The Little Foxes
US (1941): Drama
The third of Bette Davis's portrayals of icy women for director William 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 (Herbert 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 Lillian Hellman from her play (though with help from Dorothy Parker, among others), and with justly renowned camerawork by Gregg 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). The fine RKO cast includes Teresa Wright, Richard Carlson, Dan Duryea, Patricia Collinge, Charles Dingle and Carl Benton Reid.
The Little Foxes was the only time Davis walked out on a picture once filming had begun. The reasons: feuding with the director and 100-degree heat on the sound stage. She later returned but never made a film with Wyler again. (amctv.com)
9 nominations
· Best Picture 1941: Samuel Goldwyn, producer (Goldwyn, RKO Radio)
· Actress 1941: Bette Davis
· Supporting Actress 1941: Teresa Wright
· Supporting Actress 1941: Patricia Collinge
· Directing 1941: William Wyler
· Writing (Screenplay) 1941: Lillian Hellman
· Interior Decoration (Black and White) 1941: Stephen Goosson - Art Direction, Howard Bristol - Set Decoration
· Film Editing 1941: Daniel Mandell
· Music Scoring Awards (Scoring of a Dramatic Picture) 1941: Meredith Willson