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Rebecca(1940) Screenplay:Joan Harrison, Philip MacDonald, Robert Sherwoodfrom the novel by Daphne du Maurier
CAST: Laurence Olivier, Joan Fontaine, Judith Anderson, George Sanders, Gladys Cooper, Nigel Bruce,Reginald Denny, Cecil Aubrey Smith, Leo G Carroll 
Laurence Olivier, Joan Fontaine PLOT: A gauche young girl(Fontaine) meets the suave and mysterious Maxim de Winter(Olivier) holydaying on the French Riviera. He is there to try to forget the death of his first wife, the beautiful Rebecca. He is captivated by the innocent young girl, and asks her to marry him and she accepts. Once back to Manderley, the de Winters family home in Cornwall, the new Mrs de Winters is terrified of the housekeeper Mrs Danvers (Anderson), who adored Rebecca.
It is revealed that Maxim,far from adoring Rebecca,despised her for her philandering and promiscuity, and it looks as though he will have to stand trial for her murder. Maxim is blackmailed by her cousin Favell(Sanders) but a last minute visit to adoctor in London reveals that Rebecca was dying of cancer and so her suicide was highly likely. Returning home by car Maxim finds Manderley ablaze. On arriving he is ovejoyed to find his new wife has escaped from the inferno, while the evil housekeeper can be seen perishing in the fire which she started to avenge Rebecca's memory. 
(CAMEO) Hitchcock near the phone booth with George Sanders It is a coincidence but both his last film in England and his first film in Hollywood take place in Cornwall and both are from Daphne du Maurier's novels. But What a difference between the two! 
(above & below) Judith Anderson and Joan Fontaine 
Judith Anderson, George Sanders, Joan Fontaine, Laurence Olivier, Cecil Aubrey Smith 
Gladys Cooper, Nigel Bruce, Joan Fontaine |  |
" Last night I dreamt I went to Manderley again...."
is the most poignant opening line in cinema, plunging the audience into over two hours of narrative cinema at his best. 
Joan Fontaine, Laurence Olivier, Judith Anderson Rebecca is the definitive Three-handkerchief romance and is an uncharacteristic Hitchcock film. The actual suspense is muted and what gives the film its durable impact is that Hitchcock tells a love story, a proper love story, with flesh and blood characters. The ensemble playing is unmatched. Joan Fontaine is perfect as the mousy heroine (whose name like in the novel is never revealed), Olivier compelling as Max and Judith Anderson, in only her second film, is ominous as the ubiquitous housekeeper. The rest of the cast is perfect. 
"REBECCA' received the Oscar for Best Film .
George Barnes won for Best Cinematography(B/W)
and was nominated for:
BestDirector: Alfred Hitchcock
Best Actor: Laurence Olivier
Best Actress: Joan Fontaine
Best Supporting Actress: Judith Anderson 
The Inquiry |
