VANITY FAIR (Allied Pictures, 1932), directed by Chester Franklin, is labeled in the opening credits as "a modern dress adaptation to BECKY SHARP by William Thackeray." With classic literature transformed to the screen dating back to the silent film era, VANITY FAIR, being one of them in 1915 and 1923, marks the first sound edition to the classic novel, bringing forth the unlikely candidate of the youthful Myrna Loy (courtesy of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer) in this "poverty-row" production. Somewhat miscast in some respects, Loy managed to rise above material regardless of her softer appeal to such better suited actresses as British born actress, Heather Angel, for example, who might have made adventuress Becky Sharp a bit acceptable in character portrait.
In a limousine bound for London, Amelia Sedley (Barbara Kent), a rich college girl, accompanied by her best friend and classmate, Becky Sharp (Myrna Loy). Having no family of her own, Becky is invited to spend Christmas with Amelia and her family. After making the acquaintance with her parents, George (Herbert Bunston) and Rita Sedley (Mary Forbes), Becky is introduced to Amelia's brother, Joseph (Billy Bevan), having just arrived from his trip in India. Regardless of his overweight, Becky takes a fancy to him. After inviting Becky to spend the weekend with him in Brighton, Becky "accepts" this as a wedding proposal, thus scaring Joseph off to Scotland, leaving Becky a farewell note through Amelia. With Joseph out of the way, Becky takes an interest in Amelia's fiance, George Osborne (Walter Byron). Seeing them alone together has Mrs. Sedley advising Becky to leave. Accepting a position as governess to the two daughters of Sir Pitt Crawley (Lionel Bellmore), amiddle-aged man whose wife has been deadly ill for ten years. Sir Pitt comes on to Becky, though she shows more interest in Pitt's sophisticated adult son, Rawdon (Conway Tearle) instead. After Pitt's wife dies, he goes quickly to Becky to propose, only to discover she has married his son instead. Angry and bitter, Pitt leaves Rawdon penniless and orders the couple out of his home. On their own, Becky and Rawdon struggle financially, avoiding debt collectors, and cheating at card games to acquire extra money. After Amelia's husband, George, who Becky has been seeing secretly, dies in a fox hunting accident, Amelia begins her new relationship with Dobbins (Anthony Bushnell), her former beau. Having served time in prison, Rawdon returns home to find Becky alone with the Marquis of Steyne (Montagu Love). Learning he's been supporting her financially with expensive jewelry, Rawdon orders Becky out of his life. Living in Paris, Becky meets with one of her former suitors at the gambling casino, only to later see herself the way others have been for years. Others in the cast include Lilyan Irene (Polly), Tom Ricketts (Parker, the Butler), and Elspeth Dudgeon (The Housekeeper).
In spite of its slow packing and visuals that make VANITY FAIR look more like an early 1929 talkie, the film is made interesting through the presence of Myrna Loy. How she got this assignment to appear in an independent production as Becky Sharp remains a mystery. Though Loy starts off by speaking in British accept early in the story, this is soon abandoned for more natural speaking flair. Except for a couple of scenes, VANITY FAIR lacks background scoring. With other classic literature turned motion pictures by minor studios as Monogram's OLIVER TWIST (1933) and JANE EYRE (1934), major studios soon got into the act with Charles Dickens' GREAT EXPECTATIONS (Universal, 1934) and DAVID COPPERFIELD (MGM, 1935) before RKO Radio revamped VANITY FAIR three years later as BECKY SHARP (1935) starring Miriam Hopkins. Aside from resuming the original Thackeray story back to 19th Century England, BECKY SHARP went a step further as being produced in the newly formed three-strip Technicolor. Even with some dull stretches and not being a scene-by-scene remake, BECKY SHARP (1935) definitely was an improvement over VANITY FAIR (1932).
Virtually forgotten and out of television circulation since the 1950s, VANITY FAIR has come out of oblivion through its distribution decades later on both home video and DVD process. Initially clocked at 73 minutes, beware of shorter 67 minute DVD editions using a new opening that reads: Screen Craft Pictures Present "INDECENT: THE PRIVATE LIFE OF BECKY SHARP" starring Myrna Loy. Following this 1932 production, Loy returned to MGM, where she truly belonged. (**)
