Review of "Rebecca"
REBECCA (1940)
Directed by Alfred Hitchcock
Written by Robert E. Sherwood, Joan Harrison, Philip MacDonald and Michael Hogan, based on the novel by Daphne Du Maurier
Starring Laurence Olivier, Joan Fontaine, George Sanders, Judith Anderson and Nigel Bruce
This classic film marked Alfred Hitchcock's Hollywood debut. A young naive woman (Fontaine) is in Monte Carlo where she is employed as the companion of a wealthy woman, when she meets the charming, handsome and extremely wealthy Maxim de Winter (Olivier) who is still deeply troubled by the death of his wife Rebecca in a boating accident the year before. The two fall in love, have a whirlwind romance and get married. De Winter takes his new wife to live with him in his large English mansion called Manderlay, where the woman has to settle into an unfamiliar role as mistress of the house, with a large number of servants, lorded over by the sinister housekeeper Mrs Danvers (Anderson) who deeply resents Maxim's new bride. Everywhere the newlywed woman is reminded of Rebecca. Why is her husband still so disturbed over the death of his first wife? Who is the figure in the unused west wing of the mansion? and how did Rebecca really die?
This film is a spellbinding combination of romance and suspense. It's almost like a ghost story at times, where the ghost never actually appears. Rebecca is never seen, she is dead when the story opens, and there are no flashback scenes or even pictures of her, and yet she completely dominates the film. Everywhere, Fontaine finds Rebecca’s monogrammed possessions and she is referred to constantly. The household staff always refer to Rebecca as “Mrs. de Winter”, making it seem like Fontaine is her husband’s girlfriend rather than his wife. In one sequence she is in the study and answers the telephone saying “Mrs. de Winter? She’s been dead for a year”, and hanging up before remembering. Fontaine’s character is never referred to by her first name throughout the entire film. She is someone who has entered a completely alien world, she was not born into the wealthy privileged world of Manderlay and early on tells her husband-to-be that she doesn’t feel she belongs in this world. The production is lavish with some spectacular sets, especially for the interiors of Manderlay, and the whole thing looks beautiful. The shoot was far from easy, however. This was one of the very few Hitchcock film in which he had no input into the script, and he resented producer David O. Selznick’s “hands on” style of production. It was also tough for Joan Fontaine. Olivier had wanted his then-girlfriend Vivien Leigh to play Fontaine’s role and when she didn’t get the part, he treated Fontaine very badly, which really unsettled her. Hitchcock noticed this and told Fontaine that everyone on set hated her, which made her extremely shy and uneasy, which was what Hitchcock wanted for the performance. However Olivier and Fontaine are both perfect in their roles, and this whole film is a masterpiece from Hollywood’s Golden Age. It remains gripping, suspenseful entertainment. It also features what, for the time, was quite a strong lesbian subtext with the character of Mrs. Danvers who is completely obsessed by her memories of Rebecca. This is a film about memory and the way the past dominates the present. Watch out for Hitchcock’s trademark cameo towards the end of the film, walking past a telephone box.
Ten out of ten.
Directed by Alfred Hitchcock
Written by Robert E. Sherwood, Joan Harrison, Philip MacDonald and Michael Hogan, based on the novel by Daphne Du Maurier
Starring Laurence Olivier, Joan Fontaine, George Sanders, Judith Anderson and Nigel Bruce
This classic film marked Alfred Hitchcock's Hollywood debut. A young naive woman (Fontaine) is in Monte Carlo where she is employed as the companion of a wealthy woman, when she meets the charming, handsome and extremely wealthy Maxim de Winter (Olivier) who is still deeply troubled by the death of his wife Rebecca in a boating accident the year before. The two fall in love, have a whirlwind romance and get married. De Winter takes his new wife to live with him in his large English mansion called Manderlay, where the woman has to settle into an unfamiliar role as mistress of the house, with a large number of servants, lorded over by the sinister housekeeper Mrs Danvers (Anderson) who deeply resents Maxim's new bride. Everywhere the newlywed woman is reminded of Rebecca. Why is her husband still so disturbed over the death of his first wife? Who is the figure in the unused west wing of the mansion? and how did Rebecca really die?
This film is a spellbinding combination of romance and suspense. It's almost like a ghost story at times, where the ghost never actually appears. Rebecca is never seen, she is dead when the story opens, and there are no flashback scenes or even pictures of her, and yet she completely dominates the film. Everywhere, Fontaine finds Rebecca’s monogrammed possessions and she is referred to constantly. The household staff always refer to Rebecca as “Mrs. de Winter”, making it seem like Fontaine is her husband’s girlfriend rather than his wife. In one sequence she is in the study and answers the telephone saying “Mrs. de Winter? She’s been dead for a year”, and hanging up before remembering. Fontaine’s character is never referred to by her first name throughout the entire film. She is someone who has entered a completely alien world, she was not born into the wealthy privileged world of Manderlay and early on tells her husband-to-be that she doesn’t feel she belongs in this world. The production is lavish with some spectacular sets, especially for the interiors of Manderlay, and the whole thing looks beautiful. The shoot was far from easy, however. This was one of the very few Hitchcock film in which he had no input into the script, and he resented producer David O. Selznick’s “hands on” style of production. It was also tough for Joan Fontaine. Olivier had wanted his then-girlfriend Vivien Leigh to play Fontaine’s role and when she didn’t get the part, he treated Fontaine very badly, which really unsettled her. Hitchcock noticed this and told Fontaine that everyone on set hated her, which made her extremely shy and uneasy, which was what Hitchcock wanted for the performance. However Olivier and Fontaine are both perfect in their roles, and this whole film is a masterpiece from Hollywood’s Golden Age. It remains gripping, suspenseful entertainment. It also features what, for the time, was quite a strong lesbian subtext with the character of Mrs. Danvers who is completely obsessed by her memories of Rebecca. This is a film about memory and the way the past dominates the present. Watch out for Hitchcock’s trademark cameo towards the end of the film, walking past a telephone box.
Ten out of ten.