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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
See More Oscar Winners

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:

Ben Hubbard: Regina, you're a fool! How many times did mama tell you it's unwise for a good-lookin' woman to frown? How many times have i told you that softness and a smile will do more to the hearts of men?
Regina Giddens: I'll do things in my own way, Ben. I know what I'm doing.
Ben Hubbard: I hope you do, Regina.
Regina Giddens: How much more time can you give me?
Ben Hubbard: Horace has refused.
Regina Giddens: He'll change his mind. I'll find a way to make him. How much longer can you wait?
Ben Hubbard: Well, I could wait a few days, but I can't wait a few days. I could, but I can't. Could and can't.
[laughs]
William Marshall: You don't have to convince me about 'Hubbard Sons.' I'm sure you're the right people for the deal. You want the mill here, I want it here. But it's not my business WHY you want it.
Ben Hubbard: They're to bring the machine to the cotton, and not the cotton to the machine.
Regina Giddens: I'm lucky, Horace. I've always been lucky... I'll be lucky again.
Ben Hubbard: Then, too, one loses today and wins tomorrow.
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The Little Foxes Facts
Four members of the original Broadway cast repeated their roles in the film: Dan Duryea, Charles Dingle, Carl Benton Reid, and Patricia Collinge.
Lillian Hellman's sequel to Another Part of the Forest.
The original stage production of "The Little Foxes" opened at the National Theater in New York on February 15, 1939 and ran for 410 performances. It starred Tallulah Bankhead as Regina Giddens and featured Dan Duryea as Leo Hubbard. As of this date (Aug. 2008), it has had three revivals, starring Anne Bancroft in 1967, Elizabeth Taylor in 1981, and Stockard Channing in 1997.
According to 'Reel Facts: The Movie Book of Records', Goldwyn had to pay Warners $385,000 for Davis' services.
Warner Brothers loaned Bette Davis to RKO for the role of Regina Giddens.
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