The Little Foxes (VHS, 1997)

This VHS is almost 2 hours long & B&W. It is a bone chilling indictment of Alabaman slave plantation white supremacism, corruption & greed.

Renowned playwright, Lillian Hellman (1905-84) wrote the screenplay for "The Little Foxes," saying that she "wrote her 'angry comedy' based on her own family's biannual dinner at which people drew lots for a diamond that had been left in her great-grandmother's estate." Drawing from her own vivid memories of Southern US power struggles, Hellman's "Foxes" screenplay provides Bette Davis with one of her landmark roles & script that has 'teeth'.

Hellman's first play for Samuel Goldwyn was "The Children's Hour." This hit script & film is based upon a 19th century case of two girls' school mistresses whose reputations were ruined when their pupils accused them of lesbianism.

After a poor showing of Hellman's "Days to Come" in 1936, about labor struggles in an Ohio town, Hellman said she "was so scared [that she] wrote "Little Foxes, 1939, nine times." This is but one screenplay that made her famous. (Another is "The Children's Hour").

"The Little Foxes" is a vivid portrayal of sibling rivalry, Southern plantation slavery & the ugly greed of the Hubbard family of Alabama. The story takes place at the turn of the 19th-20th century, in the deep South in Alabama where the Hubbard siblings are involved in their own brand of a power-hungry uncivil family war. Who better to play the reigning schemer Regina than Bette Davis, the Hubbard sibling who commands ownership of a cotton mill that exploits slaves while yielding millions of dollars on their bent backs? Davis is the Oscar winner alright, leading a near perfect cast through a major screen achievement.

No one should ever say that Lillian Hellman wasn't a controversial & political playwright! This film is not rated probably because anyone could watch it. There's nothing about it that's inappropriate for children to view. Though I imagine it would bore most little children, since the play's basic themes are quite complexly adult (but not in a R-rated sense at all).

I highly recommend this film because every aspect of the film is classic.~

I am sure i'll enjoy this and like it alot, as said i am Bettie davis fan and like the movies she plays in.