''Becky Sharp'' is a 1935 American

Technicolor Technicolor is a family of Color motion picture film, color motion picture processes. The first version, Process 1, was introduced in 1916, and improved versions followed over several decades. Definitive Technicolor movies using three black-and ...

historical drama film directed by Rouben Mamoulian and starring Miriam Hopkins, who plays the eponymous protagonist. She was nominated for the

Academy Award for Best Actress The Academy Award for Best Actress is an award presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS). It has been awarded since the 1st Academy Awards to an actress who has delivered an outstanding performance in a lead ...

. Other supporting cast were William Faversham, Frances Dee,

Cedric Hardwicke Sir Cedric Webster Hardwicke (19 February 1893 – 6 August 1964) was an English stage and film actor whose career spanned over 50 years. His theatre work included notable performances in productions of the plays of Shakespeare and Shaw, and hi ...

, Billie Burke, Alison Skipworth, Nigel Bruce, and Alan Mowbray. The film is based on the 1899 play of the same name by Langdon Mitchell, which in turn was based on

William Makepeace Thackeray William Makepeace Thackeray ( ; 18 July 1811 – 24 December 1863) was an English novelist and illustrator. He is known for his Satire, satirical works, particularly his 1847–1848 novel ''Vanity Fair (novel), Vanity Fair'', a panoramic portra ...

's 1848 novel '' Vanity Fair''. The film recounts the tale of a lower-class girl who insinuates herself into an upper-class family, only to see her life and the lives of those around her destroyed. The play was made famous in the late 1890s by actress Minnie Maddern Fiske. The screenplay was written by Francis Edward Faragoh. The film was considered a landmark in cinema as the first feature film to use the newly developed three-strip Technicolor production throughout, opening the way for a growing number of

color film Color (or colour in Commonwealth English; see spelling differences) is the visual perception based on the electromagnetic spectrum. Though color is not an inherent property of matter, color perception is related to an object's light absorp ...

s to be made in Britain and the United States in the years leading up to World War II. ''Becky Sharp'' was, in effect, a "demonstration" picture, which served to showcase and validate this advanced technology in color. In 2019, the film was selected by the

Library of Congress The Library of Congress (LOC) is a research library in Washington, D.C., serving as the library and research service for the United States Congress and the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It also administers Copyright law o ...

for preservation in the United States

National Film Registry The National Film Registry (NFR) is the United States National Film Preservation Board's (NFPB) collection of films selected for preservation (library and archival science), preservation, each selected for its cultural, historical, and aestheti ...

for being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant".

Plot

Becky Sharp ( Miriam Hopkins), a socially ambitious young lady, manages to survive during the background years of

Napoleon Napoleon Bonaparte (born Napoleone di Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French general and statesman who rose to prominence during the French Revolution and led Military career ...

's defeat at Waterloo. Becky gradually climbs the British social ladder, overcoming poverty and class distinctions, through her best friend Amelia Sedley ( Frances Dee), praising any rich man who will listen. In her efforts to advance herself, she manages to connect with a number of gentlemen: the Marquis of Steyne (

), Joseph Sedley ( Nigel Bruce), Rawdon Crawley ( Alan Mowbray), and George Osborne ( G. P. Huntley Jr), the husband of Amelia. She rises to the top of British society but becomes the scourge of the social circle, offending influential ladies such as Lady Bareacres ( Billie Burke). Sharp falls into the humiliation of singing for her meals in a beer hall, but she never stays down for long. At the end, she cons her last man and finally lands Amelia's brother, Joseph.

Cast

* Miriam Hopkins as Becky Sharp * Frances Dee as Amelia Sedley *

as Marquis of Steyne * Billie Burke as Lady Bareacres * Alison Skipworth as Miss Crawley * Nigel Bruce as Joseph Sedley * Alan Mowbray as Rawdon Crawley * G. P. Huntley Jr. as George Osborne * William Stack as Pitt Crawley * George Hassell as Sir Pitt Crawley * William Faversham as Duke of Wellington * Charles Richman as General Tufto * Doris Lloyd as Duchess of Richmond * Colin Tapley as William Dobbin * Leonard Mudie as Tarquin * May Beatty as Briggs * Charles Coleman as Bowles * Bunny Beatty as Lady Blanche * Finis Barton as Miss Flowery * Olaf Hytten as The Prince Regent * Pauline Garon as Fifine * James 'Hambone' Robinson as Sedley's page * Elspeth Dudgeon as Miss Pinkerton *

Tempe Pigott Tempe Pigott (2 February 1869 – 6 October 1962) was an Australian silent and sound screen character actress. In the pre-film era she was a stage actress in England, Australia, Canada and the United States. She began appearing in motion pictures ...

as The Charwoman * Ottola Nesmith as Lady Jane Crawley * Creighton Hale as British Officer (uncredited)

Production

John Hay "Jock" Whitney and Cornelius Vanderbilt Whitney formed Pioneer Pictures specifically to produce color films, and signed a contract to release Pioneer films through

RKO Radio Pictures RKO Radio Pictures Inc., commonly known as RKO Pictures or simply RKO, is an American film production and distribution company, historically one of the "Big Five" film studios of Hollywood's Golden Age. The business was formed after the Kei ...

. Original director Lowell Sherman began filming on December 3, 1934. The early Technicolor systems required massive lighting, which generated high temperatures on the set. Moving between the hot interior and cool winter temperatures outdoors, Sherman contracted pneumonia and died in late December. Rouben Mamoulian was immediately enlisted to take over as director. Sherman’s footage was retained, and Mamoulian shaped his subsequent Technicolor scenes based on the original script.

Color development

''Becky Sharp'' was the first feature film to use the three-strip Technicolor process, which created a separate film register for each of the three primary colors, for the entirety of the film. Earlier

live action Live action is a form of cinematography or videography that uses photography instead of animation. Some works combine live action with animation to create a live-action animated feature film. Live action is used to define film, video games o ...

films to use the new Technicolor process for part of the film include the final musical number in the feature '' The Cat and the Fiddle'' released by

MGM Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc. (also known as Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures, commonly shortened to MGM or MGM Studios) is an American Film production, film and television production and film distribution, distribution company headquartered ...

in February 1934, and in short sequences filmed for other movies made during 1934, including '' The House of Rothschild'' (

Twentieth Century Pictures Twentieth Century Pictures, Inc. was an American independent film, independent Cinema of the United States, Hollywood motion picture production company created in 1933 by Joseph Schenck (the former president of United Artists) and Darryl F. Za ...

/ United Artists) with George Arliss and '' Kid Millions'' ( Samuel Goldwyn/United Artists) with

Eddie Cantor Eddie Cantor (born Isidore Itzkowitz; January 31, 1892 – October 10, 1964) was an American comedian, actor, dancer, singer, songwriter, film producer, screenwriter and author. Cantor was one of the prominent entertainers of his era. Some of h ...

. Warner Brothers released two

Leon Errol Leon Errol (born Leonce Errol Sims, July 3, 1881 – October 12, 1951) was an Australian-American comedian and actor in the United States, popular in the first half of the 20th century for his appearances in vaudeville, on Broadway, and in film ...

shorts, ''Service with a Smile'' (July 28, 1934) and ''Good Morning, Eve!'' (September 22, 1934), and

RKO Pictures RKO Radio Pictures Inc., commonly known as RKO Pictures or simply RKO, is an American film production and distribution company, historically one of the major film studios, "Big Five" film studios of Cinema of the United States, Hollywood's Clas ...

released the short '' La Cucaracha'' (August 31, 1934).

Reception

Writing for ''

The Spectator ''The Spectator'' is a weekly British political and cultural news magazine. It was first published in July 1828, making it the oldest surviving magazine in the world. ''The Spectator'' is politically conservative, and its principal subject a ...

'',

Graham Greene Henry Graham Greene (2 October 1904 – 3 April 1991) was an English writer and journalist regarded by many as one of the leading novelists of the 20th century. Combining literary acclaim with widespread popularity, Greene acquired a re ...

raved that "colour is everything here" and characterizing its use in the film as "a triumph". Although Greene complained that the Technicolor "plays havoc with the women's faces", leveled criticism at Hopkins for her "indecisive acting", and noted that he had found the film's climax in Bath to be "absurd" and "silly", he described these minor complaints as "ungrateful" and his overall impression was that the film gave "delight to the eye".

Retrospective appraisal

Film historian Tom Milne on the new technology in a feature film:

The opening Waterloo “grand ball” sequence

This “celebrated” and “famed “ sequence occurs at the estate of the Duchess of Richmond near the tiny Belgian village of Waterloo as French emperor

Napoleon Bonaparte Napoleon Bonaparte (born Napoleone di Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French general and statesman who rose to prominence during the French Revolution and led Military career ...

approaches at the head of his army. The Duchess is presiding over a grand ball, the guests members of the European ruling elite. The Duke of Wellington arrives and warns the complacent company that a military engagement with Napoleon is imminent. An ominous rumbling is heard in the distance. The guests hesitate, then continue to dance. A second rumble occurs, closer, then suddenly the windows burst open, and flashes of gunfire and cannon are seen. The color of the film changes from white, to green, to yellow, to red, then is drenched in scarlett as one of the bloodiest and socially significant battles in European history begins to unfold. Director Rouben Mamoulian wrote in Picturegoer shortly after the film’s release: “Colour, as you know, is symbolic,” adding “It is a sequence in which dialogue is of no moment…the lighting as well as the costumes contrives to accentuate the mounting drama of the scene” culminating in “red all over the action.” Milne adds: “The Waterloo sequence is the dramatic highlight of the film...elsewhere, color is used less ostentatiously but equally theatrically.”Spergel, 1993 p. 155: Mamoulian “achieved spectacular effect with color in Becky Sharp…”

Awards and honors

Wins *

Venice Film Festival The Venice Film Festival or Venice International Film Festival (, "International Exhibition of Cinematographic Art of the Venice Biennale") is an annual film festival held in Venice, Italy. It is the world's oldest film festival and one of the ...

: Best Color Film, Rouben Mamoulian, 1935 Nominations *

Academy Awards The Academy Awards, commonly known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit in film. They are presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) in the United States in recognition of excellence in ...

: Best Actress in a Leading Role, Miriam Hopkins, 1935 * Venice Film Festival: Mussolini Cup, Rouben Mamoulian, 1935

Preservation status

For many years, the original three-color Technicolor version of the film was not available for viewing, though a 16 millimeter version was available. This version had been printed (poorly) on two-color

Cinecolor Cinecolor was an early subtractive color-model two-color motion picture process that was based upon the Prizma system of the 1910s and 1920s and the Multicolor system of the late 1920s and the 1930s. It was developed by William T. Crispinel an ...

stock Stocks (also capital stock, or sometimes interchangeably, shares) consist of all the Share (finance), shares by which ownership of a corporation or company is divided. A single share of the stock means fractional ownership of the corporatio ...

which did not accurately reproduce the colors of the original film. The smaller

film gauge Film gauge is a physical property of photographic film, photographic or Film stock, motion picture film stock which defines its width. Traditionally, the major movie film gauges are 8 mm film, 8 mm, 16 mm film, 16 mm, 35 mm movie film, 35 mm, an ...

also resulted in a grainier, inferior image.

UCLA Film and Television Archive Restoration

Beginning in the 1980s, the UCLA Film and Television Archive restored the film, under the supervision of archivist Robert Gitt. Director Rouben Mamoulian appeared at the premiere of the restored print at the

Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS, often pronounced ; also known as simply the Academy or the Motion Picture Academy) is a professional honorary organization in Beverly Hills, California, U.S., with the stated goal of adva ...

theatre in Beverly Hills. Stage 1 was completed in 1984. For stage 2 (around 1988), Italian print elements, which allowed the picture on the last reel to be upgraded, while the somewhat splicey English

soundtrack A soundtrack is a recorded audio signal accompanying and synchronised to the images of a book, drama, motion picture, radio program, television show, television program, or video game; colloquially, a commercially released soundtrack album of m ...

, were edited to fit the Italian print material. For stage 3, completed in 2002, a print was obtained from the

Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

that allowed improvement in both picture and sound quality.''Becky Sharp'' Restoration
at the UCLA Film & Television Archive website

Notes

References

*Callahan, Dan. 2007. "The Strange Case of Rouben Mamoulian". ''

Slant Magazine ''Slant Magazine'' is an American online publication that features reviews of movies, music, TV, DVDs, theater, and video games, as well as interviews with actors, directors, and musicians. The site covers various film festivals like the New Yor ...

'', September 4, 2007. https://www.slantmagazine.com/film/the-strange-case-of-rouben-mamoulian/ Retrieved 19 June 2024. *Danks, Adrian. 2007. ''Rouben Mamoulian''. Senses of Cinema, February, 2007. Great Directors Issue 42 https://www.sensesofcinema.com/2007/great-directors/mamoulian/Mamoulian, Rouben Retrieved 19 June 2024. *Jensen, Kurt. 2024. ''Peerless: Rouben Mamoulian, Hollywood, and Broadway.''

University of Wisconsin Press The University of Wisconsin Press (sometimes abbreviated as UW Press) is a Non-profit organization, non-profit university press publishing Peer review, peer-reviewed books and journals. It publishes work by scholars from the global academic comm ...

, Wisconsin Film Studies, Patrick McGilligan, series editor. * Milne, Tom. 1969. ''Rouben Mamoulian.'' The Cinema One Series, Thames and Hudson Limited, London. Catalog no. 500-47012 X *Spergel, Mark. 1993. ''Reinventing Reality: The Art and Life of Rouben Mamoulian.'' The Scarecrow Press, Filmmakers series No. 57, Anthony Slide, editor.

External links

* * * *
''Becky Sharp''
at ''Film Reference'' web site. *
''Becky Sharp''
on ''Theatre Royal'': July 21, 1954 * {{Authority control 1935 films 1930s color films Cultural depictions of George IV Cultural depictions of Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington American historical drama films 1930s historical drama films American films based on plays Films directed by Rouben Mamoulian RKO Pictures films Films set in Belgium Films set in London Films set in the 1810s England in fiction Films based on Vanity Fair (novel) Films based on adaptations United States National Film Registry films 1935 drama films Early color films Films about social class Articles containing video clips 1930s English-language films 1930s American films Films with screenplays by Francis Edward Faragoh English-language historical drama films