Becky Sharp

Becky Sharp

28/6/1935 1h 24m 5.8/10

Overview

The first feature length film to use three-strip Technicolor film. Adapted from a play that was adapted from William Makepeace Thackeray's book "Vanity Fair", the film looks at the English class system during the Napoleonic Wars era.

Director

Rouben Mamoulian

Top Billed Cast

Miriam Hopkins

Miriam Hopkins

Becky Sharp

Cedric Hardwicke

Cedric Hardwicke

Marquis of Steyne

Billie Burke

Billie Burke

Lady Bareacres

Nigel Bruce

Nigel Bruce

Joseph Sedley

Frances Dee

Frances Dee

Amelia Sedley

Alison Skipworth

Alison Skipworth

Miss Crawley

Reviews

CinemaSerf

CinemaSerf

4/25/2024

6/10

Whilst Napoleon is conquering Europe, "Becky" (Miriam Hopkins) is doing a bit of that for herself. Determined to improve on her lot as the daughter of a family of travelling performers, she uses each gullible man she meets as a stepping stone to the next. She doesn't care about any of the collateral baggage she leaves behind - including her soldier husband "Crawley" (Alan Mowbray) but maybe she finally meets her match in the wealthy "Marquis of Steyn" (Sir Cedric Hardwicke) who has seen her game playing before, and - well he's just a lot better at it than she. It's also, just as she sees the epitome of her aspirations within her grasp, that maybe, just maybe, she realises that she does have some room for affection in her life - but is it all too late for that? The film is usually only noted for it's feats of colour photography but I think that's a little unfair on both Hopkins and Sir Cedric. The former plays the ambitious and venal creature quite compellingly - indeed, she creates quite a thoroughly detestable character whilst the latter plays the shrewd and dastardly peer with some skill that also gets under your fingernails, too. The plot itself is well trammelled and the story isn't new either, but a solid ensemble of the likes of Nigel Bruce, Frances Dee and Billy Burke keep it moving noisily along for eighty minutes.

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