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Becky Sharp (film)

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Becky Sharp is a 1935 American Technicolor 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. Other supporting cast were William Faversham, Frances Dee, Cedric Hardwicke, Billie Burke, Alison Skipworth, Nigel Bruce, and Alan Mowbray.<ref>Milne, 1969 p. 165-166: Filmography</ref>

The film is based on the 1899 play of the same name by Langdon Mitchell, which in turn was based on William Makepeace Thackeray's 1848 novel Vanity Fair.<ref>Jensen, 2024 p. 115</ref> 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.<ref>Spergel, 1993 p. 57: Character sketch of Becky Sharp here.</ref><ref>Jensen, 2024 p. 114: “Conniving, social-climbing Becky Sharp is one of the most famous characters in English literature…”</ref> 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 films 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.<ref>Jensen, 2024 p. 115</ref><ref>Milne, 1969 p. 91: “...the first feature in the new three-color Technicolor process…it had been used for some time by Walt Disney cartoons.”</ref>

In 2019, the film was selected by the Library of Congress for preservation in the United States National Film Registry for being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant".<ref name="Chow">Template:Cite magazine</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Plot

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Becky Sharp (Miriam Hopkins), a socially ambitious young lady, manages to survive during the background years of Napoleon'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 (Cedric Hardwicke), 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.<ref>Spergel, 1993 p. 157: See here for how the Becky Sharp character is portrayed in the film.</ref><ref>Milne, 1969 pp. 91-100: Diffuse plot description.</ref>

Cast

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Production

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File:Becky Sharp (1935) 8.jpg
Rouben Mamoulian, Miriam Hopkins, visitor Michael Balcon, and Kenneth Macgowan on the set of Becky Sharp (1935)

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.<ref>Milne, 1969 p. 91, p. 165-166: Filmography</ref>

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.<ref>Jensen 2024 p. 114-115</ref><ref>Milne, 1969 p. 165-166: Filmography. Lowell died on December 28, 1934</ref> Sherman’s footage was retained, and Mamoulian shaped his subsequent Technicolor scenes based on the original script.<ref>Jensen, 2024 p. 116-117</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref name=AFI>Template:Cite web</ref>

Color development

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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.<ref>Technicolor's earlier processes did not include a blue register, just green and red.</ref><ref>Danks, 2007: “...the first three-strip Technicolor feature, Becky Sharp…”</ref><ref>Milne, 1969 p. 91: “...the first feature in the new three-color Technicolor process.”</ref>

Earlier live action 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 in February 1934, and in short sequences filmed for other movies made during 1934, including The House of Rothschild (Twentieth Century Pictures/United Artists) with George Arliss and Kid Millions (Samuel Goldwyn/United Artists) with Eddie Cantor. Warner Brothers released two Leon Errol shorts, Service with a Smile (July 28, 1934) and Good Morning, Eve! (September 22, 1934), and RKO Pictures released the short La Cucaracha (August 31, 1934).<ref>Milne, 1969 p. 91: “Pioneer pictures…had made a very successful start in July 1934 with a short film, La Cucaracha, designed by Robert Edmund Jones and directed by Lloyd Corrigan.”</ref><ref>Spergel, 1993 p. 156</ref>

Reception

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Writing for The Spectator, Graham Greene 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".<ref>Template:Cite journal (reprinted in: Template:Cite book)</ref>

Retrospective appraisal

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Template:Quote boxFilm historian Tom Milne on the new technology in a feature film: Template:Blockquote

The opening Waterloo “grand ball” sequence

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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 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>

Awards and honors

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Wins

Nominations

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

Preservation status

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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 stock which did not accurately reproduce the colors of the original film. The smaller film gauge also resulted in a grainier, inferior image.

UCLA Film and Television Archive Restoration

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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 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, were edited to fit the Italian print material. For stage 3, completed in 2002, a print was obtained from the Netherlands that allowed improvement in both picture and sound quality.<ref name=ucla>Becky Sharp Restoration at the UCLA Film & Television Archive website</ref>

See also

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Notes

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References

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