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The Little FoxesRating:
Release Date: 18 September, 2001 Retail Price: $14.94 OUR Price: $12.99 You SAVE: $1.95! Cast: Complete Cast (13 total) |
The Little Foxes Reviews
Another Bumpy Ride for Bette
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."
The Hollywood Golden Age summit
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.
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