Becky Sharp (1935)

Set against the background of the Battle of Waterloo, Becky Sharp is the story of Vanity Fair by Thackeray. Becky and Amelia are girls at school together, but Becky is from a "show biz" ... See full summary »

Director:

Rouben Mamoulian

Writers:

William Makepeace Thackeray (novel), Langdon Mitchell (play),

Stars:

Miriam Hopkins, Frances Dee, Cedric Hardwicke

Nominated for 1 Oscar. Another 1 win & 1 nomination.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Miriam Hopkins	...	Becky Sharp
Frances Dee	...	Amelia Sedley
Cedric Hardwicke	...	Marquis of Steyne
Billie Burke	...	Lady Bareacres
Alison Skipworth	...	Miss Crawley
Nigel Bruce	...	Joseph Sedley
Alan Mowbray	...	Rawdon Crawley
G.P. Huntley	...	George Osborne (as G.P. Huntley Jr.)
William Stack	...	Pitt Crawley
George Hassell	...	Sir Pitt Crawley
William Faversham	...	Duke of Wellington
Charles Richman	...	General Tufto
Doris Lloyd	...	Duchess of Richmond
Colin Tapley	...	William Dobbin
Leonard Mudie	...	Tarquin

Storyline

Set against the background of the Battle of Waterloo, Becky Sharp is the story of Vanity Fair by Thackeray. Becky and Amelia are girls at school together, but Becky is from a "show biz" family, or in other words, very low class. Becky manages to insinuate herself in Amelia's family and gets to know all their friends. From this possibly auspicious- beginning, she manages to ruin her own life, becoming sick, broke, and lonely, and also ruins the lives of many other "loved ones". In the movie we get to see the class distinctions in England at the time, and get a sense of what it was like for the English military at the time of the Napoleonic wars.

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Plot Keywords:

battle of waterloo | vanity | brother in law | party | self sacrifice | 

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Genres:

Drama | Romance | War

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Certificate:

Approved

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English French

Release Date:

28 June 1935 (USA)

Also Known As:

Lady of Fortune

Box Office

Budget:

$950,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Pioneer Pictures Corporation

Technical Specs

Runtime:

84 min 67 min (re-issue)

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Victor High Fidelity System)

Color:

Color (Cinecolor) (re-release prints) Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The play by Langdon Mitchell, "Becky Sharp", opened in New York City, New York, USA on 12 September 1899 and had 116 performances. There were 3 revivals, the last in 1929. Another play with the title "Vanity Fair", by different authors opened in New York in 1911.

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Goofs

In the final scenes, Becky is living in a drab furnished room that is clearly shown to be on the second floor. However, once in the room, a look through a window shows people walking on the street - at the same level as the room itself.

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Connections

Version of Vanity Fair (1998)

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Soundtracks

"Young Molly Who Lives at the Foot of the Hill"
(1760)
Traditional
Sung by Miriam Hopkins at the cabaret

User Reviews

Color Classic

Pretty BECKY SHARP, orphaned & penniless, knows exactly what she wants out of life and how to get it.

William Makepeace Thackeray's Vanity Fair is brought to vivid, if drastically reduced, life and provides a wonderful showcase for star Miriam Hopkins, who gets the most out of her selfish, petulant, scheming, desperate character. Her Becky is fascinating to watch and dominates nearly every scene in the film, making us forget that the actress is not English and forgive that the character is rather less than virtuous.

Miss Hopkins is aided by a sizable cast of seasoned veterans, mostly British, several of whom only appear in a single scene. Frances Dee has very little to do except look lovely as Becky's school chum. Nigel Bruce comes off rather better as Miss Dee's obese brother who adores Becky. The incomparable Alison Skipworth plays their quarrelsome old aunt who hires Becky for a short while. Alan Mowbray has a fine romantic role as the husband who worships Becky, to his pain.

Marvelous Sir Cedric Hardwicke successfully underplays his role as a powerful nobleman who takes Becky as his mistress. Wonderful Billie Burke appears for a few moments in a serious role as a society lady attending a soirée in Brussels. Doris Lloyd is the hostess.

Three short, sharp portrayals worth watching for are provided by Elspeth Dudgeon as an acidic girls' school proprietress; George Hassell as a rascally old baronet; and Tempe Pigott as a plain-talking charwoman.

BECKY SHARP is important historically in that it was the first film produced in full 3-strip Technicolor. Director Rouben Mamoulian's opulent production was a worthy choice for such a distinguished accolade. Restored in the 1990's, the color is once again most pleasing to the eye.