(William Wyler, US 1941, 116 min., 35mm)
Young Teresa Wright (born in 1918) found early success on the stage, including over 600 performances as Mary Skinner in the original run of Life with Father. She turned down several invitations to audition for roles in Hollywood, aware that if she moved to the West Coast she may find herself doing more modeling than actual acting. An opportunity finally came along when producer Samuel Goldwyn offered her a role in Lillian Hellman’s adaptation of her own play The Little Foxes, opposite Bette Davis. In the film, Davis plays Regina, the strong-willed sister of two businessmen in turn-of-the-century Alabama on the verge of closing a deal that will make them all rich. Regina, however, as a woman, will inherit none of the profits and her milquetoast, wheelchair-bound husband has no power to change that. To ensure her daughter’s future, Regina will do whatever it takes to come out on top. Wright, as Davis’s daughter, received an Academy Award nomination for her feature debut.