VANITY FAIR aka Indecent (1932) Myrna Loy, Conway Tearle & Barbara Kent | Drama, Romance | B&W

Vanity Fair is a 1932 American pre-Code drama film directed by Chester M. Franklin and starring Myrna Loy, Conway Tearle and Anthony Bushell. The film is modernized adaptation of William Makepeace Thackeray's 1848 novel of the same name with the original Regency-era story reset in Twentieth Century Britain.

SYNOPSIS
This cinematic adaptation of William Makepeace Thackeray's novel stars Myrna Loy in her first starring role.

This film adaptation's storyline begins around 1920 and concludes in 1933. In its opening scene a limousine is traveling down a road outside London. In the car are two passengers, Amelia Sedley (Barbara Kent) and her friend Becky Sharp (Myrna Loy), young ladies who agewise are in their twenties. Amelia is from a rich, well-connected family, while Becky is from very modest means and has no family at all. Given Becky's circumstances, Amelia has invited her to her home for the Christmas holidays.

At the Sedley estate Amelia's family welcomes their guest, but the mother is soon wary of her. Those suspicions are warranted, for Becky aims to use her beauty and guile to gain wealth and privilege by climbing England's social ladder. Her first target for achieving those goals is Joseph, Amelia's much-older brother (Billy Bevan). After Becky tries unsuccessfully to trap him into marriage, Mrs. Sedley sees her cuddling in the home's drawing room with her daughter's fiancé, George Osborne. Disgusted, the mother calls "Miss Sharp" into the adjoining room, where she advises Becky to leave immediately so she can begin the job she had accepted before the holidays, that of governess for the family of Sir Pitt Crawley. Becky heeds the thinly veiled advice and departs.

Upon her arrival at the residence of Lord Crawley, Becky quickly stirs the passions of both the elderly Sir Pitt and his son Rawdon (Conway Tearle). The new governess entices them with her suggestive comments and by allowing each man into her bedroom at night while she glides about in her satin pajamas. Soon she and Rawdon begin a secretive affair, but Sir Pitt finally catches them together in Becky's bedroom. There they inform him they had married the previous day. That news enrages the old man, who orders his son and his "shameless little hussy" out of his house.

Relocating to a townhouse in London's Mayfair district, Becky and Rawdon feel the financial strains of being cut off from Lord Crawley and his wealth. The couple at first brings in money by betting and cheating their friends playing bridge. That income, however, is insufficient for their mounting bills, so Becky schemes to find other ways to get money. She does so through blackmail and by obtaining gifts from a string of lovers, including George Osborne, now the husband of her friend Amelia. Eventually, even Rawdon cannot tolerate his wife's wanton, criminal behavior. On the evening he is released from police custody for writing bad checks, Rawdon finds Becky at their home with another lover. He declares their marriage is over and gives her only ten minutes to vacate the premises. As she leaves, he informs Becky that his father had just died, and he is now the new Lord Crawley. He then warns her that if she ever dares to refer to herself as "Lady Crawley," he will track her down and kill her.

The film sequence that follows shows the passage of more years and the ongoing disintegration of Becky's life, which has become a daily struggle marked by petty crimes, prostitution, and meager funds. In the final scene Becky enters her shabby one-room apartment. Lying on the bed is Joseph, stirring from his latest binge. She addresses him as "my love" and informs him that his sister had just given her another check. He is infuriated and tells her never to accept money again from Amelia. Becky turns, sits at a dresser, and stares into its mirror. In the reflection she watches her face transform from the reality of its present haggard appearance to its former beauty.

CAST & CREW
Myrna Loy as Becky Sharp
Conway Tearle as Rawdon Crawley
Barbara Kent as Amelia Sedley
Walter Byron as George Osborne
Anthony Bushell as Dobbin
Billy Bevan as Joseph Sedley
Montagu Love as Marquis of Steyne
Herbert Bunston as Mr. Sedley
Mary Forbes as Mrs. Sedley
Lionel Belmore as Sir Pitt Crawley

Directed by Chester M. Franklin
Written by F. Hugh Herbert
Based on the novel by William Thackeray
Produced by M. H. Hoffman
Cinematography Tom Galligan, Harry Neumann
Edited by Mildred Johnston
Production company Chester M. Franklin Productions
Distributed by Allied Pictures
Release date March 15, 1932
Running time 78 minutes
Country United States
Language English

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