Rebecca (1940) is a psychological thriller directed by Alfred Hitchcock as his first American project, and his first film produced under his contract with David O. Selznick. The film's screenplay was an adaptation by Joan Harrison and Robert E. Sherwood from Philip MacDonald and Michael Hogan's adaptation of Daphne du Maurier's 1938 novel of the same name, and was produced by Selznick.[1] It stars Laurence Olivier as Maxim de Winter, Joan Fontaine as his second wife, and Judith Anderson as his late wife's housekeeper, Mrs. Danvers.
The film is a gothic tale about the lingering memory of the title character, which still affects Maxim, his new bride, and Mrs. Danvers long after her death. The film won two Academy Awards, including Best Picture out of a total 11 nominations. Olivier, Fontaine and Anderson were all Oscar nominated for their respective roles.
Plot
The story begins with images of a ruined country manor, and a woman telling us that she can never return to Manderley — as it no longer exists, except as a ruin.
Joan Fontaine plays a young woman (who is never named) who works as a companion to the wealthy Edythe Van Hopper (Florence Bates). In Monte Carlo, she meets the aristocratic widower Maximilian (Maxim) de Winter (Laurence Olivier) and they fall in love. Within weeks, they decide to get married.
Maxim takes his new bride to Manderley, his country house in Cornwall, England. However, the servants are reluctant to accept the new Mrs. de Winter as the new lady of the house. They are loyal to Maxim's first wife, Rebecca, who died under mysterious circumstances.
Particularly unpleasant is the housekeeper, Mrs. Danvers (Judith Anderson). She is still obsessed with Rebecca's beauty and sophistication, and preserves her former bedroom as a shrine, even to the point of seeming to worship Rebecca's handmade underwear and expensive négligée. In the documentary film The Celluloid Closet, it was suggested that Mrs. Danvers' obsession with Rebecca hinted at homosexual desires.[2] Rebecca's "cousin" Jack (George Sanders) (actually, and as well, one of her lovers) occasionally appears at the house when Maxim is away, and seems to know Mrs. Danvers well, calling her by the name "Danny", which was Rebecca's pet name for her.
The new Mrs. de Winter is intimidated by Mrs. Danvers and by the responsibilities of being the new chatelaine of Manderley. As a result, she begins to doubt her relationship with her husband. The continuous presence of Rebecca in the house starts to haunt her.
Mrs. Danvers tries to persuade Mrs. de Winter to leap to her death
Trying to act more like the perfect wife, Mrs. de Winter suggests to Maxim that they host a costume party. Maxim reluctantly consents. Mrs. de Winter excitedly plans her own costume in secret, but Mrs. Danvers suggests that she copy Caroline de Winter, an ancestor, whose portrait hangs in the upstairs hallway. On the night of the party, Mrs. de Winter reveals her costume to Maxim, who is both surprised and angry at her, shouting at her to change her costume. Mrs. de Winter rushes upstairs, sees Mrs. Danvers go into Rebecca's room and follows her. There she confronts Mrs. Danvers about her knowing that Rebecca had worn the same costume the previous year. Mrs. Danvers retaliates by saying that she will never take Rebecca's place and almost convinces Mrs. de Winter to commit suicide. But Mrs. de Winter snaps out of her trance when a sudden commotion starts downstairs — a ship has been spotted foundering off the coast.
Mrs. de Winter (after changing her outfit) rushes downstairs to the front lawn, where she hears news that a sunken boat has been found off the coast - with Rebecca's body in it. She spots a distant glow from the cottage on the shore and enters to find Maxim. Maxim admits to his new wife that he had misidentified another body as Rebecca's in order to prevent discovery of the truth. From almost the beginning of their marriage, he and Rebecca had hated one another. They had agreed to "keep up appearances" of a real marriage for the sake of the family honor. Rebecca, however, began to get "careless" after a while, for example disappearing for days on end and then returning as though nothing was wrong. Maxim was also aware of Rebecca's ongoing affair with Jack. One night, suspecting to find Rebecca and Jack together, Maxim came down to the cottage. Rebecca had been expecting Jack, who had never come to see her. She told Maxim that she was pregnant with Jack's child. During the argument, she fell, hit her head, and died. Maxim took the body out in a boat which he then scuttled.
In the ensuing police investigation, officials question whether the damage to the boat indicates that Rebecca may have committed suicide. Jack quickly provides evidence, a letter from Rebecca, that strongly suggests that she was not suicidal. He then tries to blackmail Maxim with it, but the blackmail plan backfires. Maxim comes under suspicion of murder; and the second Mrs. de Winter must face the prospect of losing her husband. The investigation focuses on Rebecca's secret visits to a London doctor (Leo G. Carroll), which Jack presumes was due to her illicit pregnancy. However, an interview with the doctor reveals that Rebecca was, in fact, suffering from cancer, and would have died very shortly. She was not pregnant: she had lied to Maxim, apparently trying to goad him into killing her — as an (indirect) means of suicide.
As Maxim returns home to Manderley, he finds his wife safe and sound but the house on fire, set alight by the deranged Mrs. Danvers, who dies in the flames.
Adaptation
At Selznick's insistence, the film adapts the plot of du Maurier's novel Rebecca faithfully.[3] However, one plot detail was altered to comply with the Hollywood Production Code, which said that the murder of a spouse had to be punished.[3] In the novel, Maxim shoots Rebecca, while in the film, he only thinks of killing her after she taunts him, whereupon she suddenly falls back, hits her head on a heavy piece of ships tackle, and dies from her head injuries, so that her death is an accident, not murder. According to the book It's only a Movie, David O. Selznick wanted the smoke from the burning Manderley to spell out a huge "R". Alfred Hitchcock thought the touch lacked subtlety. While Selznick was preoccupied by Gone with the Wind (1939), Hitchcock was able to replace the smoky "R" with the burning of a monogrammed négligée case lying atop a bed pillow. Hitchcock also edited the picture "in camera," - shooting only what he wanted to see in the final film - a method of filmmaking that didn't allow Selznick to reedit the picture. Although Selznick insisted the film be faithful to the novel, Hitchcock made many changes, especially with the character of Mrs. Danvers. In the novel, Mrs. Danvers is something of a jealous mother figure. Her past is mentioned in the book. But in the film, Mrs. Danvers is a much younger character and her past isn't revealed at all. The only thing we know about her is that she came to Manderley when Rebecca was a bride. Hitchcock made her more like a ghostly figure, with possible lesbian overtones.
The theatrical release of Rebecca was delayed in order to give it a shot at the 1940 Academy Awards - the 1939 Awards would (obviously) be dominated by Gone with the Wind, another Selznick production.
Cast
Hitchcock's cameo appearance, a signature feature of his films, takes place near the end; he is seen outside a phone box when Jack is making a call.
Awards
1940 Academy Awards wins
1940 Academy Award nominations
Adaptations in Other Media
Rebecca was adapted as a radio play on numerous occasions, including May 31, 1943 as an episode of The Screen Guild Theater starring Joan Fontaine, Brian Aherne and Agnes Moorehead; again on the Screen Guild Theater on November 18, 1948 with Loretta Young, John Lund and Agnes Moorehead; on Lux Radio Theater's February 3, 1941 broadcast with Ronald Colman and Ida Lupino; and again on Lux November 6, 1950 with Laurence Olivier and Vivien Leigh.
Rebecca was used as the basis of a sketch on BBC comedy sketch show That Mitchell and Webb Look.
References
External links
