US 130m Dir: Alfred Hitchcock Key Cast: Joan Fontaine and Laurence Olivier
I love how Hitchcock's debut in Hollywood saw him direct a film largely set in Cornwall.
A young woman (Joan Fontaine) meets aristocratic widow Maxim de Winter (Lawrence Olivier) and they form a relationship and she soon becomes the second Mrs. de Winter. She moves into Maxim's ancestral home Manderley but she is frustrated at how everyone compares her to the previous Mrs. de Winter and the marriage falters, aided by sinister housekeeper Mrs. Danvers (Judith Anderson).
It's quite tricky to define what genre Rebecca is. Initially, it's simply a love story as the woman gets closer to Maxim, something of a broken man after the death of Rebecca. Then it becomes a psychological drama and it's this long middle section where the film is at it's best.
When the second Mrs. de Winter moves into Manderley she feels so out of her depth. Part of this is to do with the role of women at the time. Whilst Maxim disappears for business reasons she is left alone with nothing to do- this is a woman who is used to working too and this aspect alone is repressive for her. Then there's the class issue- she has no real idea of how to be a lady of the house or what that entails and finds that extremely difficult. Worst of all is the fact that the first Mrs. de Winter was apparently well liked and excellent at being the lady of the house.
Things are not helped by housekeeper Mrs. Danvers who serves as an utterly fantastic antagonist. For the majority of the time she's simply a sinister maid yet she's a character you instantly dislike without her having done anything wrong. When she finally does go full evil she does so in the most creepy of ways.
The final section of the film evolves into more of a crime thriller as we explore in more depth what happened to the first Mrs. de Winter. Here there are lots of twists and turns and it's not really until the final moments of the film where we fully have the full story. This is the part which feels most Hitchcockian and concludes the film in a really satisfying way.
A wonderful film with a brilliant premise and the creepiest housekeeper ever seen on screen.
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