The Little Foxes
|
List Price: Our Price: $10.49 You Save: $4.49 (30%) Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours Buy Used: from $6.22 (click here) Category: DVD See more DVD releases |
|---|
Buy this DVD movie at online store in your country
Canada
Canada
Movie Reviews of The Little Foxes
Movie Review: Another Bumpy Ride for Bette
Summary: 5 Stars
Bette Davis is in fine form in one of her strongest roles. With a strong ensemble cast, "Tne Little Foxes" keeps the viewer on the edge of their chair, with a wonderful script by Lillian Hellman.
This is truely a classic Bette Davis vehicle that I can watch over and over again, because of the vicious Regina she creates.
If you think "All About Eve' was a bumpy ride, you haven't seen anything yet until you see "The Little Foxes."
Movie Review: The Hollywood Golden Age summit
Summary: 5 Stars
On its surface Lillian Hellman's play THE LITTLE FOXES (1941) seems to be about a wealthy family destroyed by greed in the Deep South of 1900. Matriarch Regina Giddens (Bette Davis at her icy best) presides over a family with a crippled husband (Herbert Marshall) and assorted morally weak and greedy relatives. Repeating their stage roles are Patricia Collinge, Dan Duryea, Charles Dingle, Carl Benton Reid, and John Marriott, according to Leonard Maltin. Making their film debuts are Collinge, Duryea, Reid, and Teresa Wright. Fans of movie trivia should remember that Collinge and Wright played mother and daughter in Hitchcock's SHADOW OF A DOUBT (1942). Collinge plays the weak Birdie here, while Wright is the hope for the future as Regina's daughter. It has a bitter and bitchy family at odds with one another. There is a cotton mill the family owns in town. Since it is prosperous, there are fights over ownership of it. And when a lot of bonds are taken from a safety deposit box in the town bank by family members, Regina wants them returned--or else the equivalent amount of money given to her in cash. As for husband Marshall, Regina stays with him for his money. This is gripping and superbly played drama. It is a complicated family drama, and I hope any errors on my part in terms of relationships are not serious and can be ignored.
Actually, THE LITTLE FOXES seems to me to not be about plot at all, but rather is an exercise in Hollywood Golden Age style. It is fabulously crafted by some of the greatest talents the movies have ever seen---producer Samuel Goldwyn, director William Wyler, writer Hellman, and star Davis in one of her greatest roles. Gregg Toland did the elegant deep-focus B&W photography (such beautiful antique lamps!) the same year he shot CITIZEN KANE. Art director Stephen Goosson won an Oscar for Capra's LOST HORIZON (1937). Costume designer Orry-Kelly won an Oscar for Wilder's SOME LIKE IT HOT (1959), with considerable credits in between. Editor Daniel Mandell won an Oscar for THE BEST YEARS OF OUR LIVES (1946). The background score is by THE MUSIC MAN's Meredith Willson. And the cast is world-class, if not household names. This is such an exquisite movie to look at visually, to study the period re-creation carriages and wallpaper, to marvel at the old-fashioned vested suits, to listen to Hellman's dialogue. And moments of silence. Watch the chilling scene where Regina's foreground face is frozen in a chair while crippled husband Marshall tries to climb a blurry background staircase to get some medicine.
So THE LITTLE FOXES is a feast of a drama for discriminating audiences, and Bette Davis admirers in particular. Samuel Goldwyn also deserves a lot of credit. He didn't produce a lot of movies during the 1930's and 1940's, but each one seems hand-crafted and outstanding now, including THE PRIDE OF THE YANKEES (1942) and THE BEST YEARS OF OUR LIVES (1946). William Wyler had previously worked with Davis on JEZEBEL (1938) and THE LETTER (1940); Davis won an Oscar for the former and a nomination for the latter. And Wyler directed Teresa Wright to an Oscar the following year, 1942, with Best Picture Oscar winner MRS. MINIVER. And Hellman's dialogue is cutting sharp and her characters treacherous. THE LITTLE FOXES is an extraordinary movie made by truly extraordinary talents on both sides of the camera. It is really a must-see and may even be a masterpiece, if it catches you in the right mood.
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: The Little Foxes
Summary: 5 Stars
One of the finest movies I`ve ever seen. The acting was excellent, especially Bette Davis. Her portrayal of a callus wife was chilling. The whole cast was first rate.Movie Review: Bette at her bitchy best
Summary: 5 Stars
If you're a Bette Davis fan and haven't yet seen this movie, it HAS to be the next one you see! I personally believe this was her greatest performance in any movie largely due to the understated way she played an extremely contemptible character. In this Sam Goldwyn classic you get none of the somewhat cartoon-like facial expressions and acidic hollering you would expect in a portrayal by Bette Davis of a scheming and selfish character, quite the opposite in fact; she plays this one cooler than a glacier.
The picture and sound quality for a film more than sixty years old is superb, MGM has to be commended for this. Would sometimes prefer that all old MGM films are released on the Time-Warner label so many of them aquired years ago because the quality of the film and extras are usually superior to any other; however the studio have outdone themselves with this fine release of a brilliant film derived from a play by the inimitable Lillian Hellman.