The Little Foxes
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.
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- Cast:
- Bette Davis , Herbert Marshall , Teresa Wright , Richard Carlson , Dan Duryea , Patricia Collinge , Charles Dingle
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Reviews
I like the storyline of this show,it attract me so much
You won't be disappointed!
A terrific literary drama and character piece that shows how the process of creating art can be seen differently by those doing it and those looking at it from the outside.
The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.
Lillian Hellman may or may not have been an actual member of the Communist Party, but she was definitely a sympathizer, and did not criticize Stalinism when other leftists did. However, the events in the play were reportedly based on events in Hellman's own family.The title comes from a Bible verse mentioned in the movie about "little foxes" (probably a mistranslation) threatening tender grapevines, and the story itself is about three siblings of a wealthy Southern family who contrive to become even richer by building a cotton mill in the town, paying their workers poorly while reaping all the profits. One brother owns the local bank, which he runs with his dense son, another brother has married a woman solely to gain ownership of her cotton fields, and Regina, the sister, has married a sickly man who is away being treated for heart troubles. Trouble is, time is running short and everyone's funds are required to ensure that the deal goes through- and besides that, Regina's husband must be home before his money can be accessed, so Regina details her daughter to bring her father home on the train.But further troubles develop when Regina decides she wants a bigger share than the third originally offered to her, and furthermore, when the husband makes it home, he refuses to go along with the plan. Can the brothers find another way to get the money-illegally- and get away with it? The story grows in unpleasantness as the ill intentions of all the siblings are brought out, and the daughter comes to learn just how terrible things in her family have been.Good performances by all involved carry the initially-confusing story through, though the end is too ambiguous. What is Regina thinking when we she her face in the final frame? It can only be guessed.
By all my usual standards, this film ought to be sitting on my DVD shelf. It has who I feel is the finest American actress of all time -- Bette Davis. It has an actor whom I have always had deep admiration for -- Herbert Marshall. It has another actress I admire, in her debut film for which she earned an Oscar nomination -- Teresa Wright. It has an unusually good performance by Dan Duryea, perhaps so good because it was beyond his norm. And there's a fine performance by actress Patricia Collinge, also her film debut, and also a Best Supporting Actress Oscar nomination...another stunning actress. Not to mention a number of other fine supporting performances, a story by the wonderful Lillian Hellman (another Oscar nominee here), and direction by the esteemed William Wyler.But this film is not on my DVD shelf, and while watching it this time around on TCM I was wondering why. I think what it comes down to in this film is that -- particularly in the early stages of the movie -- it talks you to death. Yack, yack, yack, yack, yack. I'm not saying it's not good acting; it's very fine acting. But acting feels claustrophobic when it's constantly yacking in a parlor. Another thing that bothers me -- I never noticed Bette Davis having huge bazooms before. I'm not joking. She doesn't even walk right in this film.So there you have it. A fine movie, but something short of a great movie.
"The Little Foxes" was definitely a movie hard to forget with the great but cringing acting of Bette Davis known in the movie as Regina Giddens. I must admit the storyline was very thought out and well done but also could be a little dragged and boring at times. Regina was definitely portrayed as a bad person in the movie, she only wanted to do things for herself and have what every person thinks will make their life, money. Her selfish attitude only left her with nothing, nothing but herself. It was crazy to think the things she would do and go through with to get what she wanted, she had a loving daughter that cared for her until she was evil and selfish. I thought it was very clever at how the mothers face went into complete darkness at the end, it explains to you that she is now alone because of her actions and thats what she deserves. Overall I personally thought this particular movie was OK, the acting by Davis definitely made it in a good but bad way.
Incomparable in the cinematography, the lighting effects, the close-ups, the work of a true master. It's hard to imagine how long ago this film was made, yet has managed to keep its integrity. Intelligent, sardonic, with a brilliant performance by Bette Davis, I for one consider this one of the greatest films ever made.I think that Herbert Marshall underplayed his role to give more stage to Ms. Davis, which may not have been his choosing. He didn't seem to be as sick as he was supposed to be, and seemed distant at times, as if acknowledging to be second fiddle. Even so, as a drama, as a story about a dysfunctional wealthy family, no cast today could outshine this one. Could any actress have done better to capture the moment when she refuses to give him his medicine as he lay on the staircase begging, and the close-up of her eyes, dark and cold, yet uncertain. Amazing.