Lovesusti The Worst Film Ever

ReaderKenka Let's be realistic.

Doomtomylo a film so unique, intoxicating and bizarre that it not only demands another viewing, but is also forgivable as a satirical comedy where the jokes eventually take the back seat.

Raymond Sierra The film may be flawed, but its message is not.

clanciai Rouben Mamoulian (birthday today 4.12) was always ahead of his time. This was the first full color feature (1935!) based on William Thackeray's "Vanity Fair", one of the greatest novels of the 19th century, full of literary splendor, transported on the screen not without success. Mamoulian's last film was "Silk Stockings" (1957) with Fred Astaire and Cyd Charisse, but he also started on "Porgy and Bess" (completed by Otto Preminger) and "Cleopatra" (1962, completed by Joe Mankiewicz). - With its striking gallery of great actors, like Allan Mowbray, Nigel Bruce ("Dr Watson"), Cedric Hardwicke, Billie Burke and Miriam Hopkins among others, it is great theater all the way in Mamoulian's characteristic lushness and splendor of vivacity and imagery in very innovative direction - the feature is above all a feast to the eyes and an amazing film in spite of its almost 80 years - and impressing as the first full length color film.

Marcin Kukuczka "(...) Director Rouben Mamoulian did a remarkable job with color experimentation. He decided to use color thematically to express character mood, and added more and more color as the film progresses and the plot thickens. Every shot looks color-coordinated. The most famous sequence is the panicky exit of the quests at the Duchess of Richmond's gala in Belgium on the eve of the battle of Waterloo (...) Mamoulian had quests leave according to their color group so only the one in red remained in the ballroom." (Danny Peary in GUIDE FOR THE FILM FANATIC 1986).I have decided to entail this long quotation at the beginning of my review because I think that it best reflects the multiple significance of the feature film BECKY SHARP which won the color prize at the third Venice Film Festival. While discovering the uniqueness of Rouben Mamoulian, a pure follower of Moscow Art Theatre, a great admirer of Konstantin Stanislavsky (1863-1938) and a follower of the famous Stanislavski's system, I have found out how truthful he was to the emotions in cinema and how much focused on every single detail of images and acting techniques. Who could better introduce cinema to the three strip Technicolor in the 1930s than him? Mamoulian with his unbelievable flair for artistry on screen and sophisticated experimentation with the camera could effectively capture the essence of color.Here, it is necessary to mention some unforgettable scenes from this movie that, for long, remain in one's memory. Except for the aforementioned ball scene that constitutes a sort of 'special pearl' on its own, the film entails a striking image of Napoleon's shadow over the map of Europe. What impact it has on the vision in a color feature film! What impact it must have had those days! The costumes with a special emphasis on red (which Mamoulian considered the most exciting color, a sort of climax) constitute another merit of the film's visual significance. The interiors appear to be lavish as well.Yet, BECKY SHARP was quite neglected for years and available on weak copies. Although it was considered an important movie in the history of cinema (being the first feature in three-color Technicolor process - the period which lasted till 1953), it was forgotten for years and in no way considered a must-see. Fortunately, the film has been recently restored and is growing in popularity among classic buffs. Strange phenomenon...yet, it is not the color experimentation that makes it exciting nowadays, it is neither the source novel VANITY FAIR by one of the most respected British novelists William Makepeace Thackeray. It is, unfortunately, not Mamoulian whose name is today associated with totally different titles. I think it is Miriam Hopkins in the lead who still amuses our imagination, rouses our senses and has the power to make the film enjoyable. Having had experience with the director and his special treatment of actors' techniques (part of psychological realism) in DR JEKYLL AND MR HYDE a few years earlier, she does an almost flawless job here. Let me broaden this point a little bit.Ms Hopkins, nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actress, crafts her role very well with a heartfelt attitude towards her audience. She has quite a difficult role to portray, the role of the foxy young lady who climbs up to the highest ranks of the society using pretty unconventional means, deceitful means. Nevertheless, she catches the glimpse of the 'unreachable' (for many). A bad tempered girl to face the world, a sort of woman no one knows what she is about, a chit-chatting maiden for whom war is amusing, a ruthless Becky who does not give up her plans. Many scenes from the beginning scene when she leaves school through various moments, including her witty role of a governess, her serious role of a wife and a delicious role of a mistress. Miriam Hopkins is unforgettable and stands out from the supporting cast, some very good actors of the period including the distinguished Cedric Hardwicke as Marquis of Steyne.In all the analysis of the first three strip Technicolor movie, the following adjectives will best describe it after all these decades: innovative, memorable, significant, rousing. INNOVATIVE color experimentation, MEMORABLE production in the history of cinema, SIGNIFICANT direction by Rouben Mamoulian and ROUSING performance by Miriam Hopkins. Worth seeing!

Petri Pelkonen This film is set around the Battle of Waterloo (1815).But more than the Napoleonic wars, the film tells about a social climber called Becky Sharp and all the men she meets.Rouben Mamoulian's Becky Sharp from 1935 was the first feature film to use the three-strip Technicolor process.The film was originally going to be directed by Lowell Sherman, but he died of pneumonia early in the filming.The film is based on the play by Langdon Mitchell, which in turn is based on William Makepeace Thackeray's novel Vanity Fair.Miriam Hopkins (nominated for Oscar) does a great job playing Becky Sharp.Frances Dee plays Amelia Sedley, Becky's upper-class friend at school.Nigel Bruce portrays her brother Joseph, who has something going on with Becky.Cedrick Hardwick plays Marquis of Steyne, who also has something going on with Becky.And so does Rawdon Crawley, who's portrayed by Alan Mowbray.Alison Skipworth is Miss Crawley.William Stack plays Pitt Crawley.George Hassell is Sir Pitt Crawley.Billie Burke portrays Lady Bareacres.Also in this movie you can see Pat Nixon, Richard Nixon's wife, as Ballroom dance extra.G.P. Huntley is George Osborne.This may not represent Hollywood at its most classic, but it does have its moments.It can be comical, like when Becky starts as a governess for Pitt Crawley's wild children.Or it can be dramatic, like when the war comes to the ball.And there's some great use of shadows.

netwallah Thackeray's Vanity Fair transmogrified into a star vehicle for Miriam Hopkins. Nearly all of the other plots are cut away, leaving only traces in brief appearances of various characters. The story is revised, too, but in such a way that it's not always possible to tell what Ms. Sharp intends—does she love her husband Rawdon Crawley (Alan Mowbray) or not? or perhaps in a convenient way, that allows her to keep him and dally with others. Her connection with Lord Steyne (Cedric Hardwicke) is ambiguous, but she shows reluctance to let him proceed, and appears sad when her husband catches them together and leaves her. The presentation of her rise is too ambiguous—they do live "on nothing a year," but Mrs. Crawley's sharp practices are minimized, as if she were getting by on sheer cleverness and charm. Perhaps it's just that the Hays code won't let the screenplay even suggest an exchange of sexual favours for support, and this means that the glossing over of Becky Sharp's vicious streak turns the story into a costume drama featuring a determined and gay (in the old sense) young woman, taking on the snobs for her own advantage. And settling on bumbling Jos Sedley (Nigel Bruce) in the end, to escape with him to India or somewhere. Or perhaps it's just Miriam Hopkins, probably miscast. She affects a histrionic tone to her voice, perhaps so we will know she is acting. Not even her fine, unusual eyes redeem the messy business of this movie. She can't twinkle her way through this one.