page_title: Demopolis, Alabama
section_title: Demopolis in the arts
hierarchical_section_title: Demopolis, Alabama / Demopolis in the arts
caption_attribution_description: English: Lyon Hall in Demopolis, Alabama. This is an image of a place or building that is listed on the National Register of Historic Places in the United States of America. Its reference number is 74000425
context_page_description: Demopolis is the largest city in Marengo County, Alabama, in southwest Alabama. The population was 7,483 at the time of the 2010 United States Census.
  The city lies at the confluence of the Black Warrior and Tombigbee rivers. It is situated atop a cliff composed of the Demopolis Chalk Formation, known locally as White Bluff, on the east bank of the Tombigbee River. It is at the center of Alabama's Canebrake region and is also within the Black Belt.
  Demopolis was founded after the fall of Napoleon's Empire and named by a group of French expatriates, a mix of exiled Bonapartists and other French migrants who had settled in the United States after the overthrow of the colonial government in Saint-Domingue following the failed Saint-Domingue expedition. The name, meaning in Greek "the People's City" or "City of the People", was chosen to honor the democratic ideals behind the endeavor. First settled in 1817, it is one of the oldest continuous settlements in Alabama. It was incorporated on December 11, 1821."
context_section_description: The Marx and Newhouse families of Demopolis were reputedly the inspiration for The Little Foxes, a Broadway play.  The melodrama was written by Lillian Hellman, whose maternal ancestors were all natives of Demopolis.  It was first performed in 1939, with Alabama-born actress Tallulah Bankhead giving a legendary performance in the lead role of Regina. This hit production ran a year on Broadway.  The 1941 film version was directed by William Wyler and starred Bette Davis, Herbert Marshall and Teresa Wright. It was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Picture in 1941.  In 1949 the play was adapted into an opera by Marc Blitzstein, under the title Regina.
  Lillian Hellman's 1946 play, Another Part of the Forest, was also loosely based on her Demopolis ancestors.
  The 1949 film, The Fighting Kentuckian, is set in Demopolis and tells a story about an interaction with the original French settlers.  The basic plots features two Kentuckians returning from service with Andrew Jackson's forces in the War of 1812.  Their unit passes through the port of Mobile, Alabama, where John Breen, played by John Wayne, meets the pretty Fleurette De Marchand, played by Vera Ralston, from Demopolis.  He makes sure the unit passes through Demopolis on its way back home and he stays there as the unit leaves.  He discovers that De Marchand is about to marry a wealthy riverman and a love triangle ensues, with Breen eventually winning out.
  The 2015 play Alabama Story has a subplot featuring the characters Joshua Moore and Lily Whitfield, who grew up in Demopolis as childhood friends on Lily's father's cotton plantation, now estranged.
caption: Lyon Hall in 2011. It was built in 1853. It, along with Bluff Hall, served as inspiration for "Lionnet" in The Little Foxes.
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