1940 Rebecca

1940 Rebecca

"Last night I dreamt I went to Manderley again."

I have always loved this movie, in spite of the rather melancholy ending.  The book is terrific, and this is a great adaptation.

Laurence Olivier and Joan Fontaine (Vivien Leigh's husband and Olivia de Havilland's sister respectively, taking their turns in the spotlight after Gone With the Wind's success the year before), as Maxim de Winter and his wife (her name is never known).  They portray lovers haunted by the memory of Maxim's late wife, Rebecca.  Though deceased before the start of the movie, she is an ever present figure in the story -a figurative ghost taking center stage.

The story is full of romance and intrigue...Hitchcock is always great with mystery.  He supposedly kept Joan Fontaine looking like a deer in headlights by bullying her throughout filming.

The story revolves around the mystery behind the famous and beautiful Rebecca, beloved by all, as the new Mrs. de Winter tries to settle into her role as mistress of Maxim's great estate, Manderley.  The main character is wooed (if you can call it that -he treats her like a child and calls her a "little fool" in his proposal) from her position as a timid and poor "companion" to the humorously pretentious Mrs. Van Hopper by the rich widower, Maxim.  She is plagued by Rebecca's powerful and lingering presence in the minds of all those around her -especially the creepy housekeeper, Mrs. Danvers:

Mrs. Danvers: You wouldn't think she'd been gone so long, would you?  Sometimes, when I walk along the corridor, I fancy I hear her just behind me.  That quick light step, I couldn't mistake it anywhere.  It's not only in this room, it's in all the rooms in the house.  I can almost hear it now.  Do you think the dead come back and watch the living?
The Second Mrs. de Winter: N-no, I don't believe it.
Mrs. Danvers: Sometimes, I wonder if she doesn't come back here to Manderley, to watch you and Mr. de Winter together.

Our heroine is tormented by Rebecca's memory at every turn:

The Second Mrs. de Winter: How could we be close when I knew you were always thinking of Rebecca?  How could I even ask you to love me when I knew you loved Rebecca still?
Maxim de Winter: What are you talking about?  What do you mean?
The Second Mrs. de Winter: Whenever you touched me, I knew you were comparing me with Rebecca.  Whenever you looked at me or spoke to me, or walked with me in the garden, I knew you were thinking, "This I did with Rebecca, and this, and this."  It's true, isn't it?



The real romance of the story, in my mind, comes when Maxim finally tells his wife the truth of Rebecca, and she stands by him with fierce loyalty, loving him more than ever.

Maxim drove me a little nuts, particularly the lack of support he gives her when she moves to Manderley.  He also infantilizes her a bit, wanting her to always be a young, naive girl and never a woman, which is weird (ex. "It's gone forever, that funny young, lost look I loved won't ever come back." and "Please promise me never to wear black satin or pearls... or to be 36 years old.").  And come on, Mrs. Danvers should have been fired.  It was so clear she was unhinged that he really only has himself to blame for the events that follow -big surprise that the scary woman with one screw loose and an axe to grind causes destruction...come on, Maxim!