Plot

The ruthless, moneyed Hubbard clan lives in, and poisons, their part of the Deep South at the turn of the twentieth century.

The ruthless, moneyed Hubbard clan lives in, and poisons, their part of the Deep South at the turn of the 20th century. Regina Giddens née Hubbard has her daughter under her thumb. Mrs. Giddens is estranged from her husband, who suffers from a terminal illness and is convalescing in Baltimore. But she needs him home, and will manipulate her daughter to help bring him back. She has a sneaky business deal that she's cooking up with her two older brothers, Oscar and Ben. Oscar has a flighty, unhappy wife and a dishonest worm of a son. Will the daughter need to marry this contemptible cousin? Who will she grow up to be--her mother or her aunt? Or can she escape the fate of both?—J. Spurlin

In 1900, in the Southern town of Linnet, the notorious Hubbard family is hated by the residents since they exploit the poor and the Black people in their business. Regina Giddens, née Hubbard, is married to Horace Giddens, a good man who is hospitalized in Baltimore with a heart condition. The estranged couple's naive daughter Alexandra Giddens has a crush on neighbor David Hewitt but is controlled by her merciless mother. Regina's brothers are the exploitative Ben Hubbard, who is single, and Oscar Hubbard, who is married to wounded Birdie; they have a scumbag son Leo who works in a bank. Oscar and Regina are arranging for Leo to marry Alexandra. When Ben and Oscar invite wealthy businessman William Marshall to come to Linnet to build a mill to improve their business and pay low wages to the locals, they need US$ 75,000.00 from Regina. She manipulates Alexandra to bring Horace back home to convince him to lend the money. However, Horace does not accept the business and Leo steals his railroad bonds from the bank safe to invest in the business with Marshall, expecting to return the money before Horace notices. But Horace goes to the bank and finds the embezzlement. What will Horace and Alexandra do?—Claudio Carvalho, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

This film adaptation of the Lillian Hellman play depicts a post-Civil War southern community where nothing is more important than money and power to Regina Giddens (Bette Davis). In order to join her equally ruthless brothers in a scheme that is sure to gain her wealth and power, she uses her naïve young daughter to fetch her estranged, ailing husband who is living elsewhere. When she cannot convince her husband to give her the money, she sets forward a cunning plan which escalates.—Robin <soonerzs@yahoo.com>