When Women Wrote Hollywood – 33 in a series – The Little Foxes (1941) – Wr: Lillian Hellman

To highlight the wonderful yet largely forgotten work of a collection of female screenwriters from the early years of Hollywood (and as a companion to the book, When Women Wrote Hollywood) we will be posting quick bits about the many films they wrote along with links to further information and clips from their works which are still accessible online. Take a few moments once or twice a week to become familiar with their names and their stories. I think you’ll be surprised at how much bold material these writers tackled at the birth of this new medium. — Rosanne Welch

When Women Wrote Hollywood – 33 in a series – The Little Foxes (1941) – Wr: Lillian Hellman

When Women Wrote Hollywood - 33 in a series - The Little Foxes (1941) - Wr: Lillian Hellman

The Little Foxes (1941) is an American drama film directed by William Wyler. The screenplay by Lillian Hellman is based on her 1939 play The Little Foxes. Hellman’s ex-husband Arthur Kober, Dorothy Parker and her husband Alan Campbell contributed additional scenes and dialogue.[2]

The title comes from Chapter 2, Verse 15 in the Song of Solomon in the King James version of the Bible, which reads, “Take us the foxes, the little foxes, that spoil the vines: for our vines have tender grapes.”[3] The same passage also inspired the title of an unrelated film, Our Vines Have Tender Grapes.

Southern aristocrat Regina Hubbard Giddens (Bette Davis) struggles for wealth and freedom within the confines of an early 20th-century society where a father considered only sons as legal heirs. As a result, her avaricious brothers, Benjamin (Charles Dingle) and Oscar (Carl Benton Reid), are independently wealthy, while she must rely for financial support upon her sickly husband Horace (Herbert Marshall), who has been away undergoing treatment for a severe heart condition. — Wikipedia 

More about The Little Foxes (1941)

More about Lillian Hellman

More books by and about Lillian Hellman

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Related posts:

  1. When Women Wrote Hollywood – 32 in a series – Lillian Hellman
  2. When Women Wrote Hollywood – 15 in a series – “The Ancient Mariner” (1925), Wr: Eve Unsell, Actor: Clara Bow, Dir: Henry Otto/Chester Bennett
  3. When Women Wrote Hollywood – 11 in a series – The Shocking Miss Pilgrim (1947), Story: Frederica Sagor Maas
  4. Cara Epstein presents on Lillian Hellman for “Bold And Brash Women Writers” session at Stephens College’s Citizen Jane Film Festival via Instagram
  5. When Women Wrote Hollywood – 8 in a series – Bess Meredyth

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