HI Roger! In my opinion, this is the best thing Davis ever did on film. It's a strong play--and her character is not of the typical Davis type. I credit Wyler for much of its success as well.
Davis has some great moments here to be sure, Jay. I have watched a few early performances pre-Jezebel and you can see the improvement once she worked with Wyler.
I really wish Bette Davis would get a Blu-ray box set collection(s) at some point. So many fantastic films like this one in need of restoration/upgrades.
Greetings Roger! Many thanks for the very enlivened review of a film that I have seen before and that is part of my film library. The story really does reveal and hone in on the more seedier aspects of capitalism and how it is designed to exploit those who are at the lower end of society. The scheming that takes place is representative of the systemic incentives that abound for that exploitation. I very much appreciated your detailed analysis of the dynamic between Davis and Wyler during the making of this film and the subsequent descent of Davis's career and personal life. Still a great screen presence, it's disappointing how she treated others so poorly. My own most recent viewing experience was the 1943 classic, For Whom The Bell Tolls, directed by Sam Wood and featuring Gary Cooper, Ingrid Bergman, and Katina Paxinou. Adopted from the famous Ernest Hemingway novel, the film is set in civil war-torn Spain with Cooper playing a person charged (pun intended) with blowing up a loyalist bridge. Wood was very anti-communist and could not have any references to the Republican side in the film as being communist. Paxinou delivers a great performance that earned her a Best Supporting Actress Academy Award. The scenes between Cooper and Bergman are super infused with humanity. My most recent film acquisition is 2021's Spencer, featuring Kristen Stewart, Timothy Spall, and Sally Hawkins. Thank you again for the stellar review, hope the treatments are going well, and have a terrific conclusion to the weekend!
Hi Chris. I love the dynamic between Wyler and Davis in all three of their movies together. It is made even more interesting given their earlier personal relationship which Davis hoped to rekindle even though Wyler had married. I may have overstated Davis’ decline as there were several excellent performances yet to come. But outside of All About Eve they didn’t resonate as much with audiences. And she always needed money so she made some regrettable but necessary choices in movies. I have never seen For Whom the Bells Tolled although I have read the book. I know Hemingway was very happy with Cooper playing the lead role. He was Papa’s kind of man. I have yet to see Spencer. Thanks as always for your terrific comments and take care.
Loved this little mini series Roger. The details from the book as well as the critique of the films themselves as individual and in context of her career was absolutely terrific. Once there is a boxset of these releases, these would make great extras. Thanks
Thanks, Chris. A boxset of these would be welcome, with lots of supplements. During my experiences on youtube I have become more and more interested in historical context. I feel remiss now if I don’t read a biography or original novel, or something, before I post a video.
I was able to watch this a couple of nights ago on Prime. Ultimately I suppose I found the plot and the scheming a bit unconvincing but it was still a devilish fun film, once again with great ensemble cast, costume/set design and Greg Toland’s wonderful cinematography. Dan Duryea gets a good slapping too! Thanks very much for doing this trio of Wyler/Davis films. It’s been really good to focus in on them. I think The Letter is my favourite of the three but they all have great cinematic aspects to them. Extraordinary also to think just what an incredible career start Teresa Wright had with all her films getting Oscar attention…..After watching this I then went on to watch a later career Davis film, The Anniversary, for Hammer studios. A lot of cruel fun but far removed from such lavish Hollywood spectacle. Those Wyler years were pretty special.
Lillian Hellman’s plays can seem creaky, Neil. Both this and The Children’s Hour are occasionally performed at regional theaters and also a big time Broadway production every so often. She wrote great characters and both plays have powerful scenes. The Regina I saw on stage was much different than Davis’ interpretation. Davis’ life and career are fascinating. I want to see some of her earlier films. She made 29 films at WB before Of Human Bondage. All that in 4 years! This series was a lot fun, happy to hear you enjoyed it.
@@RogerKirby13 Although she’s not the main star in it, there’s one she did in 1932 called 3 On A Match which I enjoyed a lot recently on Criterion Channel.
@@neilsmoviechannel3199 i found Three on a Match was still streaming on the Criterion Channel and I watched it last night and really enjoyed it. Thanks for the recommendation.
@@neilsmoviechannel3199 That ending was stunning. I also enjoyed the few moments with Bogart already in tough guy mode and blink and you miss him Edward Arnold. At such a short run time one imagines a much longer movie cut down to an hour.
Bette looks great in this film. I always felt like her performances & some of Claude Rains work were blueprints a for the villains that Walt Disney made. Her character here looks like the stepmother from Cinderella. The scene where she doesn’t help her husband with his medication is incredibly tense.
That’s an interesting reading of the film. I don’t think Wyler intended a cartoon as he enjoyed exploring the complex nature of human behavior. I will admit Hellman’s villains in her work can seem stereotypical. Thanks for commenting.
This is a film I've always found difficult to engage with. But I watched it again a few nights ago in anticipation of your video, and I enjoyed it more than ever before. It's hard to understand why Miss Davis would insist on playing Regina the way she did or why she wanted to wear all the makeup. I've read comments she supposedly made that contradict each other in regard to what Wyler wanted from her. I need to reread the section in More Than a Woman that deals with The Little Foxes. Wyler supposedly described her makeup as Kabuki-like, which is an apt description. She also supposedly said that once she saw Miss Bankhead's performance, she realized that there was no other way to play it. But it seems she played it quite differently. I can only wonder what it would be like to see Bankhead playing that part onscreen. Or Miriam Hopkins, who was considered for the role at one point. She seems like a better choice than Bette Davis, to be honest. It's still a great film and filled with excellent performances. Dan Duryea set the tone for his entire subsequent career! Patricia Collinge just breaks your heart. Thank you for this wonderful series, Roger. Three excellent videos!
Thank so much, Mike. These videos were a lot of fun to make. I hadn’t seen The Little Foxes in decades and like you I recalled not liking it. But when seen in the context of the other two Wyler films, and reading the backstory, I felt a new found appreciation. Wyler saw the Bankhead performance early in the Broadway run and Davis saw it near the conclusion of it’s long national tour. Hellman was angry with Bankhead feeling she had transformed Regina in flamboyant ways that were not the original intent. I believe Hellman was off in Europe as production neared and Wyler used another writer for some last minute changes. If Hellman had been around I’m not sure she could have influenced Davis in her conception of the character, if Wyler couldn’t. I enjoyed this look at a director/star relationship. I’m thinking of doing one on the Barbara Stanwyck films directed by Frank Capra. I believe there are four or five to choose from. And I’m hankering to read another Capra biography, maybe even another Stanwyck biography!
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HI Roger! In my opinion, this is the best thing Davis ever did on film. It's a strong play--and her character is not of the typical Davis type. I credit Wyler for much of its success as well.
Davis has some great moments here to be sure, Jay. I have watched a few early performances pre-Jezebel and you can see the improvement once she worked with Wyler.
I really wish Bette Davis would get a Blu-ray box set collection(s) at some point. So many fantastic films like this one in need of restoration/upgrades.
A Betty Davis boxset sounds great to me as well, Dave.
Greetings Roger! Many thanks for the very enlivened review of a film that I have seen before and that is part of my film library. The story really does reveal and hone in on the more seedier aspects of capitalism and how it is designed to exploit those who are at the lower end of society. The scheming that takes place is representative of the systemic incentives that abound for that exploitation. I very much appreciated your detailed analysis of the dynamic between Davis and Wyler during the making of this film and the subsequent descent of Davis's career and personal life. Still a great screen presence, it's disappointing how she treated others so poorly. My own most recent viewing experience was the 1943 classic, For Whom The Bell Tolls, directed by Sam Wood and featuring Gary Cooper, Ingrid Bergman, and Katina Paxinou. Adopted from the famous Ernest Hemingway novel, the film is set in civil war-torn Spain with Cooper playing a person charged (pun intended) with blowing up a loyalist bridge. Wood was very anti-communist and could not have any references to the Republican side in the film as being communist. Paxinou delivers a great performance that earned her a Best Supporting Actress Academy Award. The scenes between Cooper and Bergman are super infused with humanity. My most recent film acquisition is 2021's Spencer, featuring Kristen Stewart, Timothy Spall, and Sally Hawkins. Thank you again for the stellar review, hope the treatments are going well, and have a terrific conclusion to the weekend!
Hi Chris. I love the dynamic between Wyler and Davis in all three of their movies together. It is made even more interesting given their earlier personal relationship which Davis hoped to rekindle even though Wyler had married. I may have overstated Davis’ decline as there were several excellent performances yet to come. But outside of All About Eve they didn’t resonate as much with audiences. And she always needed money so she made some regrettable but necessary choices in movies. I have never seen For Whom the Bells Tolled although I have read the book. I know Hemingway was very happy with Cooper playing the lead role. He was Papa’s kind of man. I have yet to see Spencer. Thanks as always for your terrific comments and take care.
Loved this little mini series Roger. The details from the book as well as the critique of the films themselves as individual and in context of her career was absolutely terrific. Once there is a boxset of these releases, these would make great extras. Thanks
Thanks, Chris. A boxset of these would be welcome, with lots of supplements. During my experiences on youtube I have become more and more interested in historical context. I feel remiss now if I don’t read a biography or original novel, or something, before I post a video.
I was able to watch this a couple of nights ago on Prime. Ultimately I suppose I found the plot and the scheming a bit unconvincing but it was still a devilish fun film, once again with great ensemble cast, costume/set design and Greg Toland’s wonderful cinematography. Dan Duryea gets a good slapping too! Thanks very much for doing this trio of Wyler/Davis films. It’s been really good to focus in on them. I think The Letter is my favourite of the three but they all have great cinematic aspects to them. Extraordinary also to think just what an incredible career start Teresa Wright had with all her films getting Oscar attention…..After watching this I then went on to watch a later career Davis film, The Anniversary, for Hammer studios. A lot of cruel fun but far removed from such lavish Hollywood spectacle. Those Wyler years were pretty special.
Lillian Hellman’s plays can seem creaky, Neil. Both this and The Children’s Hour are occasionally performed at regional theaters and also a big time Broadway production every so often. She wrote great characters and both plays have powerful scenes. The Regina I saw on stage was much different than Davis’ interpretation. Davis’ life and career are fascinating. I want to see some of her earlier films. She made 29 films at WB before Of Human Bondage. All that in 4 years! This series was a lot fun, happy to hear you enjoyed it.
@@RogerKirby13 Although she’s not the main star in it, there’s one she did in 1932 called 3 On A Match which I enjoyed a lot recently on Criterion Channel.
@@neilsmoviechannel3199 i found Three on a Match was still streaming on the Criterion Channel and I watched it last night and really enjoyed it. Thanks for the recommendation.
@@RogerKirby13 oh great. I wasn’t prepared for that ending!
@@neilsmoviechannel3199 That ending was stunning. I also enjoyed the few moments with Bogart already in tough guy mode and blink and you miss him Edward Arnold. At such a short run time one imagines a much longer movie cut down to an hour.
So two of Davis's best performance where playing Tullulah Bankhead.
That is noteworthy isn’t it.
Bette looks great in this film. I always felt like her performances & some of Claude Rains work were blueprints a for the villains that Walt Disney made. Her character here looks like the stepmother from Cinderella. The scene where she doesn’t help her husband with his medication is incredibly tense.
That’s an interesting reading of the film. I don’t think Wyler intended a cartoon as he enjoyed exploring the complex nature of human behavior. I will admit Hellman’s villains in her work can seem stereotypical. Thanks for commenting.
@@RogerKirby13I wouldn’t say the villains Walt created were cartoons to a degree but the theatrical stylings of Davis & Rains must’ve had an impact.
@@BadGuyRants I can see Davis and Rains having an impact. I haven’t seen most of the Disney movies since I was a kid, should re-visit.
@@RogerKirby13anything before Walt died is definitely worth seeing again. His intention for those films becomes more apparent as you get older.
This is a film I've always found difficult to engage with. But I watched it again a few nights ago in anticipation of your video, and I enjoyed it more than ever before. It's hard to understand why Miss Davis would insist on playing Regina the way she did or why she wanted to wear all the makeup. I've read comments she supposedly made that contradict each other in regard to what Wyler wanted from her. I need to reread the section in More Than a Woman that deals with The Little Foxes. Wyler supposedly described her makeup as Kabuki-like, which is an apt description. She also supposedly said that once she saw Miss Bankhead's performance, she realized that there was no other way to play it. But it seems she played it quite differently. I can only wonder what it would be like to see Bankhead playing that part onscreen. Or Miriam Hopkins, who was considered for the role at one point. She seems like a better choice than Bette Davis, to be honest. It's still a great film and filled with excellent performances. Dan Duryea set the tone for his entire subsequent career! Patricia Collinge just breaks your heart. Thank you for this wonderful series, Roger. Three excellent videos!
Thank so much, Mike. These videos were a lot of fun to make. I hadn’t seen The Little Foxes in decades and like you I recalled not liking it. But when seen in the context of the other two Wyler films, and reading the backstory, I felt a new found appreciation.
Wyler saw the Bankhead performance early in the Broadway run and Davis saw it near the conclusion of it’s long national tour. Hellman was angry with Bankhead feeling she had transformed Regina in flamboyant ways that were not the original intent. I believe Hellman was off in Europe as production neared and Wyler used another writer for some last minute changes. If Hellman had been around I’m not sure she could have influenced Davis in her conception of the character, if Wyler couldn’t.
I enjoyed this look at a director/star relationship. I’m thinking of doing one on the Barbara Stanwyck films directed by Frank Capra. I believe there are four or five to choose from. And I’m hankering to read another Capra biography, maybe even another Stanwyck biography!