Vanity Fair

In the world of silent cinema, the loss of some films are a complete tragedy and this production of Vanity Fair is one of them. Produced by Hugo Ballin Productions and released by Samuel Goldwyn, this film included one sequence filmed in color by Prizmacolor. The film starred Hugo Ballin's wife Mabel Ballin as Becky Sharp along with actors Hobart Bosworth, George Walsh and Harrison Ford. Some beautiful still photos survive , showing the perfect fashionable costumes for the film's period. All I can offer the reader is this brief synopsis.

Adventuress Becky Sharp lives by her wits and charm in an effort to ascend from humble backgrounds into society. She fails to lure Joseph Sedley, the brother of her chum Amelia, into marriage but succeeds with Rawdon Crawley, the son of her employer. However, his family's displeasure keeps Becky from living in wealth, as she had hoped to do. Ever the flirt, Becky has affairs with George Osborne soon after he marries Amelia and with Lord Steyne while Rawdon is away at war with Napoleon. Her adventures come to an end, however; neither Rawdon nor Steyne will have her, and Becky is reduced to touring the Continent under an assumed name. Her lesson learned, Becky brings together Amelia and her faithful suitor, Captain Dobbin, after George is killed in battle; and finally she returns to London to live a quiet life.