The Little Foxes

Released Aug 21, 1941

1h 56m

Drama

List

100%

Tomatometer

16 Reviews

87%

Audience Score

500+ Ratings

Regina Hubbard Giddens (Bette Davis) and her scheming brothers, Oscar (Carl Benton Reid) and Ben (Charles Dingle), plan to get rich from a cotton mill, but first they must tap into the wealth of Regina's sickly husband, Horace Giddens (Herbert Marshall). The trio attempts to marry Regina's daughter Alexandra (Teresa Wright) to Oscar's son Leo (Dan Duryea). When that plan fails, their schemes devolve into theft and blackmail, driving an irreparable wedge between family members.

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Nell Minow

Movie Mom

Rated: 5/5

Jul 25, 2002

Full Review

Mike Massie

Gone With The Twins

An excellent occasion for Davis to show her chops as a villain.

Rated: 8/10

Aug 29, 2022

Full Review

Sean Axmaker

Stream on Demand

Bette Davis could freeze almost anyone with her icy stare, the practiced look of a woman who's learned how to operate in the man's world of business, in director William Wyler's film version of Lillian Hellman's chilly play...

Mar 2, 2018

Full Review

Neil Cohen

Echo Magazine

Rated: 5/5

Jul 29, 2007

Full Review

Dennis Schwartz

Dennis Schwartz Movie Reviews

When viewed today, the hysterical melodrama seems creaky.

Rated: A-

May 30, 2007

Full Review

Emanuel Levy

EmanuelLevy.Com

Significantly (and surprisingly) the nasty tone of Hellman's morality drama about corruption and greed in a Southern clan remained intact, allowing Bette Davis (in a role that Bankhead originated on stage) to shine as the amoral and immoral matriarch

Rated: B+

Nov 16, 2006

Full Review

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Alec B

Some things are lost in translating Hellman's play to the screen (inevitable I suppose) but Davis is perfection.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

01/03/24

Full Review

Matthew D

Teresa Wright and Bette Davis are amazing, but all the men in this are so dry and boring. The Little Foxes is also way too long and slow. The old Southern racism doesn't help this one either. William Wyler's direction ranges from stylish to very flat and dull.

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

09/27/23

Full Review

Blobbo X

Well done old flim, beautifully restored.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

04/11/23

Full Review

Audience Member

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.

Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars

02/22/23

Full Review

Audience Member

Dark and edgy moral tale that could be recreated on stage. Acting is great and the storyline gripping enough. Nice endings too. Deserved it's Oscar success.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

01/28/23

Full Review

Audience Member

Bette Davis as Regina Gibbons. Well done.

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

07/02/21

Full Review

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William Wyler

Director

Bette Davis

Regina Giddens

Herbert Marshall

Horace Giddens

Dan Duryea

Leo Hubbard

Teresa Wright

Alexandra Giddens

Richard Carlson

David Hewitt

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Synopsis

Regina Hubbard Giddens (Bette Davis) and her scheming brothers, Oscar (Carl Benton Reid) and Ben (Charles Dingle), plan to get rich from a cotton mill, but first they must tap into the wealth of Regina's sickly husband, Horace Giddens (Herbert Marshall). The trio attempts to marry Regina's daughter Alexandra (Teresa Wright) to Oscar's son Leo (Dan Duryea). When that plan fails, their schemes devolve into theft and blackmail, driving an irreparable wedge between family members.

Director: William Wyler
Screenwriter: Alan Campbell, Lillian Hellman, Arthur Kober, Dorothy Parker
Distributor: Embassy Pictures, Samuel Goldwyn Company, MGM/UA Home Entertainment Inc., RKO Radio Pictures
Production Co: Samuel Goldwyn Company
Genre: Drama
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Aug 21, 1941, Original
Release Date (Streaming): Mar 31, 2020
Runtime: 1h 56m
Sound Mix: Mono

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