The Little Foxes (1941)

Long before small-screen audiences delighted in the machinations of the Ewings, the Colbys and the Lyons, the Hubbard clan of Alabama ruled stage and screen in Lillian Hellman’s explosive tale of big business in the old South. Embezzlement, blackmail and even murder are all tools of the trade as the three siblings jockey for wealth and status. Director William Wyler and cinematographer Gregg Toland keep the action moving as a peerless cast — headed by Bette Davis at her most wicked — delivers Hellman’s scathing, often witty dialog. This was the third film Davis made with Wyler, who had helped her control her preternatural energy in Jezebel (1938) and The Letter (1940). They fought constantly, but despite or maybe because of that it’s one of her most electric performances. 

d. William Wyler, 115m, 35mm