Synopsis
...the film version of the stage hit, as the ruthless beauty whose ambition spelt the doom of three men
In 1900, a clan attempts to strike a deal with a Chicago industrialist to get him to build cotton mills in their Deep South town.
The Little Foxes
Cast
Bette Davis Herbert Marshall Teresa Wright Richard Carlson Dan Duryea Patricia Collinge Charles Dingle Carl Benton Reid Jessica Grayson John Marriott Russell Hicks Lucien Littlefield Virginia Brissac Terry Nibert Henry 'Hot Shot' Thomas Charles R. Moore Hooper Atchley Al Bridge Tex Driscoll Jesse Graves Lew Kelly Henry Roquemore Kenny Washington
Director
Producers
Writer
Original Writer
Editor
Cinematography
Assistant Director
Lighting
Art Direction
Set Decoration
Composer
Costume Design
Makeup
Studios
Country
Language
Alternative Titles
Hyena's, Маленькие лисички, Лисички, Piccole volpi, La Vipère, La Loba, Pérfida, A kis rókák, השועלים הקטנים, Die kleinen Füchse, La lloba, 작은 여우들, Маленькі лисички, La loba, 小狐狸, Οι μικρές αλεπούδες, Küçük Tilkiler, Vulpile, Małe liski
Genres
Themes
Releases by Date
Premiere
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USA
New York City, New York
Theatrical
29 Aug 1941
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USA
04 May 2017
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Netherlands6
Releases by Country
Netherlands
04 May 2017
- Theatrical6 DVD
USA
21 Aug 1941
- Premiere New York City, New York
29 Aug 1941
- Theatrical
Popular reviews
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every time bette davis plays a straight up bitch i get 10% gayer and my parents lose more hope
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*SOME SPOILERS*
We need to go beyond the canon. The established canon. The regimented canon. The Empire canon of Star Wars, Lord of the Rings, Back to the Future, Alien, Aliens, peak era Spielberg, Blade Runner, The Shawshank Redemption and a handful of headline old movies: Singin’ in the Rain, The Wizard of Oz and Metropolis. The Sight and Sound canon that centres on Vertigo, Ikiru and – for some reason that I can’t quite fathom – suddenly Man with a Movie Camera. The Cahiers canon, lauding Godard and Truffaut’s pet films, from underwhelming sex Westerns like Rancho Notorious and Johnny Guitar, to selected Hawks films and the lesser work of Frank Tashlin.
Between the monoliths and the re-evaluated misfires…
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Sometimes the case for filmmakers of the Hollywood era, the trashier their material can reveal the details of their directing when there's less to pay attention to in terms of narrative. It can be difficult to appreciate the directing qualities of Best Years Of Our Lives given the beauty of the script, but this southern fried melodrama has a lack of complexity in the characters that suddenly becomes complex through its direction. Wyler doesn't move the camera that much, but when he does he always pushes the dynamics toward various reveals and economics that exploit the deep focus frame, and a lot of the ways Wyler shoots the house's vertical spaces reminded me of what Welles would do on Ambersons…
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Hellman seems to want it both ways here: dunking on the racists stupid enough to say the quiet parts out loud, while also relegating all Black characters to servile window dressing roles.
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Spoilers in the first and last paragraphs.
Released in the same year as The Maltese Falcon, a film many argue launched the classic noir period, The Little Foxes could well be considered a classic of the genre, too, had cinematographer Gregg Toland been aided by the lighting he had in, say, Citizen Kane, or The Grapes of Wrath. Or, at the very least, Regina Hubbard Giddens would be considered a legendary femme fatale. Just picture her, sitting in a murky room, her face cut into ribbons by the shadow of Venetian blinds that leave a band of light across her bright, dangerous eyes, as she listens to her husband fighting for life on the ground behind her, trapped in the shadows.
The sense…
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I am a massive fan of William Wyler and Bette Davis is one of my favorite classic actresses so this should’ve been a dream but instead it was sluggish and dreadful to sit through as it felt like a business meeting with no interesting drama or emotionally compelling characters. Whether it’s the scenes that feel as if they’re a filmed stage play or scenes that showcase uninteresting family dynamics, I couldn’t help but feel both massively bored and curious as to how the product of such talent working together is this dull.
You could ask if Bette was at least entertaining but unfortunately she takes a juicy role with so many opportunities to bring catharsis, enthusiasm or deliciously dark moments…
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i was waaaaay too delighted when richard carlson smacked icky creepy dan duryea with the back of his hand then with the front of his hand then with multiple hands then fully punched him in the jaw. i watched it 4 times.
bette davis is (unsurprisingly) great in peak unapologetic bitch mode but teresa wright's performance is what really stood out to me. her arc is wholly believable because she can play both a sweet and naive girl as well as a young woman who is disillusioned by the mother who she blindly trusted for her entire life. so basically this is to say that i'm gonna finally get around to THE BEST YEARS OF OUR LIVES very soon.
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Bette Davis as Regina is an absolute beast in this scathing tale of greed at the turn of the 21st century in the deep South (filmed in Louisiana). With slavery no longer legally optional what's a corrupt family to do? Conspire and scheme to maximize profits regardless of who it hurts. Luckily there's light within said family in the form of Alexandra (Teresa Wright) who up until a pivotal moment has obeyed her mother Regina unquestioningly. Another member with a conscience is father Herbert who is nearing death. He is not about to go along with Regina and her brothers scheme.
Unfortunately the themes of The Little Foxes hasn't aged a bit but on the plus side neither has the…
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Dan Duryea Decathlon
Thank you Daniel and Stephen M for the rec!William Wyler strikes again. Allow me to quote myself from my review of The Heiress:
His style, while truly subtle, is a terrific brandishing of character moments honed in on realism; comebacks thrown while on the move, and the well-intended blocking of its characters (and granted one or two astonishing shots utilizing mirrors).
Wyler utilizes the brass polish of outdoor signs, mirrors and windows to reflect the faces of every character. This is another example of well thought out blocking to highlight the tension between characters. The reflective nature of the mirrors and various other surfaces are also symbolic of the multi-faceted nature of man, derivatively, the two-faced split of good and evil.…
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In the most prominent year for non-novelty but perfected deep-focus photography, I rarely hear mention of this film released in the same year as the medium-redefining masterpiece Citizen Kane, not even as often mentioned as How Green Was My Valley; all three are astronomically incalculable in cinematic mannerisms for the 1940s, very different structurally but very similar stylistically. The Little Foxes is immensely sophisticated and intricate in its ambitions, making analysis endlessly challenging and utterly intimidating to develop. It is a film that can easily be mistaken for just a glossy Hollywood melodrama made by a superlatively competent production, when in fact its voracious filmic ambition is more than that; its beauty lies in its purely internal nucleus and once…
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