Really very good -- how did I miss this for so many years? William Wyler successfully cinematizes Lillian Hellman’s play, with able assistance from cinematographer Gregg Toland, working the same deep-focus magic he did on Citizen Kane just before. The pack of yapping predators denoted in the title are two brothers and a sister scheming for wealth in the Deep South of 1900. Bette Davis plays Regina as one of the iciest bitches in the history of movies. Herbert Marshall is her husband with a troubled heart, and the always-appealing Teresa Wright makes her film debut as their daughter. The rest of the cast, black and white, fill their roles admirably. None of it is very subtle, but still theatrically satisfying in its portrayal of revolting and triumphant greed. (1941, TCM/T, n.) *8*
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One of her extraordinary evening dresses is reminiscent of the Sargent painting at the Clark.
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