Editing Becky Sharp (film) (section)

===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 [[Battle of Waterloo|Waterloo]] as French emperor [[Napoleon Bonaparte]] approaches at the head of his army.<ref>Jensen, 2024 p. 116-117</ref>
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.<ref>Milne, 1969 p. 91-92, p. 93</ref><ref>Spergel, 1993 p. 157: See here, Spergel quotes from Milne.</ref>

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.”<ref>Milne, 1969 p. 93</ref><ref>Callahan, 2007: “...the editing of the exciting Waterloo ball sequence in Becky Sharp (1935) has a logic and build that is musical.”</ref>

Milne adds: “The Waterloo sequence is the dramatic highlight of the film...elsewhere, color is used less ostentatiously but equally theatrically.”<ref>Milne, 1969 p. 93: “Theatrical, in fact, is the key word for Becky Sharp.”</ref><ref>Spergel, 1993 p. 155: Mamoulian “achieved spectacular effect with color in Becky Sharp…”</ref>