Shandor reacts to THE LITTLE FOXES (1941) - FIRST TIME WATCHING!!!

[@joel65913]

This was a massively successful play on Broadway first winning Tallulah Bankhead much acclaim and her signature role. However when the property was bought by Warner Brothers they recruited Patricia Collinge (Birdie), Charles Dingle (Ben), Dan Duryea (Leo), John Marriott (Cal) and Carl Benton Reid (Oscar) but not Tallulah for a couple of reasons. First of all Tallulah had made several pictures previously but none had been particularly successful, apparently she was a much more powerful presence on stage than what the camera captured. The second and biggest reason was that Bette Davis by this point was the biggest female box office star in the world and the part fit her like a glove so Tallulah lost out. She did however have her biggest film success a few years later when Alfred Hitchcock cast her in "Lifeboat" (she's dazzling in it and the film is one of Hitch's best) The picture had a tough shoot, Davis and director William Wyler fought constantly over her interpretation, but it ended up showered with nominations including Bette for Best Actress and both Teresa Wright (Alexandra) and Patricia Collinge- I agree her performance is absolutely heartbreaking-for Best Supporting Actress. The play has had several revivals, most famously in the early 80's with Elizabeth Taylor playing Regina. Her fame led to the show making a mint and she was nominated for both a Tony and a Drama Desk award.

[@RenfrewPrume]

Great old movies really are great for a reason. I haven’t seen this in 50 years; I never rewatched it because I thought it was so sad. The only thing I remember is the iconic scene with Herbert Marshall collapsing while Bette Davis does nothing. As you insightfully point out, the cinematography, dialogue, and acting are superb. Great direction by William Wyler, my favorite director after Capra. A big surprise was the presence of Teresa Wright. I had completely forgotten that she is in this, even though her performance almost steals the show.

[@Tom-pw2ni]

from almost a 100 years ago, Times do not change!

[@fatovamingus]

I love this movie I absolutely love Bette Davis in this role. "My Oscar ,you're in a bad humor!" That dress the way she spins around and stops short on her brother when she says it. I've watched this movie too many times I think. I love your reaction.

[@marie_d8044]

Dan Duryea made such a great heel in scores of movies. I love him so much. I think this is one of Davis’s truly great performances.

[@melenatorr]

One the best heels ever! So good.

[@iainsan]

Based on a very successful play, the dialogue in this film is superb. I think the film is as good as the stage play would have been due to the outstanding cinematography, which you commented on. Some of the camera shots are brilliant. I very much enjoy your reactions to these classic films. Thank you for sharing them.

[@yankeecitygirl]

I gave a thumbs up the moment the algo gave me this vid. Herbert Marshall is the unsung hero of this flick. Superb actor.

[@ExpatBear-58]

"The grits is cold! The grits done loss they heat!" What a great movie!

[@perrymalcolm3802]

Ah! A Shandor Day! 😊 This was written by Lillian Hellmann. Jane Fonda played Lillian in the movie Julia.

[@michaelsommers5503]

Thanks, Shandor, for choosing to screen a vintage film that few (if any) movie reactors consider. As usual, your reaction is perceptive and thoughtful. You could do worse than react to several other Bette Davis films of the 1930s-40s.

[@fatovamingus]

Right! This is maybe one of the best movies from this decade. Everyone was good but Bette Davis was stellar. I love that he chose this movie too

[@nolaintheatl]

William Wyler always got the best out of her. I love this gesture she repeats over and over, folding a strand of hair back into her gibson girl updo!

[@JoannDavi]

I've always loved this movie. Everybody was great. Herbert Marshall was underappreciated throughout his career.

[@melenatorr]

He was absolutely wonderful, with a lovely voice. And during a period when the loss of his leg during WWI might have stopped his career, it never did.

[@charrid56maclean]

He was also a heroic figure for the amputee population, very active in promoting resources and attention to them.

[@HuntingViolets]

Bette Davis is great, as usual.

[@charrid56maclean]

What a great surprise! The Birdie story gets me every time❤❤❤

[@jenniferbabros1985]

Excellent Movie🎉🎉🎉

[@jhuth3]

Excellent viewing!

[@AngelaGoodwin-fh6fw]

Another good movie featuring Herbert Marshall is "The Razor's Edge". It stars Gene Tierney, Tyrone Powe, and Clifton Webb. Supporting cast includes Anne Baxter and Elsa Lanchester.

[@jaysverrisson1536]

The Little Foxes is one of my favorite movies of any era--a Bette Davis film that I think has been unfairly overshadowed by All About Eve, and consequently overlooked by YT reactors. Shandor, you really should do Mildred Pierce (1945), a noir drama with definite soap opera vibes, but great style, sharp dialogue, and sharp characters. It was Joan Crawford's magnum opus, for which she won her single Best Actress Oscar.

[@gregwhite8794]

1st. Looking forward to this Shandor.

[@lynnturman8157]

Ooh, yay! Shandor is reacting to one of my favorite movies! You better be nice to it, Shandor (ha ha...just kidding....sort of)

[@lynnturman8157]

I knew you'd like it, Shandor. Great reaction! I think you're right calling it a soap opera. I would call it a family drrama, which is its own genre. Especially back in those days. And you're right about this movie being so prescient. Anyway, here are some other classic family dramas I'll bet you'd love: East of Eden, Long Day's Journey Into Night (the Sidney Lumet version), Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, Ordinary People, Five Easy Pieces, Atonement, You Can Count On Me, and A Streetcar Named Desire.

[@Divamarja_CA]

The Little Foxes, an American classic play, was written by the legendary Lillian Hellman. She ended up being blacklisted for a time, called for questioning before the infamous HUAC committee, and offered this famous quote: I cannot and will not cut my conscience to fit this year's fashions. Also, while she wrote the play prequel to this play, Another Part of the Forest, about the Hubbard family 20 years prior, she had no connection to the movie. And while the film has a stacked cast, I feel that the casting of Ann Blyth as a young Regina Hubbard (née Giddens) is unfortunate, and she suffers from comparisons to Bette Davis. But, give it a watch, for sure! I had the extreme privilege of seeing the most recent revival on Broadway in 2017. They were doing a casting parlor trick of rotating the Birdie and Regina roles between Cynthia Nixon and Laura Linney so you never know which actor was playing which role on the night you were going. I saw Linney as Regina and Nixon as Birdie. They were phenomenal. The fragile delicacy Nixon brought to Birdie was luminous and heartbreaking, while Linney was a force of nature as the calculating Regina. Tony nominations and winnings were richly deserved. And adding Michael McKean and Richard Thomas to the cast was awesome!

[@katherinedinwiddie4526]

❤❤❤

[@okay5045]

Great movie

[@airman9820]

You have to watch the prequel to this called Another part of the Forest. It covers the three sibling in their youth. Its as good as The Little Foxes.

[@shandoratthecinema4098]

Wow, there's a prequel??? Now it's on my list!

[@deckofcards87]

Stagecoach...(1939)....all time American classic with John Wayne, directed by John Ford. Considered to be the first "traditional" Western movie.

[@robabiera733]

May I recommend a little movie called "The Fountainhead"? Just a suggestion.

[@shandoratthecinema4098]

Ayn Rand?

[@HuntingViolets]

Soap operas, like anything else, can be good or bad. Since the daytime ones continue over decades, of course this fluctuates, unlike a story with an ending.

[@barbaragatto2549]

Takes your breath away.