The Foxes of Harrow *** (1947, Rex Harrison, Maureen O’Hara, Richard Haydn, Victor McLaglen, Patricia Medina, Gene Lockhart) – Classic Movie Review 11,842

Director John M Stahl’s 1947 romantic action adventure drama film The Foxes of Harrow is set in pre-American Civil War New Orleans, is written by Wanda Tuchock and based on Frank Yerby’s 1946 novel, and stars Rex Harrison, Maureen O’Hara, Richard Haydn, Victor McLaglen, Patricia Medina, and Gene Lockhart.

Illegitimate Irish gambler, cad and bounder Stephen Fox (Harrison) wins an American South plantation at cards, and romances socialite Odalie ‘Lilli’ D’Arceneaux (O’Hara), but flirts with others when they marry.

The Foxes of Harrow is a tame, often sticky pre-Civil War Southern historical romantic soaper, but it is boosted by a costly, handsome production and a full-blooded, charmingly roguish performance by unexpected star player Harrison, heading a choice cast.

Maureen O’Hara.

The 20th Century Fox studio boss Darryl F Zanuck originally intended the star role for obvious casting Tyrone Power. Fox paid Yerby a generous $150,000 for the film rights to his first novel The Foxes of Harrow, which became the first novel by an African American to sell more than a million copies. He thus also became the first African American to have a book bought for the screen by a Hollywood studio.

The total budget was a high $2,750,000, and it was a fair-sized hit, taking $3,150,000 in US cinema rentals.

The film was Oscar nominated for Best Production Design (Lyle R Wheeler, Maurice Ransford, Thomas Little, and Paul S Fox).

The cast are Rex Harrison as Stephen Fox, Maureen O’Hara as Odalie ‘Lilli’ D’Arceneaux, Richard Haydn as Andre LeBlanc, Victor McLaglen as Captain Mike Farrell, Vanessa Brown as Aurore D’Arceneaux, Patricia Medina as Desiree, Gene Lockhart as Viscount Henri D’Arceneaux, Charles Irwin as Sean Fox, Hugo Haas as Otto Ludenbach, Dennis Hoey as Master of Harrow, Roy Roberts as Tom Warren, Randy Stuart as Stephen’s birth mother, Ralph Faulkner as Fencing Instructor, Kenneth Washington as Achille (uncredited), and Eugene Borden as French Auctioneer.

© Derek Winnert 2021 Classic Movie Review 11,842

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