Little Foxes, The

Little Foxes, The (1939), a drama by Lillian Hellman. [National Theatre, 410 perf.] The Hubbards are a rapacious, hate‐filled family who dominate a small Southern town at the turn of the century. Oscar ( Carl Benton Reid) has married Birdie Bagtry ( Patricia Collinge) for her family's money, and now that they again need cash, Oscar and his older brother Ben ( Charles Dingle) reluctantly offer their crafty sister Regina ( Tallulah Bankhead) one‐third interest in a new cotton mill they plan in return for a $75,000 loan. When Regina's husband, Horace Giddens ( Frank Conroy), refuses to lend the money, Oscar goads his weakling son, Leo ( Dan Duryea), into stealing Horace's bonds. Since the bonds were willed to Regina, Horace says nothing. But when an argument ensues between the two that induces Horace's heart attack, Regina refuses to get his medicine and lets him die. She then demands not one‐third but a three‐quarters interest in the business for her silence about the missing bonds. The Herman Shulman production boasted a superb cast, highlighted by Bankhead's finest performance. Comparing it to Hellman's earlier play The Children's Hour, Richard Watts Jr. of the Herald Tribune thought it a “grim, bitter and merciless study, a drama more honest, more pointed and more brilliant.” It has been revived regularly, most notably on Broadway in 1967 with Margaret Leighton as Regina, in 1981 with Elizabeth Taylor, and in 1997 with Stockard Channing. Hellman returned to the Hubbard family in her later play ANOTHER PART OF THE FOREST which looked at some of the same characters earlier in their lives (1946). Marcus Hubbard ( Percy Waram) made his fortune during the Civil War by blockade‐running, extortion, and even leading the Union troops to a massacre of Confederate soldiers. His children have turned out as ruthless and grasping as he. His eldest, Ben ( Leo Genn), does not hesitate to blackmail him to get his hands on the Hubbard money, but it is the unloving daughter Regina ( Patricia Neal) who is content to wait until her time comes, and she is sure it will. Kermit Bloomgarden produced the drama at the Fulton Theatre and it won general critical approval but failed to find a large audience, running only 182 performances. Two years later composer‐lyricist Marc Blitzstein turned The Little Foxes into the opera REGINA (1949) with Jane Pickens in the title role. Although the work was a commercial failure on Broadway, it has since found a place in the repertory of several opera companies. Notable songs: Birdie's Aria; The Best Thing of All.