The Foxes of Harrow

The Foxes of Harrow is a 1947 adventure film directed by John M. Stahl. The film stars Rex Harrison, Maureen OHara and Richard Haydn.

In the preCivil War New Orleans, roguish Irish gambler Stephen Fox Rex Harrison buys his way into society something he couldnt do in his homeland because he is illegitimate.The storyline is derived from the eponymous novel The Foxes of Harrow by Frank Yerby. Fox paid author Frank Yerby 150,000 for the motion picture rights to The Foxes of Harrow, which was his first novel. A December 1947 Ebony article called the figure the biggest bonanza ever pocketed by a colored writer and stated that the book was the first Negroauthored novel ever bought by a Hollywood studio. ........

Source: Wikipedia