Whole house mad

Whole house mad

The Little Foxes is a beautifully written family drama with a central thematic focus on the ramifications of greed and an electric Bette Davis performance at the helm, if I’m being honest I thought it had the potential to be a little better than it is but this final product is still fantastic and once again proves to me the brilliance of William Wyler. I’ll get my negatives out of the way early so I can talk about what I loved, the biggest gripe I had was with the lack of depth in the driving narrative, it’s not all that intriguing or entertaining to follow and even though this beautiful world was constructed around it with plenty of characters I was loving and superbly written dialogue I just didn’t care for the arc of the story which is definitely a disappointment compared to what I thought going in. I should say that the writing itself was still very good, the dialogue between characters flowed perfectly and I loved a lot of the familial themes, it’s the story not the screenplay I had issues with. Now to get to my praises I thought Gregg Toland and William Wyler’s vision in bringing Lillian Hellman’s story to life was gorgeous, Wyler has repeatedly proved himself as one of my favorite visual directors and this backs that up with great camera work and beautifully lit and designed set pieces. Bette Davis is also a glaring highlight in the lead role giving another in a line of fantastic performances, this is my first time seeing her work with Wyler and seeing how well she did here it makes me even more excited for Jezebel which I’m about to watch when I finish this review. Outside of Bette I thought Patricia Collinge was the best of the cast as she wasn’t in the movie much but when she was she took over the screen and gave a great performance in the spotlight every time. Others like Teresa Wright, Herbert Marshall, Jessie Grayson, and Dan Duryea also added a lot to the movie, the cast was absolutely one of my favorite parts of this experience because I was loving the family drama part of this most and the performers did so well in making that feel so genuine. And that’s not to say I don’t respect the crime part of this and understand it, it obviously works very well to show the dark side of the American dream full of corruption, thievery, and greed, but it’s the actual depth and progression of the crime plot that lost me and with how good the family drama was it simply pales in comparison. In the end I’m a little mixed on the story but the fantastic cast, script, and filmmaking more than make it up for me, Wyler has hit yet again with this post-civil war southern family drama, now it’s time for me to see his pre-civil war southern drama also starring Bette Davis and if the similarities continue between the two I’m sure to be in for a great experience.

“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.”

The Little Foxes is a beautifully written family drama with a central thematic focus on the ramifications of greed and an electric Bette Davis performance at the helm, if I’m being honest I thought it had the potential to be a little better than it is but this final product is still fantastic and once again proves to me the brilliance of William Wyler. I’ll get my negatives out of the way early so I can talk about what I loved, the biggest gripe I had was with the lack of depth in the driving narrative, it’s not all that intriguing or entertaining to follow and even though this beautiful world was constructed around it with plenty of characters I was loving and superbly written dialogue I just didn’t care for the arc of the story which is definitely a disappointment compared to what I thought going in. I should say that the writing itself was still very good, the dialogue between characters flowed perfectly and I loved a lot of the familial themes, it’s the story not the screenplay I had issues with. Now to get to my praises I thought Gregg Toland and William Wyler’s vision in bringing Lillian Hellman’s story to life was gorgeous, Wyler has repeatedly proved himself as one of my favorite visual directors and this backs that up with great camera work and beautifully lit and designed set pieces. Bette Davis is also a glaring highlight in the lead role giving another in a line of fantastic performances, this is my first time seeing her work with Wyler and seeing how well she did here it makes me even more excited for Jezebel which I’m about to watch when I finish this review. Outside of Bette I thought Patricia Collinge was the best of the cast as she wasn’t in the movie much but when she was she took over the screen and gave a great performance in the spotlight every time. Others like Teresa Wright, Herbert Marshall, Jessie Grayson, and Dan Duryea also added a lot to the movie, the cast was absolutely one of my favorite parts of this experience because I was loving the family drama part of this most and the performers did so well in making that feel so genuine. And that’s not to say I don’t respect the crime part of this and understand it, it obviously works very well to show the dark side of the American dream full of corruption, thievery, and greed, but it’s the actual depth and progression of the crime plot that lost me and with how good the family drama was it simply pales in comparison. In the end I’m a little mixed on the story but the fantastic cast, script, and filmmaking more than make it up for me, Wyler has hit yet again with this post-civil war southern family drama, now it’s time for me to see his pre-civil war southern drama also starring Bette Davis and if the similarities continue between the two I’m sure to be in for a great experience.

“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.”

I want to be like Bette Davis when I grow up

I want to be like Bette Davis when I grow up

so many dislikable characters but in a good way

so many dislikable characters but in a good way

It’s possible to be gooped and gagged by Bette Davis, the Grand Archcunt of the Golden Age of Hollywood, while holding space for Tallulah Bankhead.

I’d love to take a day trip to the alternate universe where Tallulah got to be in this, or maybe use a time machine to see her originate the role on Broadway, but I’m still awestruck by Bette’s interpretation.

Also, the staircase deserved a supporting actor nod at the Oscars.

It’s possible to be gooped and gagged by Bette Davis, the Grand Archcunt of the Golden Age of Hollywood, while holding space for Tallulah Bankhead.

I’d love to take a day trip to the alternate universe where Tallulah got to be in this, or maybe use a time machine to see her originate the role on Broadway, but I’m still awestruck by Bette’s interpretation.

Also, the staircase deserved a supporting actor nod at the Oscars.