Editing The Little Foxes

{{Short description|Play by Lillian Hellman}}
{{other uses}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=April 2025}}
{{Infobox play
| name       = The Little Foxes
| image      = The-Little-Foxes-1939-FE.jpg
| image_size =
| caption    = First edition (1939)
| writer     = [[Lillian Hellman]]
| characters = {{unbulleted list | Regina Giddens | Horace Giddens | Leo Hubbard | Oscar Hubbard }}
| setting    = Alabama in 1900 
| premiere   = {{Start date|1939|02|15}}
| place      = [[Nederlander Theatre|National Theatre]]<br />[[New York City]]
| orig_lang  = English
| subject    =
| genre      = [[Drama]]
}}
'''''The Little Foxes''''' is a 1939 play by [[Lillian Hellman]], considered a classic of 20th century drama. Its title comes from Chapter 2, Verse 15, of the [[Song of Songs|Song of Solomon]] in the [[Authorized King James Version|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."  Set in a small town in [[Alabama]] in 1900, it focuses on the struggle for control of a family business.<ref name="theaterscene">{{cite web |url=http://www.theaterscene.net/ts%5Carticles.nsf/%28AlphaT%29/800B7605A222CE01852577AC004825C7?OpenDocument |date=September 27, 2011 |title=The Little Foxes |website=Theater Scene |access-date=May 28, 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121109035430/http://www.theaterscene.net/ts/articles.nsf/(AlphaT)/800B7605A222CE01852577AC004825C7?OpenDocument |archive-date=November 9, 2012}}</ref> [[Tallulah Bankhead]] starred in the original production as Regina Hubbard Giddens.

==Plot==
[[File:The-Little-Foxes-Bankhead-1.jpg|thumb|left|upright|[[Tallulah Bankhead]] as Regina Giddens in ''The Little Foxes'' (1939)]]
[[File:The-Little-Foxes-Breakfast.jpg|thumb|upright=1.2|Tallulah Bankhead, [[Charles Dingle]], [[Carl Benton Reid]] and [[Dan Duryea]] in the original Broadway production of ''The Little Foxes'' (1939)]]
The play's focus is Southerner Regina Hubbard Giddens, who struggles for wealth and freedom within the confines of an early 20th-century society where fathers considered only sons as their legal heirs. As a result of this practice, while her two avaricious brothers Benjamin and Oscar have wielded the family inheritance into two independently substantial fortunes, she has had to rely upon her manipulation of her cautious, timid, browbeaten husband, Horace.  He is no businessman, just her financial support; although he is pliable enough for her ambition, that ambition has driven him into becoming merely the tool of her insatiable greed. He uses a wheelchair.

Her brother Oscar married Birdie, his much-maligned alcoholic wife, solely to acquire her family's [[plantations in the American South|plantation]] and cotton fields. Oscar now wants to join forces with his brother, Benjamin, to construct a [[cotton mill]]. They need an additional $75,000 and approach Regina, asking her to invest in the project. Oscar initially proposes marriage between his son Leo and Regina's daughter Alexandra—first cousins—as a means of getting Horace's money, but Horace and Alexandra are repulsed by the suggestion, as is Birdie. Horace refuses when Regina asks him outright for the money, so Leo, a bank teller, is pressured into stealing Horace's railroad [[Bond (finance)|bonds]] from the bank's safe deposit box.

Horace, after discovering this, tells Regina he is going to change his will in favor of their daughter, and also claim he gave Leo the bonds as a loan, thereby cutting Regina out of the deal completely. When he has a [[heart attack]] during this chat, she makes no effort to help him. He dies within hours, without anyone knowing his plan and before changing his will. This leaves Regina free to blackmail her brothers by threatening to report Leo's theft unless they give her 75% ownership in the cotton mill (it is, in Regina's mind, a fair exchange for the stolen bonds). The price Regina ultimately pays for her evil deeds is the loss of her daughter Alexandra's love and respect. Regina's actions cause Alexandra to finally understand the importance of not idly watching people do evil. She tells Regina she will not watch her be "one who eats the earth," and abandons her. Having let her husband die, alienated her brothers, and driven away her only child, Regina is left wealthy but completely alone.

==Background==
[[File:Lillian-Hellman-1939.jpg|thumb|upright|Lillian Hellman in 1939]]
The fictional Hubbards in the play are reputedly drawn from Lillian Hellman's Marx relatives. Hellman's mother was Julia Newhouse of [[Demopolis, Alabama]]. Julia Newhouse's parents were Leonard Newhouse, a Demopolis wholesale liquor dealer, and Sophie Marx, of a successful Demopolis banking family.  According to Hellman, Sophie Marx Newhouse never missed an opportunity to belittle and mock her father for his poor business sense in front of her and her mother. The discord between the Marx and Hellman families was to later serve as the inspiration for the play.<ref name="demopolisfam">{{cite web |url=http://www.hellmanwyler.com/demopolis_stories.htm |title=Demopolis Stories of Hellman and Wyler |year=2009 |website=The Hellman Wyler Festival |access-date=May 28, 2011 |url-status=usurped |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110728051000/http://www.hellmanwyler.com/demopolis_stories.htm |archive-date=July 28, 2011}}</ref><ref name="southernlittrail">{{cite web |url=http://www.southernliterarytrail.org/demopolis.html |title=Demopolis: Lillian Hellman |website=Southern Literary Trail |access-date=May 28, 2011 |archive-date=October 5, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111005051610/http://www.southernliterarytrail.org/demopolis.html |url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Local women's history celebrated |first=Jason |last=Cannon |url=http://www.demopolistimes.com/2011/03/23/local-women%E2%80%99s-history-celebrated/ |newspaper=[[Demopolis Times]] |date=March 23, 2011 |access-date=May 28, 2011}}</ref>

The title "The Little Foxes" was suggested by [[Dorothy Parker]].

In 1946, Hellman wrote ''[[Another Part of the Forest]]'', a [[prequel]] chronicling the roots of the Hubbard family.

==Production==

{{multiple image
<!-- Essential parameters -->
| align     = right
| direction = vertical
| width     = 170
<!-- Image 1 -->
| image1    = The-Little-Foxes-Rawls-Bankhead.jpg
| alt1      =
| caption1  = [[Eugenia Rawls]] (Alexandra) and [[Tallulah Bankhead]] (Regina) in the Broadway production of ''The Little Foxes'' (1939)
<!-- Image 2 -->
| image2    =The-Little-Foxes-Bankhead-2.jpg
| alt2      =
| caption2  = Bankhead played every performance of ''The Little Foxes'' on Broadway and on tour, and she was angry when [[Bette Davis]] was awarded the role of Regina in the [[The Little Foxes (film)|1941 motion picture]].<ref name="Carrier"/>{{Rp|90}}
}}
Produced and directed by [[Herman Shumlin]], the original Broadway production of ''The Little Foxes'' opened February 15, 1939, at the [[Nederlander Theatre|National Theatre]]. It closed February 3, 1940, running for 410 performances before its two-season tour of the United States.<ref name=vault/><ref>{{cite news |date=February 3, 1940 |title=News of the Stage |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1940/02/03/archives/news-of-the-stage-finnish-volunteers-in-native-costume-to-solicit.html |newspaper=[[The New York Times]] |access-date=2018-07-01 |url-access=subscription}}</ref> The main poster and playbill design (yellow background with red and black lettering and the tagline "The Greatest Play of the Generation" over a circular photo of Bankhead in character) was closely referenced over eight decades later for the promotional materials for the satirical comedy ''[[Oh, Mary!]]''.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://encyclopediaofalabama.org/media/the-little-foxes/|title=The Little Foxes|first=William|last= Gantt|website=Encyclopedia of Alabama/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.gettyimages.co.uk/detail/news-photo/andy-cohen-and-amy-sedaris-attend-the-oh-mary-off-broadway-news-photo/1996561135|title="Oh, Mary!" Off Broadway Opening Night: Andy Cohen and Amy Sedaris attend the "Oh, Mary!" Off Broadway Opening Night at the Lucille Lortel Theatre on February 08, 2024 in New York City|first=Michael |last= Loccisano|website=Getty Images/|url-status=live}}</ref>

===Cast===
* [[Tallulah Bankhead]] as Regina Hubbard Giddens<ref name="IBDb"/>
* [[Patricia Collinge]] as Birdie Hubbard<ref name="IBDb"/>
* [[Frank Conroy (actor)|Frank Conroy]] as Horace Giddens
* Lee Baker as William Marshall<ref name="IBDb"/>
* [[Charles Dingle]] as Benjamin Hubbard<ref name="IBDb"/>
* [[Dan Duryea]] as Leo Hubbard<ref name="IBDb"/>
* [[John Marriott (actor)|John Marriott]] as Cal<ref name="IBDb"/>
* [[Abbie Mitchell]] as Addie<ref name="IBDb"/>
* [[Carl Benton Reid]] as Oscar Hubbard<ref name="IBDb"/>
* Florence Williams as Alexandra Giddens<ref name="IBDb"/>

On October 30, 1939, [[Eugenia Rawls]] replaced Florence Williams in the role of Alexandra Giddens. Rawls had made her Broadway debut as one of the students in Lillian Hellman's 1934 play, ''[[The Children's Hour (play)|The Children's Hour]]'', which was also produced and directed by Herman Shumlin.<ref>{{cite news |date=November 2, 1939 |title=News of the Stage |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1939/11/02/archives/news-of-the-stage-st-james-gets-summer-night-this-eveningnice-goin.html |newspaper=The New York Times |access-date=2018-06-30 |url-access=subscription}}</ref> Rawls played Alexandra for the rest of the play's Broadway run and the national tour that followed.<ref name="IBDb">{{cite web |url=https://www.ibdb.com/broadway-production/the-little-foxes-12430 |title=The Little Foxes |publisher=[[Internet Broadway Database]] |access-date=2016-09-21}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |date=January 22, 1941 |title=Tallulah and Stage Daughter Look Alike |work=[[Amarillo Globe-News|The Amarillo Globe]] |page=11}}</ref>

The 104-city tour of ''The Little Foxes'' began February 5, 1940, in Washington, D.C., and ended April 15, 1941, in Philadelphia.<ref name="Carrier">{{cite book |last=Carrier |first=Jeffrey L. |date=1991 |title=Tallulah Bankhead: A Bio-bibliography |location=New York |publisher=Greenwood Press |isbn=978-0-3132-7452-7}}{{Rp|51}}</ref>

===Accolades===
[[Tallulah Bankhead]] won ''[[Variety (magazine)|Variety]]'' magazine's citation as best actress of the 1938–39 Broadway season.<ref name="Carrier"/>{{Rp|22}}

==Adaptations==
[[File:Greer Garson Franchot Tone The Little Foxes Hallmark Hall of Fame 1956.jpg|thumb|upright|[[Greer Garson]] and [[Franchot Tone]] in the 1956 ''[[Hallmark Hall of Fame]]'' TV adaptation of ''The Little Foxes'']]
Lillian Hellman wrote the [[screenplay]] for a [[The Little Foxes (film)|1941 film version]], a [[Samuel Goldwyn]] production directed by [[William Wyler]]. Other contributors to the screenplay included [[Arthur Kober]], [[Dorothy Parker]] and [[Alan Campbell (screenwriter)|Alan Campbell]]. The touring production of ''The Little Foxes'' went on hiatus for three months during filming, and Patricia Collinge, Charles Dingle, Dan Duryea, John Marriott and Carl Benton Reid all reprised their stage roles in their motion picture debuts. [[Bette Davis]], [[Herbert Marshall]]  and [[Teresa Wright]] star as Regina, Horace and Alexandra Giddens.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.afi.com/members/catalog/DetailView.aspx?s=&Movie=27019 |title=The Little Foxes |website=[[AFI Catalog of Feature Films]] |access-date=2016-09-21}}</ref>

''The Little Foxes'' was presented on ''[[Philip Morris Playhouse]]'' October 10, 1941. The radio adaptation starred [[Tallulah Bankhead]].<ref>{{cite news |title=Johnny Presents |newspaper=Harrisburg Telegraph |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/2857840/harrisburg_telegraph/ |date=October 10, 1941 |page=15 |via=[[Newspapers.com]] |access-date=July 21, 2015}}</ref>

In 1949, the play was adapted for an opera entitled ''[[Regina (Blitzstein)|Regina]]'' by [[Marc Blitzstein]].

George Schaefer produced and directed Robert Hartung's television adaptation of ''The Little Foxes'' for the ''[[Hallmark Hall of Fame]]'', broadcast December 16, 1956, on [[NBC]]. The cast included [[Greer Garson]] (Regina), [[Franchot Tone]] (Horace), [[Sidney Blackmer]] (Ben), [[E. G. Marshall]] (Oscar) and [[Eileen Heckart]] (Birdie).<ref>{{cite web |url=http://ctva.biz/US/Anthology/Hallmark/HallOfFame_06_(1956-57).htm |title=Hallmark Hall of Fame, Season 6 (1956–57) |website=Classic TV Archive |access-date=2016-09-21}}</ref>

==Revivals==
[[Mike Nichols]] directed a production that opened October 26, 1967, at the [[Vivian Beaumont Theater]] in [[Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts|Lincoln Center]], then transferred to the [[Ethel Barrymore Theatre]]. It ran a total of 100 performances. The cast included [[Anne Bancroft]] as Regina, [[Richard A. Dysart]] as Horace, [[Margaret Leighton]] as Birdie, [[E.G. Marshall]] as Oscar, [[George C. Scott]] as Benjamin, and [[Austin Pendleton]] as Leo. Costume design was by [[Patricia Zipprodt]].<ref name=vault>{{cite web| title=The Little Foxes| url=https://playbill.com/production/the-little-foxes-vivian-beaumont-theatre-vault-0000011237| website=Playbill Vault| access-date=2014-04-24}}</ref>  In reviewing the production, ''[[Time (magazine)|Time]]'' said, "An admirable revival of Lillian Hellman's 1939 play in Lincoln Center demonstrates how securely bricks of character can be sealed together with the mortar of plot. Anne Bancroft, George C. Scott, Richard Dysart, and Margaret Leighton are expertly guided by Director Mike Nichols through gilt-edged performances."<ref name=time>{{cite magazine| url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,837499-2,00.html| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080603013148/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,837499-2,00.html| url-status=dead| archive-date=June 3, 2008| date=10 November 1967| magazine=Time| title=Television: Nov 10, 1967| access-date=2014-04-24}}</ref> The production was profiled in the [[William Goldman]] book ''[[The Season: A Candid Look at Broadway]]''.

[[Geraldine Page]] played Regina in a production in which she starred opposite her husband [[Rip Torn]] (in the role of Benjamin Hubbard) directed by Philip Minor. It was staged for the Academy Festival Theater at [[Barat College]] in [[Lake Forest, Illinois]] and received a rave review from William Leonard of the ''[[Chicago Tribune]]'': "Geraldine Page is giving one of the greatest performances of her glorious career in Lake Forest and she is surrounded by a cast so superb that the Academy Festival Theater's production of ''"The Little Foxes"'' becomes a powerful, searing, unforgettable show... it is a harrowing and ennobling evening in the theater-the kind that comes along all too seldom. We have seen other stars in the role of the malevolently, ruthlessly scheming Regina Giddens—[[Tallulah Bankhead]] years ago in her greatest triumph, [[Eileen Herlie]] five seasons back at the Ivanhoe. Geraldine Page is a whole new story—I have seen Geraldine Page in innumerable roles, ever since she was playing in ''[[East Lynne]]'' with the Lake Zurich Players back in the '40s. I've never seen her more thrillingly convincing than in this production."<ref>{{cite news| title=Best Page in 'Foxes' book| url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/197047887/?terms=geraldine%20page%20the%20little%20foxes%20philip%20minor&match=1| first=William| last=Leonard| newspaper=[[Chicago Tribune]]| date=July 6, 1974| page=15; Sec 1| access-date=May 2, 2025}}</ref>
The legendary [[Kim Stanley]] once said of Page's Regina that it "was possibly the finest performance" she had ever seen.<ref>{{cite news| title=Kim Stanley Returns, and She Wants Her Own Company| url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/271888487/?terms=geraldine%20page%20the%20little%20foxes%20&match=1| first=John| last=Corry| newspaper=[[Honolulu Star-Bulletin]]| date=November 5, 1979| page=B6| agency=The New York Times| access-date=May 2, 2025}}</ref>

Austin Pendleton directed a production at the Parker Playhouse in [[Fort Lauderdale]] for three weeks that transferred to the [[John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts|Kennedy Center]] in [[Washington, D.C.]], for six weeks before opening on Broadway.  The production opened on May 7, 1981, at the [[Al Hirschfeld Theatre|Martin Beck Theatre]] for 123 performances and eight previews. The cast included [[Elizabeth Taylor]] as Regina, [[Tom Aldredge]] as Horace, [[Dennis Christopher]] as Leo, [[Maureen Stapleton]] as Birdie, and [[Anthony Zerbe]] as Benjamin. [[Florence Klotz]] was the costume designer.<ref name=vault/> In a ''Time'' article prior to the Broadway opening, Gerald Clarke reported nearly $1 million worth of ticket sales during the week after advertisements announcing Taylor's appearance appeared in ''[[The New York Times]]''.<ref name=clarke>{{cite magazine| title=Show Business: The Long Way to Broadway| url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,922525,00.html| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100309225330/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,922525,00.html| url-status=dead| archive-date=March 9, 2010| last=Clarke| first=Gerald| date=March 30, 1981| magazine=Time| access-date=2014-04-24}}</ref> Taylor received nominations for both the [[Tony Award for Best Performance by a Leading Actress in a Play]] and the [[Drama Desk Award]] for Outstanding Actress in a Play. Tony nominations also went to Pendleton for [[Tony Award for Best Direction of a Play|Best Direction of a Play]], Aldredge for [[Tony Award for Best Performance by a Featured Actor in a Play|Best Featured Actor in a Play]], Stapleton for [[Tony Award for Best Performance by a Featured Actress in a Play|Best Featured Actress in a Play]], and the play itself for [[Tony Award for Best Revival|Best Revival]].

A 1997 revival, again at the Vivian Beaumont, ran for 27 previews and 57 performances from April 3 to June 15. Directed by [[Jack O'Brien (director)|Jack O'Brien]], the cast included [[Stockard Channing]] as Regina, [[Kenneth Welsh]] as Horace, [[Brian Kerwin]] as Oscar, [[Brian Murray (actor)|Brian Murray]] as Benjamin, and [[Frances Conroy]] as Birdie. Murray was nominated for the Tony Award for Best Featured Actor in a Play and won the Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Featured Actor in a Play, and John Lee Beatty was nominated for the [[Tony Award for Best Scenic Design]].<ref name=vault/>

The production was revived at The [[Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey]], from June 3 to 28, 2009, with [[Venida Evans]], Ron Brice, Deanne Lorette, Brian Dykstra, Fisher Neal, Kathryn Meisle, Einar Gunn, Philip Goodwin, Lindsey Wochley, Bradford Cover, and directed by Matthew Arbour.<ref name=shakes>{{cite web| title=The Little Foxes| url=http://www.shakespearenj.org/SeasonsPast/2009/show2/info.html| website=[[Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey]]| access-date=2014-04-22}}</ref>

Another revival was produced by [[Cleveland Play House]] in the 75th anniversary year of the original Broadway production, September 12–October 5, 2014, in the [[Allen Theatre]] ([[Playhouse Square]]) in [[Cleveland]]. The production was directed by Artistic Director Laura Kepley.<ref name=cph>{{cite web| title=The Little Foxes| url=http://www.clevelandplayhouse.com/main-stage/the-little-foxes| website=Cleveland Play House| access-date=2014-08-27}}</ref>

Kyle Donnelly directed a revival at [[Washington, DC]]'s [[Arena Stage]] from September 23 to October 30, 2016. The cast included [[Marg Helgenberger]], [[Edward Gero]], [[Isabel Keating]], and Jack Willis.<ref name= "helgenberger">{{cite news |last=Gans |first=Andrew |url=http://www.playbill.com/article/marg-helgenberger-stars-in-the-little-foxes-beginning-tonight-at-arena-stage |title=Marg Helgenberger Stars in ''The Little Foxes'', Beginning Tonight at Arena Stage |work=[[Playbill]] |date=September 23, 2016 |access-date=March 13, 2018}}</ref>

[[Manhattan Theatre Club]] produced a Broadway revival that began previews on March 29, 2017, and opened officially on April 19 at the [[Samuel J. Friedman Theatre]]. It starred [[Laura Linney]] (who was nominated for a Tony Award—Performance by a Leading Actress in a Play) and [[Cynthia Nixon]] who alternated the roles of Regina Giddens and Birdie, with direction by [[Daniel J. Sullivan]]. Cynthia Nixon won the Tony Award for Featured Actress in a Play for her turn as Birdie. The production team included [[Scott Pask]], Justin Townsend, [[Jane Greenwood]], Fotz Patton, and Tom Watson.<ref>Clement, Olivia (March 29, 2017). [http://www.playbill.com/article/broadways-the-little-foxes-begins-march-29# "Broadway’s 'The Little Foxes' Begins March 29"]. ''Playbill''.</ref><ref>[http://www.manhattantheatreclub.com/2016-17-season/little-foxes/ ''Little Foxes''].''Manhattan Theatre Club.</ref><ref>Clement, Olivia (April 19, 2017). [http://www.playbill.com/article/broadways-the-little-foxes-opens-april-19# "Broadway’s 'The Little Foxes' Opens April 19"]. ''Playbill''.</ref> It played its final performance on July 2, 2017.<ref>Olivia Clemont (July 2, 2017). [http://www.playbill.com/article/broadways-the-little-foxes-closes-july-2 "Broadway's 'The Little Foxes' Closes July 2nd"]. ''Playbill''. </ref>

The [[Gate Theatre]] in [[Dublin]], was planning a revival in 2020, directed by Blanche McIntyre, but this was postponed due to the [[COVID-19 pandemic]].<ref>{{cite web| url=https://www.gatetheatre.ie/statement-on-covid-19/| title=March Update on COVID-19| date=March 26, 2020| website=Gate Theatre| access-date=May 2, 2025}}</ref>

The [[Young Vic]] in [[London]] produced a three-month revival that opened December 2, 2024 starring [[Anne-Marie Duff]] as Regina.<ref>{{cite news| title=Full Cast Set to Join Anne-Marie Duff in THE LITTLE FOXES at The Young Vic| url=https://www.broadwayworld.com/westend/article/Full-Cast-Set-to-Join-Anne-Marie-Duff-in-THE-LITTLE-FOXES-at-The-Young-Vic-20241022| first=Stephi| last=Wild| date=October 22, 2024| website=[[BroadwayWorld]]| access-date=May 2, 2025}}</ref>

==References==
{{Reflist|30em}}

==External links==
*{{IBDB show|id=5450}}
* {{Playbill production}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Little Foxes}}
[[Category:Broadway plays]]
[[Category:American plays adapted into films]]
[[Category:Fiction set in 1900]]
[[Category:Jews from Alabama]]
[[Category:1939 plays]]
[[Category:Plays adapted into operas]]
[[Category:Plays by Lillian Hellman]]
[[Category:Plays set in Alabama]]

[[it:Piccole volpi]]