Estirpe maldita

"Another Part of the Forest" is a prequel to "The Little Foxes" but made seven years later and it feels like an attempt to do a reprise of Wyler's classic with Ann Blyth, Edmond O'Brien and Dan Duryea trying to fill the shoes of Miss Davis, Charles Dingle and Carl Benton Reid. Actually O'Brien is very good and Duryea, who played the son of the character he's playing here in Wylers film, isn't bad. Only Blyth lets the side down. Their parents are a gruff Fredric March and a dotty (and excellent) Florence Eldridge.

The movie purports to show how the nasty Hubbards got to be so nasty but there really isn't anything here we haven't seen before. This is more like a remake than a prequel and under Michael Gordon's limp direction it's hard to tell if this would have been any good on the stage. What's fairly clear is that this is second-rate Hellman and Gordon does nothing to make it cinematic. Still, in its fevered bad movie kind of way it's actually quite entertaining. No family ever had so many skeletons rattling around in the cupboard and letting skeletons loose can be good fun. Of course, perhaps Hellman intented it all as a joke or maybe the humour was simply unintentional.

Watching Another Part Of The Forest tonight I was struck at how well Vladimir Pozner captured the characters of the young Hubbards. the subject of Lillian Hellman's classic The Little Foxes. If I didn't know better and maybe I don't Pozner might have had Hellman looking over his shoulder during the writing of the script.

It all begins with old Marcus Hubbard played by Fredric March, patriarch of the Hubbard clan who made his fortune running the Yankee blockade during the Civil War and then charging exorbitant prices for the goods he brought in. He's not a beloved man by his neighbors in 1880 Alabama, but March has a terrible secret that if the good people knew he'd be lynched on the spot.

The Hubbards are rich and despised and March's children take right after the old man. Dan Duryea who played idiot nephew Leo in The Little Foxes plays Oscar Hubbard and Edmond O'Brien plays Ben who is a real chip off the old block. It's March and O'Brien and their conflict which drives the whole film.

Scheming herself is young Regina Hubbard played by Ann Blyth a few years older than when she played the spoiled Veta in Mildred Pierce. She's as spoiled as Veta, but a lot craftier. She plays on daddy's affections which border on incest to the hilt. O'Brien keeps trying to match her up with young Horace Giddens who is never seen here, but was played by Herbert Marshall in The Little Foxes. We know that eventually happens, but right now Blyth is looking to trade up in respectability and marry young John Bagtry, scion of an old plantation family and Confederate veteran.

Bagtry is played by John Dall and he maybe respectable, but he's totally living in the past. As is sister Birdie played with a flair by Betsy Blair. We see the genesis of the character that Patricia Collinge plays in The Little Foxes who marries Oscar Hubbard and then just pines for the good old days of gracious living and people being kind to each other.

March however dominates things, in some ways he's admirable because he wants class and respectability. He's taught himself Latin and Greek and is disappointed his kids have no pretensions to culture though Blyth plays on him with pretending. But all that culture and all that money can't get him into the best homes and the second generation doesn't even care to try.

Another Part Of The Forest is a real classic with great performances all around by a fabulous cast. The spirit of Lillian Hellman's earlier work is only enhanced by this film.

Another Part of the Forest tells the story of a patriarch of a very wealthy southern family & the constant powers struggles he endures within his own family.

There are some very interesting elements of this story that keeps one guessing. For starters, how did the family make their money is one. Two: why does the matriarch of the family keep herself locked away not only from the rest of the world but her family, too.

Another interesting plot is the relationship between the father & his only daughter. There are some incestuous overtones there.

I love this film. Screen writer Lillian Hellman was very good at dealing with human emotion, interaction & confrontation. For those of you that enjoyed "Little Foxes", you will enjoy this film because its the prequel to it.

This film has a very strong cast which is headed by Fredric March. All the cast members hold their own very well. Even though this film is play, it translates to the screen very well.

Now for the bummer:This film never made it to video for some odd reason. I only have it because I recorded it on cable one night. For those of you that have cable, I would check with your local listings.

If you love good drama, you won't regret it.

I wasn't aware that this prequel had even been made. It helps to be familiar with the later story (filmed 7 years earlier-so Hollywood) and I'm glad I came across it. It has the same general feel as 'Little Foxes', so if you want to see how the older Regina and her slithery brothers got to be the way they were, see this very well acted and written flick.

Even though this is a prequel to 1941's The Little Foxes, you don't have to know the original story to appreciate the back story behind the characters. In fact, I was mostly confused during the first half, trying to piece together what I remembered from the earlier movie, and once I stopped trying, the movie became much more enjoyable.

If you do know The Little Foxes, this movie shows you how Bette Davis's and Charles Dingle's characters became conniving and evil in their youth. Still living under their parents' roof, they long to break free and live their own lives, and money, power, and status threaten their journey to the top. Ann Blyth plays a young Bette Davis and Edmond O'Brien plays a young Charles Dingle. Vladimir Pozner's screenplay shows great parallels to Lillian Helman's story and characters, but even if you're not familiar with them, it's still an entertaining movie with backstabbing and double-crosses galore. As you might remember from 1941, Charles Dingle was married to the unhappy, repressed Patricia Collinge. While we do see Patricia's younger self portrayed by Betsy Blair, it's an even more interesting parallel to see the family's matriarch, Florence Eldridge, and how similar those two characters are. Fredric March plays the family patriarch, and he's extremely effective as overbearing, stubborn, and mean. A very cute tie to both versions is Dan Duryea, who plays his own father - or his own son, depending on which movie you watch first. In Another Part of the Forest, Dan plays the young, irresponsible brother recklessly in love with a can-can dancer. In The Little Foxes, he's the slimy young son who also does something reckless that affects the rest of the family.

Believe it or not, I liked Another Part of the Forest far better than The Little Foxes. The acting is splendid, and everyone tries very hard to mirror their predecessors, with the exception of Ann Blyth. Had she put on a Bette Davis impression, it would have been too comical, so instead she's a beautiful Southern belle in her own right whom audiences can imagine later turned into Bette Davis. The plot is easier to follow, and while it's still a very heavy drama, it's not as upsetting as watching Herbert Marshall in a wheelchair back in 1941. Check this one out, and think about skipping the original.