Rebecca (1940)

Director:

Alfred Hitchcock

Writers:

Daphne Du Maurier (novel)
Philip MacDonald (adaptation) ...

Release Date:

12 April 1940 (USA)

Genre:

Mystery | Romance | Thriller

Tagline:

The shadow of this woman darkened their love.

Plot:

When a naive young woman marries a rich widower and settles in his gigantic mansion, she finds the memory of the first wife maintaining a grip on her husband and the servants.

Plot Keywords:

Love | Housekeeper | Death | Widower | Servant

Awards:

Won 2 Oscars. Another 9 nominations

Cast

Laurence Olivier	...	'Maxim' de Winter
Joan Fontaine	...	The Second Mrs. de Winter
George Sanders	...	Jack Favell
Judith Anderson	...	Mrs. Danvers
Nigel Bruce	...	Major Giles Lacy
Reginald Denny	...	Frank Crawley
C. Aubrey Smith	...	Colonel Julyan
Gladys Cooper	...	Beatrice Lacy
Florence Bates	...	Mrs. Edythe Van Hopper
Melville Cooper	...	Coroner
Leo G. Carroll	...	Dr. Baker
Leonard Carey	...	Ben
Lumsden Hare	...	Tabbs
Edward Fielding	...	Frith
Forrester Harvey	...	Chalcroft

Runtime:

130 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English | French

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Noiseless Recording)

Certification:

West Germany:16 | UK:A (original rating) | UK:PG (re-rating) | Spain:13 | Iceland:L | USA:Approved (certificate #5969) | Argentina:13 | Chile:14 | Finland:K-12 | South Korea:15 | Sweden:15 | Peru:14 | Germany:16

Filming Locations:

Big Sur, California, USA

Company:

Selznick International Pictures

Trivia:

Over 20 actors were tested for the role of Mrs. de Winter, which eventually went to newcomer Joan Fontaine. One of them was Vivien Leigh, who Laurence Olivier was pressing for, as they were a couple at the time.

Goofs:

Factual errors: Impossible police procedure: immediately after the inquest, the Chief Constable starts a possible murder inquiry, on his own, taking the chief suspect with him. The movie is only done in this way because it is faithful to the book.

Quotes:

Mrs. de Winter: Last night I dreamt I went to Manderley again.

Movie Connections:

Featured in The 80th Annual Academy Awards (2008) (TV)

One of Hitchcock's best films

In his long career, Alfred Hitchcock directed many great films. Rebecca ranks as one of the greatest. It was the only Hitchcock movie to win a Best Picture Oscar and it was his first Hollywood film after leaving England. This was also the first film in which he adapted someone else's work, the famous novel by de Maurier.

This film features all the twists and strange characters you would expect from Hitchcock along with the trademark unexpected ending. Sir Laurence Olivier is great, as usual, as Maximillian de Winter. The stunning Joan Fontaine is wonderful as "the Second Mrs. de Winter". Rebecca is an entertaining thriller by one of the masters of film.