The Little Foxes (1941)

The ruthless, moneyed Hubbard clan lives in, and poisons, their part of the deep South at the turn of the twentieth century.

Director:

William Wyler

Writers:

Lillian Hellman (by), Lillian Hellman (screen play)

Stars:

Bette Davis, Herbert Marshall, Teresa Wright

Nominated for 9 Oscars. Another 3 wins.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Bette Davis	...	Regina Giddens
Herbert Marshall	...	Horace Giddens
Teresa Wright	...	Alexandra Giddens
Richard Carlson	...	David Hewitt
Dan Duryea	...	Leo Hubbard
Patricia Collinge	...	Birdie Hubbard
Charles Dingle	...	Ben Hubbard
Carl Benton Reid	...	Oscar Hubbard
Jessica Grayson	...	Addie (as Jessie Grayson)
John Marriott	...	Cal
Russell Hicks	...	William Marshall
Lucien Littlefield	...	Manders
Virginia Brissac	...	Mrs. Lucy Hewitt
Terry Nibert	...	Julia
Henry 'Hot Shot' Thomas	...	Harold

Storyline

The ruthless, moneyed Hubbard clan lives in, and poisons, their part of the deep South at the turn of the 20th century. Regina Giddens née Hubbard has her daughter under her thumb. Mrs Giddens is estranged from her husband, who is convalescing in Baltimore and suffers from a terminal illness. But she needs him home, and will manipulate her daughter to help bring him back. She has a sneaky business deal that she's cooking up with her two elder brothers, Oscar and Ben. Oscar has a flighty, unhappy wife and a dishonest worm of a son. Will the daughter have to marry this contemptible cousin? Who will she grow up to be - her mother or her aunt? Or can she escape the fate of both?

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Plot Keywords:

cousin cousin relationship | last will and testament | greed | based on play | f rated | 

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Taglines:

...the film version of the stage hit, as the ruthless beauty whose ambition spelt the doom of three men

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Genres:

Drama | Romance

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Certificate:

Approved

Did You Know?

Trivia

Although the film was a big hit at the box office, because of the terms RKO set up with Samuel Goldwyn, they ended up making a loss of $140,000.

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Goofs

On the night before Alexandria leaves for Baltimore when she leans over the railing after Aunt Birdie is slapped: In the wide shot her right hand is about 20 inches from the column, then in the close-up her hand is just inches from the column.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Alexandra Giddens: [while riding into town] Good mornin' Harold.
Harold: [looking up from shining the sign that reads 'The Planters Trust Company / Horace Giddens / President'] Mornin' miss Ann. What does your papa write to from Baltimore?
Alexandra Giddens: He writes that he feels better Harold.
Harold: Dat's good. Write him my greetins and tell him don't worry 'bout da brass - I'm keepin' his name fine and clean.
Alexandra Giddens: Thanks, I will.
Harold: Mm-mmm, those crabs'll make fine eatins Addie.
Addie: They bettah, we got high-toe company for dinner tonight.
Harold: Yum, bye ...
[...]

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Crazy Credits

Opening credits prologue: "Take us the foxes, The little foxes, that spoil the vines:

For our vines have tender grapes." The Song of Solomon 2:15

Little foxes have lived in all times, in all places. This family happened to live in the deep South in the year 1900.

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Connections

Referenced in All About Bette (1994)

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Soundtracks

Never Too Weary to Pray
(1941) (uncredited)
Music and Lyrics by Meredith Willson
Sung off-screen by an unidentified group during the opening and closing credits

User Reviews

Family of Snakes

In 1900, in the Southern town of Linnet, the notorious Hubbard family is hated by the residents since they explore the poor and the black people in their business. Regina Giddens (Bette Davis), née Hubbard, is married with Horace Giddens (Herbert Marshall), who is a good man that is interned in a hospital in Baltimore due to a heart condition. They are estranged and they have a daughter, the naive Alexandra Giddens (Teresa Wright) that has a crush on the local David Hewitt (Richard Carlson) but she is controlled by her merciless mother.

Regina's brothers are the exploitative Ben Hubbard (Charles Dingle), who is single, and Oscar Hubbard (Carl Benton Reid), who is married with the wounded Birdie (Patricia Collinge), and they have a son, the scum Leo (Dan Duryea) that works in a bank. Oscar and Regina have made arrangements to marry Leo with Alexandra. When Ben and Oscar invite the wealthy businessman William Marshall (Russell Hicks) to come to Linnet to build a mill to improve their business and pay low wages to the locals, they need US$ 75,000.00 from Regina. She manipulates Alexandra to bring Horace back home to convince him to lend the money. However, Horace does not accept the business and Leo steals his railroad bonds from the safe in the bank to invest in the business with Marshall, expecting to return the money without Horace noticing. Bur Horace goes to the bank and finds the embezzlement. What will Horace and Alexandra do?

"The Little Foxes" is a movie directed by William Wyler and based on a play that shows a Southern family of snakes in the turn of the Twentieth Century. The unpleasant story is supported by magnificent performances and had nine nominations to the Oscar. Bette Davis and William Wyler had relationship problems along the production and they never worked together again. My vote is seven.

Title (Brazil): "Pérfida" ("Perfidy")

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

29 August 1941 (USA)

Also Known As:

The Little Foxes

Filming Locations:

Belle Helene Plantation, Baton Rouge, Louisiana, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

The Samuel Goldwyn Company

Technical Specs

Runtime:

116 min (copyright length)

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Mirrophonic Recording)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1