Rebecca: 1940

From what little I knew about this film, I expected a romance, and while it didn't disappoint me, the film was actually more suspenseful than romantic. Rebecca is about a young woman who falls in love with Mr. DeWinter, a widower whose dead wife was the famous Rebecca. After marrying Mr. DeWinter, the new Mrs. DeWinter returns to his estate Manderley in Cornwall, England, with him, and she experiences firsthand how much his dead wife's memory is kept alive by the creepy housekeeper Mrs. Danvers. No matter where the new Mrs. DeWinter turns, there is something that relates to Rebecca, from the embroidered linens to the letters in the desk to the closed off west wing where Rebecca had her room. And Mrs. Danvers makes sure to keep the new Mrs. DeWinter as uncomfortable as possible with frequent references to the amazing first Mrs. DeWinter.

The film was directed by Hitchcock, and his use of lighting and close-up shots added to the suspense and intensity of each scene. As the film progressed, he increased the close-ups of Mrs. Danvers's face, and with only part of her face illuminated and the other part in a dark shadow, she is indeed sinister (see below).


The new Mrs. DeWinter's fear of her housekeeper is fully understandable, especially after Mrs. Danvers takes her into the west wing and shows her true obsession over Rebecca through her tour. Towards the end of the film, I realized it might have been a mistake to watch the film at night. Although it isn't an outright scary film, the character Mrs. Danvers is incredibly creepy.

One particularly odd aspect of this film for me was how we never find out the first name of the new wife. It's like she doesn't really matter (even though Maxim DeWinters loves her) when compared to Rebecca. Her name and her identity are insignificant in comparison. I wonder if the same is true in the novel, as the film is based on Daphne DuMaurier's novel with the same title.

Something else interesting was that this film was produced by David Selznick, who also produced Gone With the Wind. Other than both films being adaptations of novels, not much else is similar between the two. The female leads are vastly different, with the second Mrs. DeWinters being quite subdued and kind whereas Scarlet is demanding and so selfish it's almost evil. Having the Oscar for Best Picture two years in the row is impressive, and I'm curious to know what else Selznick produced.