The Little Foxes

1941
Approved
1h 56m

IMDb RATING

7.9/10

13K

YOUR RATING

Bette Davis, Richard Carlson, and Teresa Wright in The Little Foxes (1941)

Play trailer1:24

1 Video

41 Photos

Drama Romance

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

See production info at IMDbPro

IMDb RATING

7.9/10

13K

YOUR RATING

See production info at IMDbPro

Nominated for 9 Oscars
- 3 wins & 10 nominations total

Videos1

Trailer 1:24

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Storyline

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Did you know

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Trivia
Bette Davis had legendary makeup artist Perc Westmore devise a white mask-like effect for her face to emphasize Regina's coldness. William Wyler hated it, likening it to a Kabuki mask.

Goofs
At the end, just before Alexandra leaves Regina, when Regina climbs the stairs and asks Zan if she would "like to sleep in her room tonight", there is a chair in the background (which earlier Regina had been sitting in). There is nothing on the chair. Two shots later, when Alexandra goes to collect her hat and coat to leave, they are on the chair.

Quotes
Horace Giddens: Maybe it's easy for the dying to be honest. I'm sick of you, sick of this house, sick of my unhappy life with you. I'm sick of your brothers and their dirty tricks to make a dime. There must be better ways of getting rich than building sweatshops and pounding the bones of the town to make dividends for you to spend. You'll wreck the town, you and your brothers. You'll wreck the country, you and your kind, if they let you. But not me, I'll die my own way, and I'll do it without making the world worse. I leave that to you.

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.

Connections
Edited into Myra Breckinridge (1970)

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 reviews145

Review

Featured review

One of Bette Davis' Best Performances

Bette Davis stars as Regina Giddens in this film version of Lillian Hellman's smash hit play (which starred Tallulah Bankhead). This tale of the pre-industrial south of 1900 pits Regina against her greedy brothers as they scheme to open a textile mill that will make them rich. Great performances here from Davis, Herbert Marshall, Teresa Wright, Richard Carlson, Charles Dingle, Patricia Collinge, Dan Duryea, Jessie Grayson, and Carl Benton Reid. Sort of a modern King Lear, but Hellman had a wicked ear for acid dialog and her characters each have moments of grandeur as they spit and snarl. Collinge is very good as pitiable Birdie. Wright and Carlson are especially good as the young lovers, and Duryea gives a wonderfully slimy performance. Dingle has his best role as the smart brother, and Marshall--always underrated in Hollywood--is splendid as Horace. Bette Davis gives a controlled and icy performance as the woman who never gets what she wants. Her final scene from the window as she watches her daughter leave in the rain is a classic. Great film about a dysfunctional family before there even WAS such a thing!