Rebecca [1940]
Hitchcock in Hollywood - This fine movie is worth watching just for Laurence Olivier at his sophisticated sexiest. He exudes British qualities of confidance, pragmatism and eccentricity. The enigma surrounding his dark moods unfolds as the story continues. There is however, a lot more than him that is good in this film.Beautiful, doe eyed Joan Fontaine is well cast as his un-named second wife. The character is overwhelmed and out of place as the lady of a great house. Director Alfred Hitchcock told Joan that the rest of the cast hated her, to get that awkward feeling from her acting. This was hardly true, although Laurence had wanted his wife Vivien Leigh for the role. Hitchcock shows his skill and mastery of suspense here. This is an early Hollywood effort by he, who would go on to legendary status in coming decades.Of the supporting cast, Judith Anderson is memorable as housekeeper Mrs Danvers. She treats her new mistress with an icy disdain. The way she almost warms up to the new Mrs De Winter, when showing her the rooms of Rebecca, is doubly chilling. She retains a dark obsessive devotion to her former mistress.This David O Selznick production is full and un-skimped. After nearly seventy years, it remains the definitive production of this classic tale, in my opionion.
early Hitchcock classic: atmospheric, haunting and psychologically intense - The most beautiful thing about Rebecca is its brooding atmosphere and gothic feel surrounding a macabre marriage between wealthy, jaunty yet volatile widower and timid, naive & average young woman, who was haunted by the memories of her husband s deceased first wife. Alas, let s say that this is a ghost story, but not in the literal sense of the haunting of the supernaturals, but in the form of psychological torment created by the secrets and mysteries, whose answers were sunk on the deep sea floor. Undoubtedly Hitchcock was a visual master, taking advantage of his entry to the movie industry during the silent film era. Two great movements of this era - Soviet Montage & German Expressionism - contributed greatly to the development of his visual style, especially in fields of framing of shots, tracking and compositional techniques which enabled him to create maximum emotional effect through lights, shadows and camerawork. Here, we see some cool examples of his outstanding style too. To increase the moodiness and dark atmosphere of the film, he took every possible advantage of glorious b/w cinematography and used plenty of wonderful closeups (with tricky plays on somber shadows), amazing low angles and gorgeous long pans all worked very well on screen.This is Hitchcock s first American project and first and only film to win the Academy Award for Best Picture (with Best Cinematography Award it wins 2 Oscars out of 11 nominations). Although it lasts 130 minutes, takes the point of view of a single character and has a slow, measured pace, no single moment or line is wasted. It never drags or gets boring. Hitch s trademark suspense elements, psychological intensity, glamorous set pieces and unforgettable performances of Joan Fontaine, Laurence Olivier and Judith Anderson make Rebecca a timeless Hitchcock classic. (4.6/5.0)
As good as the book by Daphne DuMaurier - saw this film after reading the book and it struck me because it is a truly wonderful adaptation. It is indeed the first of Hitchcock masterpieces if one doesn t count his earlier British film The Lady Vanished. One of the most memorable film characters ever is Ms. Denvers, the housekeeper who is still loyal to Rebecca. After watching this film, it is hard to forget about her extreme coldness and cruelty toward the young Mrs. DeWinter. Although this is not one of Hitchcock s most suspenseful films (most trained viewers can easily perceive how the story will turn out)it is one of his simplest and most emotional. Read the book first and then watch the film.
One of the best! - I love everything about this film! From the music,scenery and atmospherics all the way to the acting. Both Laurence Olivier and Joan Fontaine are both excellent. Olivier does the dark and brooding well to do Hero of the piece perfectly. Whilst Joan Fontaine plays the part of a shy and timid young Heroine, who is totally mesmerised by Maximillian, excellently. Despite Alfred Hitchcocks personal opinion of this story he did a most creditable job on this film, and gives it the tense and chilling feeling that does the book some justice. This film still holds sway with many of today s adaptations, in fact I would even go so far as to say it could be the most definitive version so far.
Not just a woman s picture - A woman s picture is what Hitchcock once said, dismissively, about this fantastic first feature he made for Selznic, believing it to beneath his talents and feeling he was under the thumb in this new partnership and being forced to make the sort of film he wasn t really about. Okay, it s a full blown melodrama not all that different to Gone With the Wind really, but Hitchcock made this very much his own kind of melodrama. He has put his own psychological stamp on it, the tension builds beautifully when DeWinter faces a murder trial, and he gets a brooding performance out of Olivier. But the main tension comes from the dangerous hatred of the housekeeper toward the new unworthy Mrs DeWinter, and Hitchcock makes her worrying obsession with the former lady of the house very evident. This would be a film any other director would be immensely proud of, but seemingly not this notorious perfectionist and completely obsessive man.