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.

Lillian Hellman's play "The Little Foxes" was the sensation of Broadway's 1939 season and starring Tallulah Bankhead, it ran for 410 performances. It was later made into a magnificent film that picked up 9 Oscar nominations. In 1946 Lillian Helman directed "Another Part of the Forest" - a prequel, showing how Regina, Benjamin and Oscar inherited their evil and immoral ways from their father. Patricia Neal made her Broadway debut as Regina and won a Tony award for Best Performance. When a film was made in 1948, Ann Blyth, who a couple of years before had created a sensation as Veda, Mildred Pierce's venal daughter, was given the role of Regina. Ann had had musical training and started out in a few forgettable low budget musicals. After "Mildred Pierce" she was heralded as a major find and you would have thought she would have been one of the big stars of the 50s - but you would have been wrong. After superb performances in "Another Part of the Forest" and "Our Very Own" she became trapped in a series of leaden musicals ("Rose Marie", "The Student Prince") and she was never again given a role worthy of her talents.Marcus Hubbard (Frederic March) has always been rotten to the core. Although born into poverty, he was self educated but made his fortune as a war profiteer by exploiting his fellow "Southerners" during the Civil War by selling salt to them at an over inflated price of $8 a small bag. That is why his son Oscar (Dan Duryea) is not welcome at the Veteran's Day Parade and why Lavinia (Florence Eldridge) Marcus's long suffering wife will not use salt on that particular day. There is also a secret scandal that is only hinted at, until being revealed at the end of the film it changes the dynamics of the family. Benjamin (Edmond O'Brien) is the only member of the family who treats his mother with any type of kindness but he is also self serving. After a depressing family luncheon when only the servants remember Lavinia's birthday, Benjamin reminds Regina that papa's unhealthy fondness for her will force her to spend the rest of her life looking after him and suggests she should pay more attention to besotted Horace Giddens if she wants to escape. Horace, who was played in the earlier film by Herbert Marshall, is never seen in this film, only talked about.Oscar is infatuated with local can can dancer Laurette (Dona Drake). Her character is worthy of the Hubbards - she will have nothing to do with Oscar unless he gets money from his father. When he finds her flirting with a patron, he and some friends don "night rider" sheets and badly beat him up. The other family of note in the town are the Bagtrys, who have been made penniless, trying to grow cotton on their plantation. Regina is in love with Ben Bagtry (John Dall) but it is clear he doesn't care for her family's ways. Birdie (Betsy Blair) is a faded Southern belle who is desperate to return the plantation to it's former glory. By the end of the film the stage is set for "The Little Foxes" - Marcus is a broken man, Lavinia is going to return to her childhood home and Benjamin, Regina and Oscar are facing their future with steely ruthlessness. The characterisations of the three siblings are spot on - you can see the traits that are in their characters in "The Little Foxes", here in embryo. Betsy Blair who was a standout in "Marty" showed how talented she was in this movie. Her "Birdie" is heartbreaking and a tribute to Patricia Collinge.Highly, Highly Recommended.

Vladimir Pozner's skillful adaptation for the screen of Lillian Hellman's original stage play Another Part of the Forest is an almost forgotten classic, that deserves a wider audience. Performances are uniformly excellent, even in the smaller roles. Superb editing helps to create an absorbing and compelling drama of a particularly nasty family in post-Civil War Alabama.Fredric March nearly steals the picture, with his malevolent portrayal of a tyrannical father, who enjoys pitting his offspring against each other. Ambitious older son Benjamin ( Edmond O'Brien) wants to get up in the world and make money, something his controlling father Marcus is determined to prevent. Weakling younger son Oscar ( Dan Duryea) is a joke to everyone else in the family. Spoiled daughter Regina ( Ann Blyth) is the only one of the three children to win any favor from their dictatorial father, but she is also expected to remain under his thumb. Both Regina and Ben have big plans they are keeping secret from Marcus. But a family as full of intrigue and conspiracy as this one is like a bomb with a slowly burning fuse. Eventually, there is going to be an explosion.There are fine supporting performances by John Dall as the restless former soldier John Bagtry, who wishes to find a war somewhere to go fight in, Betsy Blair as his nervous, fragile cousin Birdy, Dona Drake as the floozy girlfriend of the weaselly Oscar, Fritz Leiber as the sadly dignified Colonel Isham, and most of all, Florence Eldridge as the ignored and ill-used wife of Marcus Hubbard, Lavinia.Razor sharp dialogue and performances makes this a true delight to savor. Hard to find, but well worth the effort.You won't like this family, but you won't forget them.

This is one of the most wicked and dysfunctional families ever to make it to the big screen during the 1940s. Of course, by today's standards they would seem a bit tame! This is the same sick, backstabbing, conniving family seen in little foxes. Some of the original actors are here (such as the slimy Dan Duryea) and some new ones are along for the ride (Edmund O'Brien, Ann Blythe and Frederick March). So why did I like the movie? Well, the evilness of the characters and how deliciously they scheme and change sides when it best suits their needs make it a very mesmerizing film. Also, because the schemes change A LOT, it's tough to predict where the movie will end.This movie, though made AFTER Little Foxes, is the prequel. So after seeing this, see Little Foxes and hold on tight!