#135 Rebecca (Alfred Hitchcock, 1940): USA
Reviewed by Kathleen Amboy. Viewed on DVD.
Judging from the title, one might assume that the main character of this film is indeed Rebecca, but not so. The central character is so unimportant and insignificant, that she has no first name. An orphaned ingenue who steps from a world of servitude into an abyss of immense wealth and scrutiny, only to be subjected to cruel degradation and self-doubt. “I, she” and finally “Mrs. de Winter,” is portrayed unassumingly, instinctively, and perfectly by Joan Fontaine.
Rebecca was the beautiful and much accomplished deceased wife of Maxim de Winter (Laurence Olivier), the heir of an enormous estate in Cornwall, England. Brooding and deep in thought, Maxim is on holiday in Monte Carlo when he crosses paths with a gentle young woman (Joan Fontaine) and her obnoxious but wealthy benefactor, Mrs. Van Hopper (Florence Bates). When the repulsive Van Hopper takes ill, she stuffs her gob with chocolates and snuffs out her cigarettes into a cold cream jar, while Maxim seizes the opportunity to lavish attention on her much oppressed “paid companion.”
After several days of tennis, long drives along the coast, meals and moonlit dancing, the two fall in love, but to the chagrin of the unkindly Van Hopper, who scoffs at her young companion. They soon marry and quickly return to Cornwall and the grand estate of Manderley.
Manderley is staffed with a full line of dedicated and loyal servants, with the lead housekeeper Mrs. Danvers (Judith Anderson) gainfully employed by the first Mrs. de Winter.
The nondescript second Mrs. de Winter is uncomfortable in her new surroundings and the sudden position as mistress of Manderley. The overpowering presence of Rebecca lingers everywhere in the mansion, thanks to Mrs. Danvers, who keeps her dead mistress’ bedroom, office, and all her belongings fully intact, as if she’s on holiday and expected to return at a moments notice. Instead of delineating her own persona into the marriage and new situation, the young wife panders to the memory of Rebecca – when asked to decide on the menu for the evening, timidly she replies “lets have whatever you think Mrs. de Winter would’ve ordered.”
She desperately tries to please Maxim, but through innocence and inexperience, she becomes bait for Mrs. Danvers, who constantly sets her up for failure – taking Danvers suggestion for a costume in an upcoming ball, she is horrified to discover that Maxim detests it.
The turning point occurs when a ship is wrecked along the jagged coast and the rescuers also discover a small boat containing the body of a woman. After an official inquest is held it is determined to be the body of Rebecca, whose death was brought about prematurely and suspiciously. This initiates a shift in the new Mrs. de Winter, who begins to reclaim her dignity and develop her own persona.
Rebecca signifies the first of Alfred Hitchcock’s American films, and is the only one to receive an Academy Award for Best Picture. It also won an Oscar for Best Cinematography, Black and White, and rightly so, because Rebecca is very much a visual experience in light and shadows – as Rebecca’s persona is cast in light, so is her bedroom, “the loveliest room you’ve ever seen.” And while the second Mrs. de Winter is constantly overshadowed by the memory of Rebecca, we are reminded of this in nearly every scene as the shadows appear to follow her from room to room.
Joan Fontaine was instinctual and perfectly cast as the second Mrs. de Winter. Like walking a tightrope, she downplays her performance much as her character did with regards to Rebecca, for the first half of the film, and then lifts herself from the mire of self-deprecation to self-respect for the second half – but make no mistake, though understated, it is a brilliant performance which led to an Academy Award Nomination for Best Actress. The following year she actually won, for her performance in Suspicion – the only actor to receive an Oscar in a Hitchcock film.
Producer David O. Selznick wanted Hitchcock to stay as close to the Daphne du Maurier novel as possible, even using much of the same dialogue. He introduced the film in the title credits as “Selznick International presents its picturization of Daphne du Maurier’s celebrated novel Rebecca,” but had to alter the consequential death of Rebecca, due to the Production Code, however having read the novel I can confirm that it plays out very well.
Judith Anderson is at her peak, as the pouncing Mrs. Danvers, in her cat and mouse game with the second Mrs. de Winter, and received an Oscar nomination as well, for Best Supporting Actress.
Many cite Citizen Kane as the best film of all time – I cite Hitchcock’s Rebecca.
4 Comments
Jump to comment form | comments rss [?] | trackback uri [?]