can imagine her unspoken alcoholic fantasies and daydreams, just from Collinge's performance alone.

Bette Davis' Regina is the lightning rod of the entire movie. To say that she is driven is like saying that a hurricane is windy. I happened to catch a few minutes of "The Little Foxes" several years ago and I concluded that its feminist slant meant that, in a room filled with posturing, powerful men she needed to be even more ruthless and cunning than they were in order to survive. I was only partially right. There's a moment when Regina compares the soft, feminine curves of her face in a photograph of her as a young woman to her hardened, angular features in a mirror. In fact, she has to sacrifice her womanhood on the altar of expediency. She will never love again, if in fact, she ever loved at all, for to love is to be vulnerable. The turning point in the movie is the scene when, alone in the house with her husband, who has discovered that the bonds are missing, and is having a heart attack, she does the unthinkable. Actually, she doesn't do anything at all, and there is a word for what she doesn't do. Bette Davis' eyes reveal a chilling determination on the part of Regina, but something else, as well - genuine surprise at what she's capable of. This is the moment, in a horror movie, when the creature sheds its final skin and morphs into what it was meant to be, in all its hideous glory. From this moment on there is no stopping Regina. A couple of scenes later, within hearing range of the grieving Alexandra, even the two brothers cautiously suggest that they discuss "business" elsewhere. However Regina, power-tripping, has the two men right where she wants them and pursues the topic out loud, with a megalomaniac's careless abandon. This is her triumph...and will be her downfall. There's no way that she's likable, but she IS magnificent, and you can't stop watching her. She may be a monster, but Bette Davis reveals her human origins.

This movie held me captive until the final fade-out. The scene when the boyfriend, David, slaps Leo's face, not once but several times, swiftly, elicited a cheer from me. I read that the boyfriend was not in Lillian Hellman's original play but was added to the film version, and I think that was a wise decision. The romance between Alexandra and David was, perhaps, necessary to give this morbid tale of pernicious greed some balance and hope and the wonderful Teresa Wright an expanded part. "The Little Foxes" is a Southern Gothic melodrama set at the turn of the 20th century, and at this writing, is seventy years old, yet it remains as modern, relevant and vivid today as it must have been in 1941. It's one of the great ones.

Outstanding and dramatical adaptation of controversial playwright Lillian Hellman's drama

[ma-cortes · 7/10 · 28 July 2021]

Samuel Goldwyn presents his screen version of the most sensational stage success of 1940 , this The Little Foxes deals with ambitious , ruthless people , a matriarch called Regina Giddens (Bette Davis giving one of her most unforgettable acting on big screen) , her good daugher (Teresa Wright) and the mean brothers (Charles Dingle, Carl Benton Reid). From the Broadway Stage Success by Lillian Hellman "YOU'RE MY HUSBAND-but I hate you" . The ruthless beauty whose ambition spelt the doom of three men. THE MOST MERCILESS WOMAN A MAN EVER LOVED!.

Lillian Hellman's own retelling of her Broadway stage smash hit , wonderfully directed by William Wyller with plenty long-standing frames , dramatic intensity , vintage images compellingly photographed by expert cameraman Gregg Toland and marvellous performances with special mention for Bette Davis as the proud woman who alienates all those about her . This is film version of the stage hit with the ever-riveting , ever-unique Bette Davis dominating in this magnificent rendering based on a successful play about amoral family greed and corruption down South . Davis' egoistic matriarch , Regina , for whom badness by inaction is not beyond the pale when it comes to achieving her desires . Support cast is frankly over-the-top , such as : Dan Duryea makes a top-drawer screen debut , Teresa Wright gives a fine work as the kind but manipulated daughter , Herbert Marshall does an unselfish work , while Charles Dingle and Carl Benton Reid are excellent as the two avaricious brothers and adding others secondaries as Patricia Collinge , Russell Hicks and a young Richard Carlson .

The motion picture was stunningly directed by William Wyler .However , nominated for eight Academy Awards , the movie shamefully came away empty-handed . The old maestro William Wyler takes his time and guides a super team of players through a complex tangle of emotional family conflicts . Wyler was considered by his peers as second only to John Ford as a master craftsman of cinema and the winner of three Best Director Academy Awards . Wyler was a great professional who had a career full of successes in all kind of genres as Film Noir : ¨Detective story¨ , ¨The desperate hours¨ , ¨Dead End¨ ; Western : ¨The Westener¨, ¨Friendly persuasion¨ , ¨Big Country¨ , but his speciality were dramas , such as : ¨Jezebel¨ , ¨The letter¨ , ¨Wuthering Heights¨ , ¨The best years of our lives¨, ¨Mrs Miniver¨, ¨The heiress¨ , ¨the little Foxes¨ , ¨The collector¨ and Comedy as two films starred by Audrey Hepburn : ¨How to steal a million¨ and ¨Roman's holiday¨ . Rating : Better than average 7.5/10 . Better than average . Essential and indispensable seeing .

Based on a play, feels like a play

[grantss · 5/10 · 6 October 2014]

Based on a play, feels like a play. Slow-moving, overly melodramatic, overly scheme-filled, overwrought. Not entirely dull, but it is very difficult to stay focused it moves so slowly. The excessive malevolence and greed on display is also very off-putting.

On the plus side, it is a mildly interesting morality tale. It is just that the immorality/amorality is so overdone that the movie doesn't feel balanced. There are glimpses of goodness, but these are often extinguished quickly, and/or are always fighting a losing battle.

Bette Davis is evil personified as Regina Giddens. While her character is incredibly unsavoury, Davis' performance is spot-on. Good support from Herbert Marshall and Teresa Wright.

One of Bette Davis' Best Performances

[drednm · 15 May 2005]

Bette Davis stars as Regina Giddens in this film version of Lillian Hellman's smash hit play (which starred Tallulah Bankhead). This tale of the pre-industrial south of 1900 pits Regina against her greedy brothers as they scheme to open a textile mill that will make them rich. Great performances here from Davis, Herbert Marshall, Teresa Wright, Richard Carlson, Charles Dingle, Patricia Collinge, Dan Duryea, Jessie Grayson, and Carl Benton Reid. Sort of a modern King Lear, but Hellman had a wicked ear for acid dialog and her characters each have moments of grandeur as they spit and snarl. Collinge is very good as pitiable Birdie. Wright and Carlson are especially good as the young lovers, and Duryea gives a wonderfully slimy performance. Dingle has his best role as the smart brother, and Marshall--always underrated in Hollywood--is splendid as Horace. Bette Davis gives a controlled and icy performance as the woman who never gets what she wants. Her final scene from the window as she watches her daughter leave in the rain is a classic. Great film about a dysfunctional family before there even WAS such a thing!

Want to know what "greed" means?

[rainking_es · 10/10 · 25 August 2004]

One of the several masterpieces made by master William Wyler, and definetely one of the best movies of all times. As he did in The Letter, Mr. Wyler counted on Bette Davis and Herbert Marshall to play the leading roles in Little Foxes; and the choice worked out perfectly again.

I'm sure that some of the others reviewers will have written about the story of Little Foxes (greed, betrayal, hate... against honesty and loyalty), so I won't. I'll talk about some other things:

-Bette Davis: for me there're no more than 5 actresses which would deserve the title of "best actress ever": Katharine Hepburn, Ingrid Bergman, Audrey Hepburn, Barbra Stanwyck, and of course Bette. She was the best playing evil women, heartless, unmerciful ones. And there's no doubt that the character of Reggina Gibbens gathers all those characteristics together. The performing of Bette Davis is memorable (as expected), and the way she says things such as "I don't hate you, I just feel contempt for you"... that are just like a punch in your face. There should be a picture of Mrs. Davis in the dictionaries next to that sentence that says "look that kills". Bette Davis was the look that killed.

-The Film: "Millimetric" it would be a nice word to define the script. Some of the dialogues of Little Foxes are part of the history of cinema, especially the ones between Reggina and her husband. The scene in which she watches him have a heartattack is simply devastating. There are lots of long shot-sequences that intensify the tension, and Wyler's sense of rhythm is something to be shown in Cinema School even nowadays (especially nowadays).

We got the Gioconda, the Basílica of San Pedro in Vatican, the Guernica... and we got movies such as The Little Foxes.

My rate: 10/10

"I hope you die! I've been waiting for you to die!"

[cubertfilm-1 · 10/10 · 28 December 2004]

The Little Foxes is as entertaining today as it was in 1941. Lillian Hellman's theatrical hit with Tallulah Bankhead is magnificently brought to the screen by William Wyler with Bette Davis in the TB role. Davis received her fourth straight Oscar nomination (her sixth over all at that point in her career) for portraying Regina Giddons. It is a performance that rates among the best ever created by Davis, or any other actress for that matter.

Greg Toland's deep focus photography rivals that of his work on Citizen Kane.

It's nine Oscar nominations include Teresa Wright's for best supporting actress.

This was the third and last time Davis and Wyler worked together. During the shoot the two did not get along -- Davis even walked off the set and was almost replaced by Goldwyn. She was loaned to Goldwyn as part of a trade out for Warner Bros to have Gary Cooper for Sgt. York -- he took home the Oscar for best actor.

Dorothy Parker translated the theatrical script for the screen adding more location scenes for Wright.

Quite simply this is a masterpiece

[preppy-3 · 10/10 · 8 October 2005]

Exceptional filming of Lillian Hellman's play about an evil Southern family falling to pieces. It's all overseen by cold cruel Regina (Bette Davis) who will do anything to get what she wants.

Just simply this is great. I was never bored once during the entire 2 hours this ran. I literally couldn't stop watching. The script (very close to the play) is wonderful--one great line after another. It's also well-directed by William Wyler--just his composition of shots was incredible. Purportedly he put his actors through hell with take after take--but it works. This is a rare movie where ALL the acting is great--not one bad performance up there. Teresa Wright is a little too whiny--but this was her first film. Even Richard Carlson is good! Who ever knew he was so handsome and could act? He was wasted in all those action and sci-fi pics he did. Davis, of course, gives the best performance. She obviously relishes playing a totally evil character.

This movie has many great moments but, for me, there are two highlights--Carlson has a GREAT moment where he casually tells off Davis (how many actors can stand up to Davis--and live?) and the last talk between Davis and Herbert Marshall (playing her husband). This isn't for everybody--with the exceptions of Carlson, Marshall and Wright there isn't one sympathetic character. This may be too cold and cruel for some viewers, but I was fascinated throughout. One of Davis' best performances. Don't miss this one! A 10.

William Wyler was really good at this whole visual storytelling thing

[davidmvining · 10/10 · 12 October 2020]

I remember the biggest impression I had from William Wyler's The Big Country was the effortless blocking of the frame where several subjects at several different distances from the camera were perfectly placed to create aesthetically pleasing images. I found it remarkable, and I finally spun up The Little Foxes, Wyler's earlier adaptation of Lilliam Hellmann's play of the same name, and I found the same thing. It's never flashy, but it's always purposeful and impactful. Wyler was never a flashy director, but he was obviously one who understood that the space of the frame was as much about depth as it was about up and down. What he does so effortlessly reminds me of what Ingmar Bergman learned to do over the course of his career, especially in Fanny and Alexander.

The Hubbards are three siblings in their middle ages who represent new money in the South. One of them, Oscar, married Birdie, the last in a line of old school Southern aristocrats, inheriting her name and property while the Hubbards provide the spitfire of work ethic, grit, and underhandedness that the original family never really had. Besides Oscar, there is the unmarried Benjamin as well as the sister, Regina who had married the now absent Horace Giddens, off in Baltimore recovering his health. Regina and Benjamin have a daughter, Alexandra, who lives with Regina. The three Hubbard siblings have a plot to attract a cotton mill to their sleepy little town using their nationally low wages as a selling point to the investor from Chicago.

After the investor leaves, happy with the arrangement, the problems are revealed. Oscar and Benjamin can raise their $75,000, but Regina can't on her own. Her money is all owned by Horace, who's off in Baltimore, and they're not exactly on speaking terms. He comes back because Regina sends Alexandra, using her as a tool to get him back so that the three siblings can work him into giving them the $75,000. The problem is that he sees the three as scheming amoral monsters, and he doesn't want to help them. So, he resists, potentially crashing their plans. Sure, they could go outside the family, but they'd lose control. They need the money from inside the family. Oscar's son, Leo has an idea, though. His Uncle Horace has a safety deposit box at the bank that he owns and Leo works at. Leo can get into that box and steal $75,000 of $90,000 in bonds, invest the money, buy the bonds back, and replace them before Horace ever notices since he looks in the box so infrequently.

Well, that's not going to go too well. Of course Horace finds out, and he finds an inventive way to undercut Regina specifically, even though she has nothing to do with the theft. In return, Regina takes her rage out, almost passively at the same time, on Horace, giving her a win in the fight, allowing her to invest the money and even take an overlarge share of the profits. And yet, she ends up losing in the end.

The key to her loss is Alexandra. Alexandra is a sweet hearted girl untouched as of yet by the venom of her mother and uncles. Her future is manifested by Oscars wife Birdie. Birdie is also a good natured woman, several decades older and beaten down. She often disappears because of headaches that are excuses for bouts of heavy drinking. This is what the Hubbards do to people. They either make them like them or they beat them into a pulp emotionally and psychologically. Alexandra has a choice, and she ends up choosing to simply not take part. Since Regina was doing her part in the effort to build the mill as a vehicle for wealth for her and her daughter, Alexander walking away makes the exercise empty. Regina has pushed away anyone who ever really loved her, and all she has are her two awful brothers.

Some ways that these relationships are really sold in this movie is through those marvelously deep focus shots that Wyler was able to use to frequently to great effect. There are wonderful shots with Birdie three levels deep into the frame, simply broken as she listens to her husband and his siblings, unable to stick up for herself or what she thinks is right. She ends up surrounded by her venomous family in the frame, making her seem trapped, even though no one is actually looking at her because she's ten feet behind everyone. It's simply intelligent and three-dimensional use of the frame, and something I wish filmmakers did more of. Those shots of Birdie end up getting recalled late in the film with Alexandra in the same position as she becomes more and more like her sweet aunt.

William Wyler was a very good director who understood the visual elements of filmmaking better than most. In adapting this play, he used the tools of cinema to help tell the story in a visual way that's engaging and involving, much like how David Lean intelligent adapted Hobson's Choice for the screen. This is a hidden gem of a film.

Southern discomfort

[bob998 · 7/10 · 10 October 2004]

There is much to enjoy in this film. Most of the actors do a fine job, the story is certainly dramatic, and the direction is wonderful. William Wyler and Gregg Toland, director and cameraman, work very well together. One scene seems to be in all the film texts: it's the one with Dan Duryea and Carl Benton Reid shaving as they discuss how to steal Herbert Marshall's money. The deep focus composition allows the director to eliminate cutting back and forth between the men; this encourages the viewer to form his own opinions of the characters. Andre Bazin hailed this film as a breakthrough in the attempt to transfer a play into film.

A wonderful cinematic achievement, therefore, but not much fun to watch when we have morose Patricia Collinge and stricken (morally as well as cardiac-aly) Herbert Marshall emitting clouds of left-wing gas, regarding how treacherous their relatives are. I actually heard Richard Carlson say, to the lovely Teresa Wright, that the white folks may have all the money, but the black folks sure have the fine voices. I almost choked on the sandwich I was eating. This script has too much opining and whining, not enough really tough observation.

The best saved for last: Bette Davis cuts through all of Lillian Hellman's sentimental hokum with a beautifully vicious performance as Regina, with a great supporting turn from Charles Dingle as Ben, the one man who enjoys finagling others out of their money.

The Lady Macbeth Of Mobile

[cormac-dub · 10/10 · 29 August 2006]

"I hope you die.... I hope you die soon... I'll be waiting for you to die...." La Davis could have been invented to deliver Hellmans vicious lines as they pour forth venomously from her over-made up face. However, upon close scrutiny of Lillan Hellman's original stage-play Regina has a stage direction to "smile" as she delivers these lines to her husband Horace. And, later on, in the movie, big brother Ben (Charles Dingle) reminds Regina (Bette Davis) to smile as "mama always said a good looking woman should never frown". And this smile, coupled with Reginas evil chuckle throughout the movie makes me wonder just why the Davis Diva didn't deliver the 'money moment' accompanied by this deliciously evil smile. Wyler and Davis' fights over the interpretation of the character of Regina Giddens are legendary, and indeed the reason they never worked together again. Could this be a result of one such spate? And if so, just who won out? But I'm being pedantic. I'm also digressing and off on a tangent, which I shall come back from now. Lillian Hellman and her writings have come under much scrutiny, and too often for her outspoken political comment and left-of-centre lifestyle. But two academic comparisons of her dramatic (and subsequent film) scripts that spring to mind are those of parallels to that master of morals and realism, Henrik Ibsen; another with Classic Greek Tragedy. Both Mr Ibsen and Mr Aristophanes were concerned with the greater common good and of mans inhumanity to man. And Hellman does not let us down on this one. Davis and cast deliver one of the most spectacular ensemble performances in cinematic history with a tale of avarice and greed that can apply to any of the so called "Globalized" corporations of today. Davis and her colleagues can be seen as early prophets of todays greed and selfishness in society, and we could easily lose the period costumes and transpose this story into modern times. Hellman could easily have been predicting the horrors and terrors of the current global drug companies and their willingness to let millions of Africans die of AIDS due to lack of much needed medicines....just as Regina Giddens sits quietly by and watches her husband Horace die of a heart attack rather than climb the stairs to get his drugs for him. I wonder how much, if at all, Davis, Wyler and Hellman knew that this masterpiece was to represent a portent of the global doom of corporate greed that our world has become today? CGJOB 30th August 2006

Case study of Republicans?

[kyrat · 7/10 · 15 July 2008]

The film is rather timeless, you could almost set this film in anytime as greed is (unfortunately) ageless. Just think of what got us to our current economic crisis in the US.

For the Hubbards, greed is stronger than family ties or anything else for that matter. They steal from everyone (including each other) and take advantage of the working poor and the disadvantaged minorities. They think only of themselves. They form companies with other rich men and display the graft and corruption in securing water rights and keeping workers salaries low.

Bette Davis is superb (of course) and her character Regina Giddons (nee Hubbard) is fascinating in its repulsiveness and sheer selfishness. For those who believe the clichéd stereotypes that woman are naturally loving, nurturing, & selfless -- here's a good example otherwise. Her contempt for those who are "soft", her refusal to aid her husband (unless there was something in it for her) is possibly even more chilling than if she had made a direct attempt to end his life.

It was refreshing to see (esp. in an old film) a young woman "Zan" being encouraged by the men who love her to think for herself and to question authority. She's being taught to think about the greater good, to break her family's mold and to care about others.

Definitely worth seeing for the dialogue and the case studies of human character.

One of Bette's Best

[style-2 · 9/10 · 31 January 2005]

Bette, Bette, Bette, cold as ice and hard as nails in this Lillian Hellman story of the despicable Regina, grand matriarch of the oily Giddens clan. Set at the turn of the last century in the Old South of happy darkies and their benevolent white masters, an image redolent with the putrid smell of decaying fiction, Regina and her white trash relatives try to lure an investor into building a cotton mill near their land. With the Giddens family able to reap enormous rewards from such an arrangement, the greed becomes rampant as Regina and her two brothers scramble to try and raise their portion of the money. Hellman's story, with additional dialogue from Dorothy Parker and Alan Campbell, becomes incendiary when Regina's ailing husband, Horace (played by Mr. Gloria Swanson, Herbert Marshall) refuses to ante up the third required for his and Regina's portion. As she rails at him to put up the money, her brothers are scheming to come up with the additional money themselves and cut Regina out of the deal. Regina's nephew, Leo, played to annoying perfection by Dan Duryea, works at the bank where Horace keeps his safety deposit box, and a plan is engineered to "borrow" $75,000 in railroad bonds that Horace keeps there ("He won't miss them. Besides, people *ought* to help other people."). The formidable Bette, as Regina, is looking stylish and intimidating in her Orry-Kelly wardrobe, is masterfully lit, and the camera work is expert. During her tirade, Horace suffers a heart attack, and this piece of business is one of the most magnificently planned shots in all of movie history, with the camera trained on Regina's harshly lit face, and all we see is the staggering and collapsing shadow of her stricken husband in the background. Though he rallies only slightly, Horace discovers the bonds are missing, and his ill-health makes his death imminent, he extracts his revenge on Regina, telling her that he will claim the bonds were a loan, and *not* stolen, thereby removing Regina's leverage against her brothers and losing any possibility of profiting from the sordid arrangement. But he dies before this can happen and Regina winds up triumphantly, blackmailing her brothers, and "acquiring" 75% of the business. Ideally, this will bring solace to her, as she loses everything else – her husband is dead, her daughter has abandoned her, and she is, figuratively speaking, left being the biggest shark in a pool infested with them. Dazzling and chilling, and a monument of storytelling, film-making and acting.

A Bit of Southern Discomfort......

[Keedee · 7/10 · 4 December 2001]

Now..now.. don't get me wrong. By discomfort, I could only mean that I was greatly disappointed that this movie ended so abruptly. I was just getting comfortable with this well written little masterpiece when it ended. Indeed, I was just about to ring for a Mint Julep or something else completely indigenous of the South when the credits started to roll. Bette Davis gave an incredible performance as Regina Giddens. She was superbly fiendish and at her best. There was a remarkably well put together cast that played wonderfully off of each other and the writing was delicious. This movie was immensely entertaining and as stated previously, I only wish I could have seen more. This was truly an enchanting piece of work. By all means, put it on your list of things to do.

Didn't enjoy this movie

[patti-m · 4/10 · 10 May 2013]

The only thing that I really liked about this film was Bette Davis. Her acting was amazing which is not really surprising. She was very good at playing an evil woman. Other than that though I just did not like this movie. The majority of the time I was very bored. In part I think the bored came from the confusion because I had absolutely no idea what was going on. The entire plot of the film was just overly complicated. There was way too much going on between all the characters, and none of them were even likable. I felt no connection to any of the characters. I didn't want to root for any of them and I did not feel bad for any of them. I'm not sure if the acting was to blame or if the writing was to blame but either way I still didn't like it.