Becky Sharp (1935)

Becky Sharp (1935)

Directed by Rouben Mamoulian with a screenplay by Francis Edward Faragoh (Little Caesar (1931)) this drama is noteworthy for two things: it features Miriam Hopkins’s only Oscar nominated performance (Best Actress) she plays the title role; and it’s the first features length 3-strip Technicolor film which looks it despite a restoration. Other than that it’s a terribly dated drama about a sassy "scandalous" self-made (by flirting with wealthy men in order to help them part with their money) woman who climbs the social ladder against all odds only to find herself back where (she belongs?) she came from in the end.

The film begins at a ladies school where the favored student Amelia Sedley (Frances Dee) and the scorn of the headmaster (Elspeth Dudgeon) Miss Sharp (Hopkins) are this year’s graduates. Becky has no where to go so Amelia and her instantly charmed brother Joseph (Nigel Bruce) take her home with them. While Amelia is courted and eventually chooses to marry George Osborne (G.P. Huntley) in lieu of William (Colin Tapley) both are military officers Becky is unable to illicit the same from Joseph. So she takes a job as a baroness of Sir Pitt Crawley’s (George Hassell) younger children. There she meets Crawley’s "holier than thou" oldest son Pitt Jr. (William Stack) and attractive military officer son Rawdon (Alan Mowbray) whom she eventually marries. Her social climbing near complete she quickly spends him into debt lavishing appointing their home and throwing parties. But she’s the scourge of the social circle offending the other ladies such as Lady Bareacres (Billie Burke) while attracting wealthier "benefactors" such as the Marquis of Steyne (Cedric Hardwicke). Alison Skipworth plays the woman Pitt Jr.’s wife. Becky also steals the heart of her friend Amelia’s husband George. All this occurs around the time of Napoleon’s "Waterloo" during which George is killed.

Purchase this DVD now at