This that hitchcock movie based on the hit novel?

I didnt like it that much, it was so unintentionally funny when it's supposed to be a thriller.


Although the novel is pretty funny too, because this woman is in love with this guy, obsessed with him, and he doesnt give much of a reason fopr her to love him because he's kind of a jackass.

Anyway, the movie: *1/2

A-



Finally, I saw another great Hitchcock film! After some solid, but not great efforts of him that I have seen recently (Suspicion and Notorious, to name a couple) Rebecca came along and ended up being one of my two favorite movies by Hitchcock, the other one being Dial M for Murder. Rebecca is probably Hitchcock's most acclaimed early work and also the only movie of his that won the Best Picture Oscar and that in a very competitive year.

In fact, Rebecca isn't even my favorite of the movies nominated for BP in its year. That honor goes to The Grapes of Wrath. But that's not to diminish Rebecca's quliaty which is a first class thriller-romance with some subtle supernatural elements.

I think what I loved the most about Rebecca was the fact that Hitchcock made Rebecca's haunting presence felt in pretty much every scene, even though she's never seen in the whole movie. It always feel as if she's there and presents a dark threat to our heroine. I can't think of any other movie in which an unseen character is as strongly felt as in this one. That's definitely thanks to Hitch's masterful direction. What helped to achieve this was a very fitting mood in the movie achieved by some brilliant cinematography and a very well-done editing job. The shot of Manderley burning is just great, but I think my favorite part of the movie is the opening sequence with the narration and the camera moving towards the deserted Manderley. This sequence gave me the chills! The whole atmosphere of the movie is very dark and gloomy and you can always feel the danger and the threat in the air. The cast of the movie is quite good, with Laurence Olivier probably giving the least memorable turn of the main cast. Not that he was bad, but he didn't do much to me either. Joan Fontaine, on the other hand, deliver a very solid performance that was better than her Oscar-winning turn in Hitchcock's Suspicion a year later. It is Judith Anderson's creepy Mrs. Danvers who leaves the most lasting impression, though. Her last shot is just classic. I also liked the way the story unfolded and the twists turned out, even though I wished for a somewhat darker ending, given the haunting and dark opening shot.

That said, I had a couple of problems with it too. As said above, Laurence Olivier didn't impress me much, even though his role is emotionally quite crucial in the film. Moreover, I wish the script had told us more about the reason for Mrs. Danvers' obsession with Rebecca. I also thought it was a tad too long (with the beginning when Maxim meets his future wife lagging a bit).

Other than these few qualms, I really liked it and I'd say it edges out Dial M for Murder as my favorite Hitchcock film to date. Obviously, I still have got a lot of Hitch-flicks to see, but this will likely remain one of the best anyway.

Mrs. Danvers was in love with Rebecca. Big ol' lesbian. In 1939, they couldn't tell you that, but it's there if you're looking.

I realized this much, but the unhealthy obession carrying on after her death still seemed a bit weird. If anything, she was a deeply mentally disturbed lesbian.

I really loved this. Hitchcock called it "a novelette, really. It's not a Hitchcockian picture."

I agree with him, it seems different to the big, influental Hitcock-pictures (with either an innocent man being accused of a crime running away or simply a crime being the central core of the story). The only one I can think of that is similar, would be Vertigo. Starting off as a mystery/love story, and revealing a crime in the end.

'Rebecca' surely has its weaknesses, but I kind of even love those. Sometimes the romance really is too much, and sometimes pacing seems off. But still, it has very memorable characters, great performances and an interesting storyline. Hitch might have done it better if he'd done it later, because sometimes it feels like the camera should move in a way that you're more drawn into the house and its mystery (like in Notorious, Vertigo or Psycho). But he couldn't do it back then, so it's still nice that the art direction and music is done beautifully to get people drawn into Manderley.

It's a shame this is his only picture to have won "Best Picture", really.

fucking redundant

This is the first Hitchcock movie I have loved from start to finish. I was floored by Rebecca. It's perfectly composed. Is it a ghost story? Is it a romance? Or is it more complicated than that? Hitchcock builds the layers in a way you don't notice, and you know where everything's headed yet you can't pull your face apart from the screen. And still he manages to surprise you by the end, there's so many was you can read this movie. I'm so glad I bought this movie, seems to me totally rewatchable!

A house being a country.

It's like Jane Eyre mixed with Vertigo, and, like the latter, it loses something when the mystery turns out to be not-so-supernatural. Still, terrific flick.

I thought it started off really good. I was instantly hooked. Joan Fontain was a bit annoying with her constant insecurities here and there and that's about it. But once the mystery starts to unfold, I kinda lost interest. The movie seemed to lost what made it special for the first half and became an average thriller. Loved the last scene with creepy, creepy Mrs. Danvers in the house, though.

My favorite of Hitch's films. So beautiful, methodical, and unnerving. Mrs. Danvers is the most memorable character in his entire oeuvre.