Three years before, and a century after, Becky Sharp

TCM ran a night of movies dedicated to the UCLA Film and Television Archive, and I've already written about several of the movies that I recorded that night. One that I haven't mentioned yet is the 1932 version of Vanity Fair.

The interesting thing about this version of Vanity Fair is that it takes Thackeray's story and moves it to contemporary times, more or less, since it doesn't really mention the Depression. Myrna Loy plays Becky Sharp, and as the movie opens she's going to celebrate the holidays with school friend Amelia Sedley (Barbara Kent) who is much richer, never mind having a family unlike poor Becky. Becky is going to be going to a job as a governess, something Amelia absolutely doesn't have to do.

But Becky has ideas of getting rich by marrying up, and immediately starts putting the moves on Amelia's brother Joseph (Billy Bevan). Worse, she also starts putting the moves on Amelia's fiancé George, which causes Amelia's none-too-stupid mother to take notice. She sees what a threat Becky is and tells Becky in no uncertain terms that perhaps she should go become the governess for the Cawleys like she was supposed to.

When Becky gets to the Cawley place, what does she do? You guessed it: she immediately starts putting the moves on yet another man, young Rawdon (Conway Tearle) who is the son of Sir Pitt, the head of the Cawley family. Rawdon actually seems to like Becky, but Dad isn't happy with the relationship. So when Becky and Rawdon tell his dad that they've eloped, Dad cuts them off financially.

It's the start of the downward spiral for Becky, which you knew was coming if you've read the book or seen Miriam Hopkins in Becky Sharp. She and Rawdon try to continue living in a glamorous part of London, but that's going to require more money than they have, and more than they can earn through legitimate means. So they start cheating people at cards and through blackmail, while Becky continues trying to seduce legitimately rich men. This last move unsurprisingly ticks off Rawdon, who basically kicks her out once his Dad dies so he can inherit what is supposed to be him.

As Becky's downward spiral continues, she eventually runs into both Joseph and later Amelia. Joseph informs Becky that Amelia's husband George died tragically and that Amelia can't bring herself to remarry. Not that this is going to make Becky's life any happier, as the movie continues to the inveitably unhappy ending.

This version of Vanity Fair runs a brisk 75 minutes, which means that there's a lot that's going to be excised from an 800-page novel, which I'll admit I haven't yet read. Myrna Loy is unsurprisingly good, or at least as good as possible since this version wasn't made by a major studio and feels like a lower-budget movie. Director Chester Franklin tries some interesting directorial touches, especially for the finale, but the movie doesn't really rise above adequate. It's not terrible, by any means, but it's definitely not great.