Rebecca
Rebecca was released back in 1940 and yet it remains one of Alfred Hitchcock’s greatest films, as well as one of the best psychological thrillers.
Rebecca was quite a big moment in Hitchcock’s directing career as it was his first American film, as well as his first produced under contract with David O. Selznick: Selznick was the person who brought Hitchcock over from the UK to launch his American career.
Rebecca was an adaptation of the novel of the same name by Daphne du Maurier, and saw Joan Fontaine, Laurence Olivier, and Judith Anderson all on the cast list.
The movie follows the newly married Mrs de Winter who is haunted by the memory of de Winter’s first wife: who died before the start of the film. The former Mrs de Winter is in ever aspect of the house, and the new lady of the house is driven to the brink of her sanity.
I have to say, Rebecca is my favourite Hitchcock movie of them all, as it is a captivating and tense watch from the opening scene to the closing credits.
Rebecca is a mix of a gothic story as well as a ghostly and haunted house tale that really will send a shiver down your spine. All that is capped off by a truly wonderful performance by Judith Anderson as housekeeper Mrs Danvers.
It really is a formidable turn by the actress, as Mrs Danvers is there at every turn, pushing the new Mrs de Winter closer and closer to the brink. Fontaine and Olivier also deliver terrific performances, but this movie really does belong to Anderson: I can’t stress just how terrific she it.
The production and the cinematography are stunning as the light and the shadow that is captured throughout is just as powerful and the central performances.
Hitchcock understands that the house in which the film is predominately set can almost become a character in its own right, and he has shot in a way that makes it a living breathing entity with a story of its own to tell.
Rebecca is a triumph in suspense cinema and triumphantly introduced Alfred Hitchcock to American cinema audiences - he never looked back, as he went on to become one of the most iconic and influential filmmakers of all time.
Rebecca went on to be nominated for eleven Oscars, going on to win Best Picture and Best Cinematography. This was to be Hitchcock’s only film to ever win a Best Picture Oscar.
To Catch A Thief is re-released 8th August.
Tagged in Alfred Hitchcock