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The Little Foxes Overview:

The Little Foxes (1941) was a Drama - Romance Film directed by William Wyler and produced by Samuel Goldwyn.

SYNOPSIS

The third of Davis's portrayals of icy women for director Wyler (the others were Jezebel, 1938, and The Letter, 1940), and perhaps the finest, though she never thought so herself and clashed constantly with the director on the set. Davis manipulates, blackmails, and finally needles her husband (Marshall) to an early grave in one of the boldest portrayals of avarice ever put on-screen. When her brothers come to her needing money for an exploitative business scheme, she sends for Marshall, who's recuperating from a heart attack. The would-be mill owners realize they'll never see the money from their principled brother-in-law and resort to stealing bonds from him. Davis seizes the opportunity to blackmail her brothers, and when her husband foils her scheme, she ignores his cries for help as he suffers another attack. Scripted by Hellman from her play (though with help from Dorothy Parker, among others), and with justly renowned camerawork by Toland, who also shot Citizen Kane (1941). Here, Toland employs the same deep-focus techniques that made Kane a cinema breakthrough. Hellman's prequel is Another Part of the Forest (1948).

(Source: available at Amazon AMC Classic Movie Companion).

Academy Awards 1941 --- Ceremony Number 14 (source: AMPAS)

AwardRecipientResult
Best ActressBette DavisNominated
Best Supporting ActressPatricia CollingeNominated
Best Supporting ActressTeresa WrightNominated
Best Art DirectionArt Direction: Stephen Goosson; Interior Decoration: Howard BristolNominated
Best DirectorWilliam WylerNominated
Best Film EditingDaniel MandellNominated
Best Music - ScoringMeredith WillsonNominated
Best PictureSamuel Goldwyn ProductionsNominated
Best WritingLillian HellmanNominated
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The Little Foxes BlogHub Articles:

Screening of "The Little Foxes" at Daystar Center July 24

By Stephen Reginald on Jul 23, 2018 From Classic Movie Man

Screening of "The Little Foxes" at Daystar Center July 24 The Little Foxes (1941) Where: Daystar Center, 1550 S. State Street, Room 102 When: July 24, 2018 Time: 6:30 p.m. Hosted by Stephen Reginald During the turn of the 20th century in the Deep South, the Hubbard family is fighting ... Read full article

The Little Foxes (1941, William Wyler)

By Andrew Wickliffe on Mar 25, 2017 From The Stop Button

The most impressive things about The Little Foxes are, in no particular order, Bette Davis’s performance (specifically her micro expressions), Patricia Collinge’s supporting performance, director Wyler’s composition, director Wyler’s staging of the narrative (adapted by Lillian Hellman from ... Read full article

The Little Foxes (1941): the Melodrama for Our Political Moment

By Judy on Jan 28, 2017 From Cary Grant Won't Eat You

I found it eerie watching Regina (Bette Davis) plotting with her brothers in a story described by a contemporary reviewer as a “grim and malignant melodrama.” Certain themes kept surfacing that read like today’s headlines: mistreatment of minorities, disregard for others’ hea... Read full article

The Little Foxes (1941): the Melodrama for Our Political Moment

By Judy on Jan 28, 2017 From Cary Grant Won't Eat You

I found it eerie watching Regina (Bette Davis) plotting with her brothers in a story described by a contemporary reviewer as a “grim and malignant melodrama.” Certain themes kept surfacing that read like today’s headlines: mistreatment of minorities, disregard for others’ hea... Read full article

Classic Films in Focus: THE LITTLE FOXES (1941)

By Jennifer Garlen on Apr 11, 2016 From Virtual Virago

The Little Foxes (1941) reunites stars Bette Davis and Herbert Marshall with director William Wyler after their collaboration the previous year in The Letter (1940), in which Davis had also played a morally bankrupt wife who wrecks Marshall's life. The original stage version of the play by Lillian H... Read full article

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The Little Foxes Quotes:

Regina Giddens: I'm lucky, Horace. I've always been lucky... I'll be lucky again.
Alexandra Giddens: [Referring to David, appearing in his nightclothes] Ooh... Just getting up at 11 o'clock in the morning.
Mrs. Lucy Hewitt: Mornin', Zan. He's not just getting up, he's just going to bed. He's been writing all night.
Alexandra Giddens: Writin' things to put in the newspaper?
Mrs. Lucy Hewitt: No... He said he's writing things they WON'T put in the newspaper.
Regina Giddens: You're a good loser, Ben. I like that.
Ben Hubbard: Well, I say to myself, what's the good? You and I aren't like Oscar. We're not sour people. I think that comes from a good digestion.
[Regina giggles]
Ben Hubbard: Until one loses today, and wins tomorrow. I say to myself, years of planning, and I get what I want. And then I don't get it... But I'm not discouraged. The world's open for people like you and me. There's thousands of us all over the world. We'll own the country some day. They won't try to stop us. We'll get along.
Regina Giddens: [Amused] I think so.
Ben Hubbard: I always say to myself, I don't like nervous people. I can't trust 'em. Leo, you are one of the people who bore me. An' I'm getting' too old to wanna' be bored. I'm just getting' so I hate it. Now you take your nerves on outta' here and go upstairs and take a warm bath. That'll be good for you - a nice, warm bath.
Regina Giddens: Alexandra, I've come to the end of my rope, somewhere there's got to be what I want too. Life goes too fast. You can go where you want, do what you want, think what you want. I'd like to keep you with me but I won't make you stay. No, I won't make you stay.
Alexandra Giddens: [Thoughtful] You couldn't Mama. Because I don't want to stay with you. Because I'm beginning to understand about things. Addie said there were people who ate the earth and those that stood around and watched them do it. And just then Uncle Ben said the same thing. Really the same thing. Tell him from me Mama, I'm not going to watch you do it.
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The Little Foxes Facts
Teresa Wright's debut and her first Oscar nomination.
According to Samuel Goldwyn Jr., the reason Jack L. Warner loaned Bette Davis to RKO for this movie was to settle a $300,000 gambling debt Warner had with Samuel Goldwyn. It has been said that all of the studio moguls (Jack L. Warner, Samuel Goldwyn, Harry Cohn, Louis B. Mayer, Darryl F. Zanuck and Carl Laemmle) would gather and play cards after work, after having "stabbed each other in the back" during the day.
Bette Davis and William Wyler fought a great deal during filming. Disagreements ranged from Davis's interpretation of the character (Wyler thought she should be more sympathetic) to the appearance of the house (Davis thought it was far too opulent for a family struggling financially), to her appearance (Wyler thought her white makeup made her look like a Kabuki performer.) Davis eventually walked out of production, but returned when she heard rumors she was going to be replaced by Katharine Hepburn or Miriam Hopkins.
Lillian Hellman's sequel to Another Part of the Forest.
Herbert Marshall had lost a leg in WWI. The scene where Horace crawls up the stairs is done by a stunt man. Marshall takes the role until he walks towards the stairs, but is hidden by a curtain for a moment. That was where the switch was made.
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