Becky Sharp (film)

This article is about the film. For the character from Vanity Fair, see Becky Sharp.

Becky Sharp
Theatrical release poster
Directed byRouben Mamoulian
Screenplay byFrancis Edward Faragoh
Story byWilliam Makepeace Thackeray
Langdon Mitchell
Based onVanity Fair
1848 novel
by William Makepeace Thackeray
Produced byKenneth Macgowan
Rouben Mamoulian
Robert Edmond Jones
StarringMiriam Hopkins
Frances Dee
Cedric Hardwicke
CinematographyRay Rennahan
Edited byArchie Marshek
Music byRoy Webb William Faversham
Production
company
Distributed byRKO Radio Pictures
Release date
  • June 13, 1935 (1935-06-13)
[1]
Running time
84 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Full film

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 Best Actress Oscar. Other supporting cast were William Faversham, Frances Dee, Cedric Hardwicke, Billie Burke, Alison Skipworth, Nigel Bruce, and Alan Mowbray.[2]

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.[3] 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.[4][5] 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.[6][7]

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".[8][9][10]

  1. ^ Brown, Gene (1995). Movie Time: A Chronology of Hollywood and the Movie Industry from Its Beginnings to the Present. New York: Macmillan. p. 124. ISBN 0-02-860429-6. In New York, the film premiered at Radio City Music Hall.
  2. ^ Milne, 1969 p. 165-166: Filmography
  3. ^ Jensen, 2024 p. 115
  4. ^ Spergel, 1993 p. 57: Character sketch of Becky Sharp here.
  5. ^ Jensen, 2024 p. 114: “Conniving, social-climbing Becky Sharp is one of the most famous characters in English literature…”
  6. ^ Jensen, 2024 p. 115
  7. ^ 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.”
  8. ^ Chow, Andrew R. (December 11, 2019). "See the 25 New Additions to the National Film Registry, From Purple Rain to Clerks". Time. New York, NY. Retrieved December 11, 2019.
  9. ^ "Women Rule 2019 National Film Registry". Library of Congress. Retrieved September 17, 2020.
  10. ^ "Complete National Film Registry Listing". Library of Congress. Retrieved September 17, 2020.