The Little Foxes
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Movie Reviews of The Little Foxes
Movie Review: Excellent Study In Greed
Summary: 5 Stars
perhaps one of the greatest films ever produced depicting greed and corruption within the ranks of a prominent southern dynasty. Davis gives what may be construed as a legendary performance as the unscrupulous Regina Giddens; quite comparable to her performance in 'Mr. Skeffington', 5 years later. Herbert Marshall also gave a irrefutable superior performance as Horace Giddens, Regina's kind and most benevolent but rational husband. a true classic which delves into the human psyche of greed but simultaneously depicting a classic clash of wills. one of greed and the other altruism.
an absolute must for any classic film buff's library.
the DVD is a good transfer but does have some artifacts present. the sound, however, has obviously been recorded at a low bias requiring one to crank the volume somewhat. the theatrical trailer is unfortunately the only extra. still a bargain at Amazon's price.
Movie Review: "The grits didn't hold their heat", but this movie is HOT!
Summary: 5 Stars
We Southerners have a saying, "Someone from the North will speak ill about you to your face. Someone from the South will smile and speak sweetly to your face, but cut you to the quick as soon as your back is turned." Hellman demonstrates that readily in her engaging script.
The Little Foxes has Bette Davis at the zenith of her "bitchiness" in this film. With Lillian Hellman's spot-on script, there is no more unfeeling witch than that which Davis portrays...and yet, she does so believably and with charm and elegance. Herbert Marshall, as Davis' sickly husband, is great (though because of his performance in this film, I'll forever think of him as sickly and weak). Theresa Wright as Davis' thoughtful and caring daughter brings a balance to the sinister behavior of Davis' Regina and her brothers (Charles Dingle and Carl Benton Reid).
Regina Giddens married Horace for position and money. She has ruled the roost during their marriage and installed her corrupt brothers and nephew as managers of the bank Horace owns. Their position allows them to bilk the townspeople and embezzle money. However, when they need a large sum of money to buy a cotton gin, even the crooked family members cannot proceed without funds that even they cannot acquire through graft. Regina must call Horace back from the santiarium where he is recovering from a heart ailment. Horace must agree to partner with the brothers and Regina and open the gin - or else.
Davis' performance is as tightly wound as the bun in which she keeps her hair. The characters are so fully developed that you'll find yourself actually getting involved with the story.
There aren't too many films out there that are as good as this one. Top notch entertainment!
Movie Review: The Little Foxes
Summary: 5 Stars
The date is 1900, give or take a couple of years, and fading Southern beauty Regina Giddens (Bette Davis) needs $75,000 to join her brothers Ben (Charles Dingle) and Oscar (Carl Benton Reid) in investing in a cotton mill. Daughter Alexandra (Teresa Wright) is sent to Baltimore to retrieve father Horace Giddens (Herbert Marshall), who refuses to invest in a `sweatshop.' Regina is persistent, though, and Horace has a weak heart.
THE LITTLE FOXES is William Wyler's 1941 film of the Lillian Hellman hit stage play. The movie pits two types against each other - the physically weak but morally conscious people exemplified by Horace Giddens against the strong and unscrupulously ambitious Regina Giddens of the world.
This is an acting rich movie that boasts a deep and talented cast. Davis, newcomer Teresa Wright and Patricia Collinge as Teresa's Aunt Birdie all received Oscar nominations. Davis is as sharp-edged as ever, and the scenes of her crossing swords with Charles Dingle (brother Ben Hubbard) are maliciously delightful. Some of Regina's scenes with desperately ill husband Horace are among the most spine-chilling in movie. There aren't many, if any, actresses who could read deliver this line - "I don't hate you. I just feel contempt for you." - with the power of Davis. It's one of many moments in this film that, through its sheer malevolence, takes your breath away.
THE LITTLE FOXES is a great movie by one of the three or four greatest directors in Hollywood history. Davis is at the top of her game and the supporting cast more than keeps pace with her. Recommended without hesitation.
Movie Review: William Wyler and Bette Davis: A great ride
Summary: 5 Stars
If there were ever a better movie made about family greed, duplicity and selfishness, I've yet to see it. William Wyler, one of the great directors, is at the top of his form. Bette Davis commands the screen with a performance so powerfully evil you can't stop watching, but it never descends to camp.
The Hubbard brothers, Ben (Charles Dingle) and Oscar (Carl Benton Reid), bankers in their turn-of-the-century southern town, have a scheme to bring cotton factories to the south where the cotton grows. With cheap labor they'll make a fortune. They need their sister, Regina Giddens (Bette Davis) to come up with a third of the required investment. The three believe they can get the money from Regina's sick husband, Horace (Herbert Marshall). He refuses, saying he won't be part of a plan to take advantage of the workers in the town through the schemes of his wife and her brothers. "Maybe it's easy for the dying to be honest," he says to Regina. "I'm sick of you, sick of this house, sick of my unhappy life with you. I'm sick of your brothers and their dirty tricks to make a dime. There must be better ways of getting rich than building sweatshops and pounding the bones of the town to make dividends for you to spend. You'll wreck the town, you and your brothers. You'll wreck the country, you and your kind, if they let you. But not me, I'll die my own way, and I'll do it without making the world worse. I leave that to you." Regina's response is straightforward. "I hope you die. I hope you die soon. I'll be waiting for you to die." The brothers arrange to "borrow" some bearer bonds Horace is keeping in their bank. Horace discovers the theft. He plans to change his will, but dies before he can. Regina now says she wants a 75 per cent share of the scheme or she'll send her brothers to jail. Ben Hubbard simply chuckles and muses about why Regina's husband died on the stairs while she was in the living room. It's a stalemate of scorpions. But, as Ben said to Regina, "The world is open for people like you and me. We'll own it someday."
Most of this takes place in the Giddens' genteel antebellum mansion, yet Wyler has managed to avoid any hint of staginess (where the play, by Lillian Hellman, originated). He keeps things so dramatically edgy and moving that the story and the acting simply is engrossing.
Bette Davis, in my view, could and did go over the top too easily in portraying evil or ruthless women. Here she reins it in enough that her selfishness is stunning but you're reacting to the character, not just to Bette Davis acting. One of her great scenes is when, after her showdown with her husband in the parlor, Horace realizes he's having a heart attack and asks Regina to go up the stairs to his room and bring him his medicine. She just sits there, watching him. It dawns on him that she won't help him. He struggles to the stairs and partly climbs, partly crawls up. The camera focuses on Regina's face as, in the background, you can see him struggling...and dieing. It's quite a scene.
The other cast members are excellent. Charles Dingle, as Ben Hubbard, the brother who has the brains, is at once charming and completely unethical. Herbert Marshall, who often played noble but weak men, this time places the accent on physically weak but morally strong. Teresa Wright plays Alexandra Giddins, Regina and Horace's daughter who finally realizes the monster her mother is and breaks free of her. This was her first movie, and she holds her own very nicely with Davis.
In my view, this is one of the great American movies, and watchable many times. The DVD looks great.
Movie Review: What was Horace doing on the stairs?
Summary: 5 Stars
"The Little Foxes," one of the NY Times' "1000 best films of all time," is a stunning film set in New Orleans in 1900. It centers on two brothers and a sister, along with their respective families, who have become wealthy largely by cheating the masses out of a fair wage. Bette Davis, again a formidable dame, provides the star power, and Lillian Helman provides a brilliant script based on her own stage play, her words giving the characters depth and breadth that sometimes grows noticeably with a single word, and all of the principal players do the same with sometimes a facial expression, a movement, or even by being silent at a moment when words would seem to be called for. Extraordinary and classic, this artistry that sometimes seems to be lost in today's Hollywood.
The film is about greed, yes, but more. It's a murder mystery told in reverse, where there is no mystery but all the elements are there. It's the backstory for a young lady on the verge of womanhood, who is sure to atone for her family's sins, and for her romance that gently leads her into maturity as regards her opinion of her family and of the world around her. It's about a Deep South at the turn of the last century that had seen slavery abolished for it, but that retained it in everything but its legal technicalities, a world where the only real career choices available to practially any African-American were as servant or field worker.
"The Little Foxes" is many, many things. Above all, it is a true classic of American cinema, one that's been unjustly neglected with the passage of time. Well worth repeated viewing.