In 1939, Alfred Hitchcock signed with David O. Selznick Pictures and picked up right where he left off sort of by adapting another Daphne Du Maurier novel. Unlike Jamaica Inn, Rebecca ranks not only as the best of Du Maurier's works but as one of the best mystery novels ever written. (In 2000, Bouchercon named the book as the best novel of the 20th century).
The movie starts out in Monte Carlo concerning a young woman (Joan Fontaine) who falls in love with a recent widower Maxim de Winter (Laurence Olivier). Before she is about to leave due to her employer ending the vacation, Maxim proposes to her and whisks her away to be married. Arriving back at Maxim's mansion, Manderley, the new bride can still feel the presence of Maxim's first wife, Rebecca (who died in a boating accident), especially from Rebecca's personal maid, Mrs. Danvers (Judith Anderson). The young woman tries her best to establish herself but can never erase the memory of Maxim's first wife, which is only going to get complicated when Rebecca's body is found and questions arise to whether she was murdered.
As I mentioned before, Du Maurier's novel is a masterpiece of gothic mystery and Hitchcock's directing and all of the production values do justice to the novel (There is one main difference between the book and novel, but that would be spoiling it, so you would need to do your homework and indulge in both versions). George Barnes' Academy Award winning cinematography really makes this seem like an early entry into film noir capturing Joan Fontaine's (her character in the movie, like the book, is never given a name) uneasiness and inferiority.
Joan Fontaine won the main role, but reportedly Laurence Olivier wanted his then wife Vivien Leigh (who had just won the Best Actress Oscar for Gone with the Wind) to play the woman. When Fontaine got the role, Olivier did not get along with her and Hitchcock used it to her advantage by telling Fontaine that everyone on the set was not happy with her getting the role. Whether or not that story is true, there is no getting past the fact that Fontaine given as a great performance as does Olivier. Judith Anderson steals every scene she's in creating one of the best villainesses in film history. George Sanders has a memorable part of Rebecca's cousin who has his plans for upsetting Maxim's idyllic setting.
The movie earned $3 million dollars in the USA in its first release and was the most popular film in England in 1940. Critics raved about the film as well with the New Yorker praising Hitchcock's staging of the film which seemed to be more stirring than its source material. Film Daily raved about every aspect of the movie. The movie captured the Academy Award for Best Picture in 1940 as well as the aforementioned Best Black & White Cinematography. It also received nominations in 9 other categories including a Best Director nod for Hitchcock (his first of five), Adapted Screenplay, Best Actress (Fontaine), Best Actor (Olivier) and Best Supporting Actress (Anderson). Currently its one of the four Hitchcock films to receive a 100% on Rotten Tomatoes.
Hitchcock makes his cameo appearance late into the movie (a rarity for him) about 127 minutes into the film walking past the telephone booth after George Sanders finishes his call.
Rebecca is available on DVD and Blu-ray from Criterion which can be purchased here and the novel can be obtained here.
