The Little Foxes (1941)

Academy Awards, USA 1942

Nominee Oscar	Best Picture Samuel Goldwyn Productions
	Best Actress in a Leading Role Bette Davis
	Best Actress in a Supporting Role Patricia Collinge
	Best Actress in a Supporting Role Teresa Wright
	Best Director William Wyler
	Best Writing, Screenplay Lillian Hellman
	Best Art Direction-Interior Decoration, Black-and-White Stephen Goosson Howard Bristol
	Best Film Editing Daniel Mandell
	Best Music, Scoring of a Dramatic Picture Meredith Willson

RKO Radio Pictures
Directed by William Wyler
My rating: 3 stars out of 4
IMDb Wikipedia
(DVD, MGM)

Bette Davis is improbably cast as a southern aristocrat living on a plantation near New Orleans. She is unhappily married to Herbert Marshall, who has a heart condition and may only live a few months. Her brothers need her help to build a cotton mill, but Marshall refuses to give her any money. One of her brothers convinces his son, Dan Duryea, to steal valuable railroad stock from the Marshall's bank deposit box. Davis finds out and tries to blackmail her brothers. Marshall has a heart attack and Davis refuses to help him, leading to his death. Their daughter finds out and decides to leave home, leaving Bette wealthy, but alone, in the plantation. Bette gets everything she can from her role as the domineering, selfish, backstabbing matriarch, even if her southern accent tends to come and go. Some scenes with the African-American slaves are cringe-worthy now, but it is still very watchable, and entertaining, high melodrama. William Wyler's camera floats through many scenes.