Bette Davis heads an impressive cast in this cracking tale of the ruthless "Hubbard" family who dominate the town of Linnet at the start of the 20th century. Davis is "Regina" who lives a grand existence with her daughter "Alexandra" (Teresa Wright) and two brothers "Oscar" (Carl Reid) and "Ben" (Charles Dingle) living next door. When a business opportunity presents itself to them, she manipulates her daughter into having her terminally ill, but largely estranged father "Horace" (Herbert Marshall) return home so he can chip in the much needed funds. He's a actually quite a decent fellow who has little truck with their exploitative ways, so declines to get involved. This pitches the daughter - who has issues of her own with her loathsome cousin "Leo" (Dan Duryea) and her would-be beau "David" (Richard Carlson) - into a familial game of chess in which she can only lose. The drama is complex, devious and palpable; Marshall is superb in the role of the sickly but determined husband with Dingle also good as the almost as underhand brother and, of course, Davis in her element as the matriarch who thinks she's doing the right thing, but only so long as it's on her terms. The films addresses many issues that resonate even now about the "Deep South" - bigotry, racist attitudes and the sense of superiority that prevailed. William Wyler was usually to be relied upon to deliver a strong story, well paced, well cast and well put together - this is certainly one of is best.
