BECKY PRESENTED TO GEORGE IV

The controls of the video player work exactly like the buttons on a VCR. Press the right-pointing arrow to play the video and the square to stop the video.

About the Film

Becky Sharp (1935) is historically important because it is the first full-length feature movie filmed in three-strip technicolor. Its age explains why the colors are a little blurred and faded. The film is based on the play Becky Sharp. In play and movie, the character of Becky, acted by Miriam Hopkins, is contradictory. At times, she is a good hearted, stereotyped heroine who really loves Rawdon and provides the money to run off happily with Jos Sedley at the end. At other times, she is a heartless golddigger who after watching the army march off to Waterloo decides to march off for her breakfast.

I chose this clip to give you a sense of what "being presented at court" consisted of. Nineteenth century novels frequently refer to this formal ceremony and to court dress. (The clothes-conscious Jos insists on packing court dress when he, Amelia, Dobbin, and Georgy tour the Continent.) The man Becky is speaking to at the beginning of the clip is Lord Steyne.