The Little Foxes
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Movie Reviews of The Little Foxes
Movie Review: Bette, Bette, Bette
Summary: 5 Stars
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. Regina is one of the most manipulative and domineering characters ever written. Through her Machiavellian machinations and twisting words and deeds, She is eventually victorious, of course -- ideally, this will bring solace to her, as she loses everything else - her family is gone, and she is, figuratively speaking, left being the biggest shark in a pool infested with them. Dazzling and chilling, and a monument of storytelling, filmmaking and acting.Movie Review: ...Will Make You Sick!
Summary: 5 Stars
Bette Davis wants nothing more than to be rich and happy only problem is she is already wealthy and unhappy! Along with her tow cunning and vile brothers the plan is hatched to not only con each other but to con themselves into thinking they respect what they see in the mirror! Davis in her heavily powdered face, gothic clothes and sharp cutting eyes leave an impression on your brain for years! But the film is so telling of the human spirit. For not only does Davis want to be more rich - she has to stampede over her disabled husband (played to perfection by Herbert Marshall)to do so. But the road to redemption is always up for the taking but none of the characters even points their emotional compass in that direction. The brunch scene between Davis' husband, their long suffering daughter, aunt Birdie,along with the family made will make you sullen for their lack of nascent! The ultimate scene involves Bette Davis' infamous eyes, pills, her husband and a staircase not only does the camera stay on her frozen face but something lies deep uder her eyes is it redempion or sollar signs! Brilliant! The ultimate horror flick for adults!Movie Review: Bette Davis at her cutting, take-no-prisoners best
Summary: 5 Stars
Like so many other old Bette Davis classics, what's left to say about "The little Foxes"? Well, in the spirit of being helpful (as all these Amazon reviews aspire to be, right?), I'll only add this: if you're worried that you're going to get a genteel costume drama that is agreeably engaging at best, think again. The writing in this film is extremely biting, to the point, incisive, and even suspenseful... one waits for the latest vitriolic comeback, sarcastic observation, and tragic, knowing comment (often about one's own character or situation), as each memorbable piece of dialogue tops the last. I was initially going to type the words "great banter" when describing the verbal interplay in this movie, but the words "great" and "banter" sound too trivial for this purpose. What comes out of these people's mouths is more like deadly swordplay, with frequent bloody contact as razor-edged steel sneaks past opposing razor-edged steel. It's quite something. Now, is that helpful to those of you who initially didn't relish the notion of watching an old Bette Davis movie with the "cute" name, "The Little Foxes"?Movie Review: "People who eat the earth and those who watch them do it."
Summary: 5 Stars
Lillian Hellman's story about a rotten den of vipers who reek with greed. Bette Davis and her two brothers (Dan Duryea and Charlie Dingle) want to invest $75,000 each to build a cotton mill in their Southern town, a mill which, because they'll be able to exploit the workers who'll work in it, will bring them a large profit. Only it's Davis's husband (Herbert Marshall) who has the money to lend (in the form of bonds), and he wants no part of this deal. Thus the conflict is established - and the nastiness that results out of it is appalling. Duryea and Dingle steal the bonds, then Marshall dies - and Davis blackmails the brothers for 75% of the business. The story has been interpreted allegorically on a number of levels: as commentary on the exploitation of the poor, and also as a warning against Hitler and his brand of world domination. It should be viewed a number of times to appreciate it fully. All the actors are excellent; it's among Davis's best movies, yet the others are so good, too, that she doesn't stand head and shoulders above them. Hellman's screenplay is masterful. Definitely worth a watch.Movie Review: Good vs. Evil in the changing south
Summary: 5 Stars
If you are tired of the morally ambiguous films of the last few decades, here is a sharp taste of clear cut good vs. evil. You don't need black and white hats to tell the good guys from the bad. Bette Davis of course is in her element as the Queen Bee of this nasty hive. I thought it would be impossible to imagine anyone else in this role until I read here that Talullah Bankhead had originated in on Broadway. I'd like to have seen that. Elizabeth Taylor...way too nice!
Hellman was an outspoken moralist at a time when moralists were needed and she's not subtle with her messages. That's perhaps my only complaint about this brilliant film--most people do have more than one side---but that concept is probably one that has evolved since the penning of this script. I would have liked to see some internal struggle as Davis's character decided to with hold the necessary medicine for her ailing husband.
But, for the time in which it was made, it was a superb film---an intelligent script, witty brittle dialogue, great direction and a first rate cast.