Tribute to William Wyler 2007 / The Little Foxes / USA 1941
Though consensus between William Wyler and Bette Davis might not have reigned in their last film together, the director chimed all the more with Lillian Hellman’s original work and with cameraman Gregg Toland, with whose assistance he created a unique, psychologically sophisticated portrait of a southern family whose lives are governed by a heartless desire for money.
“He hated the way I looked, spoke, moved, delivered my lines, my false eyelashes – everything else about my performance. Nothing escaped his scathing tongue. I was a nervous wreck. My favourite and most admired director was fighting me every inch of the way. I just didn’t want to continue,” recalled Bette Davis of the shooting of The Little Foxes, her last collaboration with William Wyler, in which obstinacy had come to prevail over what was once a natural meeting of minds. The cause of their wrangling was the interpretation of the main character, Regina, the portrayal of whom Davis conscientiously analogized with the expressive performance of theatre performer Tallulah Bankhead. Wyler however did not envisage Regina as a greedy woman feeling wronged by a life of unfulfilment, but as a glamorous and cynically conniving character. Though the film might not have come about in an atmosphere of harmonious consensus, in the end The Little Foxes turned into a work of art that makes a striking example of an aesthetic tendency towards depth of field and long shots. The theme was a play by Lillian Hellman set in a provincial town at the turn of the 20th century. For the enterprising Hubbard family, financial gain takes precedence over everything, even if attained through deceit, which also makes their relationships with one another heartlessly callous. Regina even assists in the death of her own husband to attain her goals. Sergei Eisenstein called the scene where two men communicate through their images in mirrors to be “a work of genius”.
114 min / Black & white, 35 mm
Director William Wyler
/ Screenplay Lillian Hellman, Arthur Kober, Dorothy Parker, Alan Campbell podle divadelní hry / based on a play by Lillian Hellman
/ Dir. of Photography Gregg Toland
/ Music Meredith Willson
/ Editor Daniel Mandell
/ Producer Samuel Goldwyn
/ Production The Samuel Goldwyn Company
/ Cast Bette Davis, Herbert Marshall, Teresa Wright, Richard Carlson, Dan Duryea
/ Contact Hollywood Classics, BFI
Hollywood Classics
Suite 31, Beaufort Court, Admirals Way, E14 9XL, London
United Kingdom
Phone: +44 207 517 7525
E-mail: [email protected]
BFI
21 Stephen Street, W1T 1LN, London
United Kingdom
Phone: +44 207 255 1444
Fax: +44 207 436 7950
E-mail: [email protected]
Blažena Urgošíková
Film Institution Rep.
Vladimír Opěla
Film Institution Rep.
Catherine Wyler
Festival Organizer
First-hand brews throughout the year.
Be among the first to learn about upcoming events and other news. We only send the newsletter when we have something to say.