Miriam Hopkins Movies
American actress Miriam Hopkins studied to be a dancer, but her first major opportunity with a touring ballet troupe was cut short when she broke her ankle. Opting for an acting career, Hopkins drew upon her Georgia background to specialize in playing Southern belles, most notably in the 1933 Broadway play Jezebel. Entering films with 1930's Fast and Loose, Hopkins became a popular film star, though many critics and film historians deemed her histrionic, uninhibited style as "an acquired taste." During the early stages of her film career, Hopkins contributed at least two memorable performances: Champagne Ivy, the doomed cockney songstress in the Fredric March version of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1931), and the title role in Becky Sharp (1935), the first feature film to be shot in the three-strip Technicolor process. Relatively charming offscreen, Hopkins could be a terror on the set, driving co-stars to distraction with her lateness, lack of concentration and self-centered attitude towards camera angles; she owned the distinction of being one of the few actors ever reprimanded in full view of the production crew by the otherwise gentlemanly Edward G. Robinson. Still, she had her following, and was able to continue her stage career (she was particularly good in the 1958 Pulitzer Prize winner Look Homeward Angel) after her movie popularity waned. One of Hopkins' best later roles was her character part in 1961's The Children's Hour; 25 years earlier, Miriam had starred in the first film version of that Lillian Hellman play, These Three (1936). ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi- 1969
Veteran film and Broadway star Miriam Hopkins appears as Gloria Davenport, a former movie queen who has taken her vows and reemerged as Sister Adelaide. Hoping to raise money for Convent San Tanco, Sr. Adelaide stages a benefit screening of one of her old silent movies. Unfortunately, the "politically incorrect" content of the film sparks a major crisis, which only Sr. Bertrille can solve. First broadcast on November 26, 1969, "Bertrille and the Silent Flicks" was scripted by Michael Morris, from a story by Leo Rifkin. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- 1968
Faded Hollywood star Katharine Packard (Miriam Hopkins) lives a lonely, secluded life in a sprawling mansion, battling the bottle and struggling to hold on to her eroding sanity. After a drunken reverie leads to a broken leg, her doctor advertises for a live-in nurse to help care for the embittered former actress. An intense, sarcastic young man named Vic (John Garfield, Jr.) arrives to claim the assignment, and is hired despite the concerns of Ms. Packard's secretary (Gale Sondergaard). She's right to suspect the worst, for not only is Vic lying about his medical credentials, he's also a psychopathic killer who preys exclusively on older women. He charms his way into Katharine's good graces, seduces the comely young cook (Virginia Wing) and keeps a secret leather kit full of syringes, butcher knives and scalpels hidden in his room. Katharine thinks she's falling in love and soon Vic is in full control of the household, charging expensive outfits for himself and bringing drug dealers and freaks back for midnight parties. When the elderly screen legend realizes that her young gigolo is dangerous, she mysteriously disappears, but Vic tells the household staff that Katharine is simply isolating herself in her room and doesn't want to be disturbed by anyone but him. As the domestic help start to get wise, they are picked off one by one by this remorseless predator. Also known as The Comeback and Hollywood Horror House. ~ Fred Beldin, Rovi
All hell breaks loose in a Texas town when an escaped convict heads home in Arthur Penn's Southern gothic melodrama. Appointed by local kingpin Val Rogers (E. G. Marshall), benevolent Sheriff Calder (Marlon Brando) manages to keep the peace in Tarl, but the situation starts to fester one Saturday when news filters in that wild child Bubber Reeves (Robert Redford) has jumped prison. Bubber's impending arrival arouses hostility among Tarl's citizens, such as Edwin Stewart (Robert Duvall), who believes that Bubber will come after him to settle an old score, and Damon Puller (Richard Bradford), who, between grope sessions with Edwin's wife Emily (Janice Rule), uses Bubber as an excuse to terrorize black residents. As the atmosphere heats up, Calder wants to keep Bubber alive, and he convinces Bubber's wife Anna (Jane Fonda) and her lover, Val's son Jake (James Fox), to find Bubber and coax him into surrender. Val's fear that Bubber will kill his son, however, sparks a long confrontation that leaves rational law and order pummeled into the ground by the town's ignorant cruelty. ~ Lucia Bozzola, Rovi
- Starring:
- Marlon Brando, Jane Fonda, (more)
- 1964
On the night of his wedding in 1929, Harvey Kry (David Frankham) is surprised by an anonymous gift, a box with a single hole containing a lens, through which a strange light emanates. He looks into it and sees a monstrous creature inside, that holds him in the gaze of its single eye -- and then transports the screaming man inside. Thirty-five years later, the Kry house is in decay, occupied solely by Harvey's bride Mary (Miriam Hopkins), now aging and grotesque in her 1920's sequined dress and thick make-up, still awaiting the consumation of her marriage to Harvey. She finds herself entertaining her first guests in years, Gard (Buck Taylor) and Vivia (Melinda Plowman), a young, under-age couple who are eloping, and offers them her bridal chamber. But the box remains in there, amid the unused, still-wrapped gifts; and inside, the creature watches and waits in its own long vigil, to draw others inside. Vivia and, later, her pursuing father (John Hoyt), are both drawn into the box and the void inside, and confront this monster, an extraterrestrial from another space-time continuum, lost in our four-dimensional space and unable to fulfill its mission -- the destruction of the Earth and then our universe. To accomplish this, it needs a human being to help it find its way. Harvey Kry wouldn't do it and, so, has spent 35 years trapped inside the timeless void, looking exactly as he did in 1929, while his increasingly desperate (and insane) bride has waited, and aged, and conspired with the creature. And Vivia is just frightened enough; and her father is just self-centered enough, that one of them might do what it asks. ~ Bruce Eder, Rovi
- Starring:
- Miriam Hopkins, David Frankham, (more)
- 1964
In Volume 21 of a collection culled from the 1963-1965 science fiction anthology television series, the alien patriarch of a family searches for clues to the disappearance of his Earth-born children. ~ Jason Ankeny, Rovi
- 1964
Russ Meyer's sex films of the 1960s invariably promised more than they delivered. To be sure, there were bosoms and bottoms aplenty, but seldom if ever any full nudity or orgasmic activity (simulated or otherwise). Fanny Hill: Memoirs of a Woman of Pleasure, based on a dull, overwritten 18th century "bawdy" novel, was filmed in West Germany by exploitation producer Albert Zugsmith. Miriam Hopkins, old enough to know better, is the one "name" star of this messy romp, playing the mentor of the titular (in every sense of the word) Fanny Hill (Laetitia Roman), who after being cast aside by the world at large is given shelter in a brothel. His acute self-promotional skills aside, Russ Meyer never really learned how to direct; his "style" consisted of seconds-lasting closeups wedged into badly composed long shots, substituting speed and energy for skill. But he certainly knew his audience, as proven by the enormous worldwide box office take for Fanny Hill: Memoirs of a Woman of Pleasure. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Miriam Hopkins, Leticia Roman, (more)
Based on the 1934 play by Lillian Hellman, The Children's Hour is set at an exclusive girl's school managed by best friends Audrey Hepburn and Shirley MacLaine. When student Karen Balkin is punished for one of her many misdeeds, the mean-spirited youngster rushes to her wealthy aunt Fay Bainter, and, randomly choosing a phrase she has undoubtedly read in some magazine, accuses Hepburn and MacLaine of having an "unnatural relationship." As Balkin's lies grow in viciousness, the student's parents withdraw their children from the school. Hepburn and MacLaine sue Bainter for libel, only to lose their case when MacLaine's aunt Miriam Hopkins refuses to testify as a character witness. The trial takes its toll on the relationship between Hepburn and her boyfriend James Garner. When Bainter discovers that her niece has been lying, she tries to make amends, but it is too late. Director William Wyler had also helmed the first film version of Children's Hour, 1936's These Three, which due to censorship restrictions of the time did without the lesbian angle (the little girl's accusations involved a supposed romantic triangle between the two ladies and a male friend). Miriam Hopkins, who plays a supporting role in The Children's Hour, originally essayed the Shirley MacLaine role in These Three. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Audrey Hepburn, Shirley MacLaine, (more)
- 1952
This last of several movie adaptations of Bret Harte's The Outcasts of Poker Flat stars Cameron Mitchell as a murderous western outlaw, Anne Baxter as his wife, Dale Robertson as a disgraced gambler and Miriam Hopkins as a faded dance hall floozie. All these characters (with a few other socially undesirable types) are trapped in a snowbound mountain cabin. As the chances for rescue fade, the true natures of the cabin's occupants rise to the surface. It is the gambler, outwardly the most cowardly of the bunch, who takes on the outlaw when he threatens the survival of the others. Outcasts of Poker Flat is less downbeat than earlier versions of the story...and, accordingly, less memorable. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Anne Baxter, Dale Robertson, (more)
Carrie is based on Sister Carrie, a novel by Theodore Dreiser. Dreiser's clumsy, unwieldy prose is streamlined into a neat and precise screenplay by Ruth and Augustus Goetz. Jennifer Jones stars as Carrie, who leaves her go-nowhere small town for the wicked metropolis of Chicago. Here she becomes the mistress of brash traveling salesman Charles Drouet (Eddie Albert), then throws him over in favor of erudite restaurant manager George Hurstwood (Laurence Olivier). Obsessed by Carrie, George steals money from his boss to support her in the manner to which he thinks she is accustomed. Left broke and disgraced by the ensuing scandal, Carrie deserts George to become an actress. Years later, the conscience-stricken Carrie tries to regenerate George, who has fallen into bum-hood. If Laurence Olivier seems a surprising casting choice in Carrie, try to imagine what the film would have been like had Cary Grant, Paramount's first choice, accepted the role. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Laurence Olivier, Jennifer Jones, (more)
- 1951
A pair of top 20th Century Fox contractees were loaned to Paramount as stars of The Mating Season. Gene Tierney plays globe-trotting socialite Maggie Carleton, while Thelma Ritter is cast as Ellen McNulty, the hash-slinging mother of Maggie's husband, Val (John Lund). Perceiving that her son is embarrassed by his lower-class origins, Ellen poses as a maid when she attends Maggie and Val's wedding reception. Even after Val expresses displeasure at this deception, Ellen refuses to reveal her true identity, leading to a series of funny and poignant consequences. Miriam Hopkins co-stars as Ellen's blue-blooded mother, whose third-act arrival heralds the film's inevitable "moment of truth." Rest assured, The Mating Season is never dull. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Gene Tierney, John Lund, (more)
Henry James based his 1881 novella Washington Square on a real-life incident, wherein a young actor of his acquaintance married an unattractive but very wealthy young woman for the express purpose of living the rest of his life in luxury. Washington Square was turned into a stage play in 1946 by Ruth and Augustus Goetz; this, in turn was adapted for the movies under the title The Heiress. Olivia DeHavilland won an Academy Award (her second) for her portrayal of Catherine Sloper, the plain-Jane daughter of wealthy widower Dr. Austin Sloper (Ralph Richardson). Catherine is not only unattractive, but lacks most of the social graces, thanks in great part to the domineering attitudes of her father. When Catherine falls in love with handsome young Morris Townsend (Montgomery Clift), she is convinced that her love is reciprocated, else why would Morris be so affectionate towards her? Dr. Sloper sees things differently, correctly perceiving that Morris is a callow fortune hunter. Standing up to her father for the first time in her life, Catherine insists that she will elope with Morris; but when Dr. Sloper threatens to cut off her dowry, Morris disappears. Still, Catherine threatens to run off with the next young man who pays any attention to her; Sloper, belatedly realizing how much he has hurt his only child, arranges to leave her his entire fortune. Years pass: Morris returns, insisting that he'd only left because he didn't want to cause Catherine the "grief" of being disinherited. Seemingly touched by Morris' "sincerity", Catherine agrees to elope with him immediately. But when Morris arrives at the appointed hour, he finds the door locked and bolted. Asked how she can treat Morris so cruelly, Catherine replies coldly "Yes, I can be very cruel. I have been taught by masters." Though The Heiress ends on a downbeat note, the audience is gratified to know that Catherine Sloper has matured from ugly-duckling loser to a tower of strength who will never allow herself to be manipulated by anyone ever again. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Olivia de Havilland, Montgomery Clift, (more)
After the box office success of The Old Maid, Bette Davis and Miriam Hopkins were reunited for this catty drama. Kitty Marlowe (Davis) is a well-respected author who returns to the small town of her birth, where she becomes reacquainted with her childhood friend Millie Drake (Hopkins). While Millie is happy as a wife and mother and loves her husband Preston (John Loder), she's envious of Kitty's success, and Kitty's visit prompts Millie to sit down at the typewriter herself. Millie turns out a sexy potboiler that, with Kitty's help, attracts the attention of a publisher. To the surprise of them both, Millie's book is a runaway bestseller, and a decade later she's one of the most successful authors in America, easily eclipsing Kitty's more highbrow work. Preston finds himself growing disenchanted with Millie once success begins to go to her head, and he finds himself attracted to Kitty; while Kitty tries to dissuade Preston's advances, a scorned Millie believes that her old friend has been trying to steal her husband away from her. Old Acquaintance was remade in 1981 as Rich and Famous. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
- Starring:
- Bette Davis, Miriam Hopkins, (more)
- 1942
In this crime drama, a remake of Forgotten Faces (1936), a convict busts out of prison to protect his daughter from her conniving mother so that the girl will be able to marry a decent guy in the future. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi
- Starring:
- Brian Donlevy, Miriam Hopkins, (more)
- 1940
The notoriously temperamental Miriam Hopkins is ideally cast as equally contentious theatrical prima donna Mrs. Leslie Carter in The Lady With Red Hair. As rapidly paced as any Warner Bros. gangster picture, the film charts Caroline Carter's rise to fame on Broadway through the auspices of impresario David Belasco (Claude Rains). The screenwriters take great pains to cast Carter in a sympathetic light, suggesting that she turned to the lucrative world of the theater to regain custody of her son (Johnnie Russell), won by her husband in their acrimonious 1889 divorce settlement. Though at first she meets with nothing but failure, our heroine perseveres, and by 1904 she is the idol of millions throughout the world. Along the way, she marries visionary producer Lou Payne (Richard Ainley), but by film's end she is reunited with her mentor Belasco. A young Cornel Wilde makes his screen debut as an aspiring actor in a boarding-house sequence. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Miriam Hopkins, Claude Rains, (more)
- 1940
- NR
Promoted as a follow-up to the popular 1939 western Dodge City (which, indeed, was left wide open for a sequel in its closing scenes), Virginia City bears only surface resemblance to the earlier film. Indeed, the only discerning links between the two pictures are the western setting and the presence in the cast of Errol Flynn, Frank McHugh, Alan Hale and Guinn "Big Boy" Williams. After escaping from a Confederate prison during the Civil War, Union officer Flynn vows to stop a $5,000,000 gold shipment from reaching the South. He is challenged by Southern sympathizer Randolph Scott, whose interest in the gold is patriotic, and by outlaw Humphrey Bogart (complete with a Mexican accent that wouldn't convince a cow), whose interests are purely mercenary. Adding spice to the proceedings is Miriam Hopkins as a dance hall chanteusse-cum-Confederate spy. Better in individual components than sum total, Virginia City pleased the crowds in 1940, assuring that the Tasmanian-born Errol Flynn would continue appearing in westerns in the future. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Errol Flynn, Miriam Hopkins, (more)
- 1939
When Zoë Akins' play The Old Maid (based on a novel by Edith Wharton) won the 1934-1935 Pulitzer Prize, the selection was roundly condemned by critics, who felt that Lillian Hellman's The Children's Hour was more deserving, but had lost because of its lesbian theme. Certainly, Akins' story of the relationship between two Southern cousins in the years between 1833 and 1854 is nothing spectacular. Delia Lovell marries James Ralston, leaving her old beau Clem Spender out in the cold. Delia's cousin Charlotte comforts Clem by spending the night with him. Charlotte becomes pregnant, secretly farming out her daughter, Tina, to another family. The years pass; Charlotte sets up a day nursery so that she may remain close to her daughter (still in the dark as to the true identity of her mother). Meanwhile, Charlotte has become engaged to Ralston's brother Joseph. The troublesome Delia, who discovers her cousin's secret, contrives to prevent Charlotte from marrying Joseph, then arranges to have Charlotte raise Tina as her niece rather than her daughter. More years pass; Tina regards Delia as her mama and Charlotte as just an "old maid." At Tina's wedding, Charlotte almost reveals the truth to her daughter, but.....It's all slick romance-magazine stuff, and hardly worthy of the Pulitzer. On the other hand, the film version of The Old Maid, starring Bette Davis as Charlotte and Miriam Hopkins as Delia, is a classic of its kind, and one of Davis' best vehicles. The story is given additional substance by moving the early scenes up to the time of the Civil War, making Clem Spender (George Brent) less of a cad by killing him off at Vicksburg, thus rendering it impossible for Clem to make an honest woman of Charlotte. From the vantage point of the 1990s, when film stars find it difficult to turn out more than one picture a year, it is incredible that The Old Maid was but one of four first-rate Bette Davis films to be released in 1939; the others were Dark Victory, Juarez, and The Private Lives of Elizabeth and Essex. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Bette Davis, Miriam Hopkins, (more)
- 1937
Wise Girl is a medium-level screwball comedy with faintly serious undertones. Miriam Hopkins plays an heiress whose millions can't help her gain custody of her two nieces from their stubborn widowed father (Ray Milland), an impoverished Greenwich Village artist. Hoping to win the widower over without revealing her identity, the heiress disguises herself as a penniless "Bohemian" and infiltrates the Village's artists' colony. When he finds out he's been duped, the man stubbornly insists upon remaining in jail rather than hand over custody of his daughters to the headstrong heiress (yes, that's perennial Laurel & Hardy foil James Finlayson as the friendly jailer). It all turns out for the best when hero and heroine realize they're in love with each other. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Miriam Hopkins, Ray Milland, (more)
- 1937
This early feminist tale was a box-office flop that was released after years of script doctoring. Producer Samuel Goldwyn insisted that the story be made into film, because he wanted to pair his romantic stars Joel McCrea and Miriam Hopkins for a fifth time. Hopkins plays Virginia Travis, an architect who is chafing at the gender bias keeping her career in check. She approaches an aging, inept real estate developer, B.J. Nolan (Charles Winninger), promising to turn his latest suburban housing project into a winner. But Nolan is in debt, and his millionaire son Kenneth (McCrea) won't loan him any money. Virginia recruits two movie theater ushers to pose as the elder Nolan's servants in order to convince Kenneth that his dad is on the road to success. Virginia must also defeat Nina Tennyson (Leona Maricle), an attractive woman who is after Kenneth's money. Virginia gets Kenneth drunk and then has him sign a contract that will rescue the housing development. As they transact business, they fall in love. ~ Michael Betzold, Rovi
- Starring:
- Miriam Hopkins, Joel McCrea, (more)
- 1937
Director Anatole Litvak's first Hollywood film was a remake of his French success L'Equipage, itself based on a novel by Joseph Kessel. Paul Muni stars as Maury, an unorthodox, abrasive WWI fighter-pilot whose skill in the air is compromised by his inability to get along with his colleagues and subordinates. His wife Denise (Miriam Hopkins) loves Maury in her fashion but cheats on him in favor of younger, handsomer flyboy Jean (Louis Hayward). This romantic triangle is settled not in the boudoir but in the air, during a particularly tense "dogfight." Though The Woman I Love often copies L'Equipage scene for scene (even retaining the original musical score by Arthur Honegger and Maurice Thiriet), the ending of the remake is markedly different from that of the original, obviously to appease the more stringent Hollywood censors. The film's title was obviously chosen to cash in on a similar sentiment expressed by Britain's King Edward VII when he abdicated from his throne for the sake of his American wife; perhaps this was why The Woman I Love was retitled The Woman Between in Great Britain. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Paul Muni, Miriam Hopkins, (more)
- 1936
Something of a precursor to 1947's A Double Life, Men Are Not Gods takes its title from a line in Othello -- aptly so, as that play figures prominently in the film. Actress Barbara Halford (Gertrude Lawrence) is married to Edmond Davey (Sebastian Shaw), a classical actor whose new production of Othello is about to open. Aware that influential critic Skeates has written a vociferously negative review, Barbara pleads with his secretary Ann (Miriam Hopkins) to rewrite the notice. She does so, and the production becomes a hit - and Ann becomes a hit with Davey, which fact sits well with neither Barbara nor Ann's boy friend Rex Harrison. Barbara, who is also playing Desdemona in the production, warns Ann to keep her hands off of her husband. But that night, as Othello chokes Desdemona, it seems suspiciously real, prompting Ann to scream out in horror from the audience. Afterward, Barbara reveals that she is pregnant; as she and Davey embrace, Ann quietly exits from the scene. ~ Craig Butler, Rovi
- Starring:
- Miriam Hopkins, Gertrude Lawrence, (more)
- 1936
Lillian Hellman's 1934 Broadway play The Children's Hour was such a hot potato that film producer Samuel Goldwyn was denied Production Code permission to use the play's original title. The reason was the story's lesbian theme, a factor that also blocked The Children's Hour from winning a Pulitzer Prize. In the original story, lifelong friends Martha Dobie and Karen Wright manage an exclusive girl's boarding school. Spoiled rotten student Mary Tilford, angered at being disciplined, fabricates a story that casts a questionable light on the women's friendship. In attempting to defend themselves against the accusations of the little girl's wealthy and powerful aunt, Martha and Karen lose everything in court. By the time the girl has admitted her lie and the aunt has come to apologize, it is too late. After confessing that she has harbored "unnatural" feelings towards Martha, Karen commits suicide. In adapting her play to the screen, Lillian Hellman expertly weeded out all hints of lesbianism, and also eliminated Karen's self-inflicted death ("suicide as a plot solution" was another Production Code no-no). In the revised version, Mary Tilford (played with unbridled venom by Bonita Granville) spreads a rumor that Martha (Miriam Hopkins) has been carrying on an illicit affair with doctor Joseph Cardin (Joel McCrea), the boyfriend of Karen (Merle Oberon). The end result is essentially the same -- the school is destroyed, along with Martha and Karen's reputation -- but Karen manages to survive to fade-out time. In defending the evisceration of her play, Hellman defended herself by noting that her original point was not to force a lesbian subtext down the throats of the audience, but to show how a vicious lie -- any vicious lie -- can have disastrous consequences. While it makes a good story, it is probably not true that, when informed that the leading characters in The Children's Hour were lesbians, producer Goldwyn replied, "Who cares? We'll make them Americans." These Three was refilmed in 1961 by its director William Wyler, under its original title The Children's Hour, with Hellman's original text -- lesbianism and all -- intact; ironically, the censor-ridden earlier film is the far superior version. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Miriam Hopkins, Merle Oberon, (more)
It's the wild and woolly waterfront world of San Francisco in the late 1800s in this rambling tale of an outrageous nightclub owner (Edward G. Robinson) and his efforts at wooing lovely Mary Rutledge (Miriam Hopkins), a lovely Eastern lass left to her own devices in the rowdy port city. The innocent babe loses that innocence when she becomes a kept lady, running the roulette wheel in Robinson's nightclub. The plot matures when Mary falls in love with an honest and upright gold miner. When the lovers are discovered during a fateful tryst, they flee the evil Robinson, hoping to escape as stowaways aboard a departing ship. Robinson is magnificent in this ruffian role. This action-filled adventure is suitable for the whole family. ~ Rovi
- Starring:
- Miriam Hopkins, Edward G. Robinson, (more)
- 1935
This romantic comedy-drama is set -- typical for producer Samuel Goldwyn at the time -- among the upper class. Joel McCrea plays Brighton Lorrimore, son of a well-to-do American family who returns from a trip abroad with a new wife, Phyllis Manning (Miriam Hopkins). Brighton's parents are dismayed because they had hoped that their son would restore the faltering Lorrimore fortunes with a marriage to society girl Edith Gilbert (Ruth Weston). Although Phyllis urges Brighton to pursue his dream career as a writer, Brighton's mother pushes him unhappily into a finance job, at which he does not excel. Mrs. Lorrimore also schemes to create romantic sparks between her new daughter-in-law and her son's superior, Martin Deering (Paul Cavanaugh), hoping that an affair will improve her son's fortunes and refill the family's coffers. Written by Rachel Crothers from her unproduced play, Spendor (1935) featured the first significant role on screen for actor David Niven. ~ Karl Williams, Rovi
- Starring:
- Miriam Hopkins, Joel McCrea, (more)
Now famous as the first feature film produced in the three-strip Technicolor process, Becky Sharp is also an enjoyable effort in its own right. Adapted from William Makepeace Thackeray's Vanity Fair, the film stars Miriam Hopkins as Becky Sharp, a resourceful, totally self-involved young lady who manages to survive any number of setbacks and deprivations in the years following Napoleon's defeat at Waterloo. In her efforts to advance herself, she manages to link up with a number of not altogether attractive gentlemen, including the Marquis of Steyne (Cedric Hardwicke), Joseph Sedley (Nigel Bruce), Rawdon Crawley (Alan Mowbray), and George Osborne (G. P. Huntley Jr.) She rises to the pinnacle of British society, only to tumble and fall into the humiliation of singing for her supper in a cheap back-alley beer hall, but, like her spiritual sister Scarlet O'Hara, Becky never stays down for long. The film ends on an ambiguous note, never hinting that Becky will eventually drop her current beau and settle down to a life of smug piety, as she does in the novel. Begun in 1934 with Lowell Sherman in the director's chair, Becky Sharp was forced to shut down production when Sherman died; he was replaced by Rouben Mamoulien, whose unerring eye for cinematic splendor exploited the new color process to the utmost, especially during the opening Brussels Ball sequence. Until its recent archival restoration, Becky Sharp was available only in a shortened, two-color version, which had the negative effect of diminishing the film's strong points and overemphasizing its weaknesses (This version is still available on the public-domain market). Becky Sharp is an enormous improvement over the low-budget 1932 version of Vanity Fair, which updated the story to the 20th century and cast dumb-blonde specialist Joyce Compton in the role of Becky. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Miriam Hopkins, Cedric Hardwicke, (more)
- 1934
A witty Norman Krasna script distinguishes this airy romantic comedy. Millionairess Dorothy Hunter (Miriam Hopkins) is tired of finding out that her boyfriends love her for her money, and equally weary of losing eligible beaus who don't want to be considered fortune-hunters. That's why she trades identities with her secretary Sylvia (Fay Wray) before embarking on her next romance with Tony Travers (Joel McCrea). This causes numerous complications not only for Dorothy and Tony but for Sylvia, whose own husband Philip (Reginald Denny) is not the most patient of men. The Richest Girl in the World was remade in 1944 as Bride by Mistake, and in 1955 as the Jane Russell musical The French Line. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Miriam Hopkins, Henry Stephenson, (more)
