Production Company: Selznick
Leads: Laurence Olivier, Joan Fontaine, George Sanders
"She knew everyone one that mattered. Everyone loved her." - Mrs Danvers
Setting
Manderley, Cornwall, UK
The Plot
A young orphaned woman [Fontaine] working in Monte Carlo meets the wealthy Maxim de Winter [Olivier], falls in love and moves with him to his estate in Cornwall after a whirlwind marriage. The memory of his late wife Rebecca seems very much alive...perhaps the new Mrs de Winter got more than she bargained for.
The Review
In true Hitchcock style, this was one very twisted tale! Opening with a narrated dream sequence giving us a tour of the ruins of Manderley gave the film an eerie feel from the get-go; this was accentuated later on by the pure innocence of the new Mrs de Winter, who incidentally is never given a first name.
Their engagement was hardly the most romantic one I've ever seen, "I'm asking you to marry me you little fool" Mr de Winter called from the bathroom while he was getting dressed, then promised her a honeymoon where he "shall be making violent love to you behind a palm tree". Oh stop, you're making me blush...
Still, the smitten lady accepts (I bet it was the palm tree allusion that swung her) and leads us to the estate where we meet the household staff and we get a feel for the late Mrs Rebecca de Winter and how much she seemed to have been adored by everyone before her death. But how loved was she really? Hitchcock loves to pepper us with doubt and it's that doubt that draws us into a very compelling and sordid world.
The icy cold housekeeper Mrs Danvers (Judith Anderson) was a tough nut to crack; she started off cold and creepy, then started to be nice (which was, quite frankly, even creepier). Rebecca remained very much a part of the house in death, her memory kept disturbingly alive by Mrs Danvers.
I loved the use of lighting; nothing seemed overlooked right down to tree shadows passing across the car bonnet in what was obviously a motion backdrop, though I had to chuckle as a pan-out effect managed to disturb a bunch of flowers in a vase. I swear, when Mrs de Winter was making her tea, nothing came out of the milk jug or the teapot. Or maybe the black-and-white disguised it.
More importantly, does Alfred Hitchcock do one of his famous cameos? Yes he does! With a little help from Uncle Google I found him, in a typical blink-you'll-miss-him moment walking past a phone booth.
Overall the film drew me in from the first quarter after a slow warm-up. The wrap-up was somewhat convenient and left the story a bit inconclusive; having said that it was still an attention-grabbing mixture of suspense, haunting and whodunnit (or was anything done at all??). Excellent film!
Their engagement was hardly the most romantic one I've ever seen, "I'm asking you to marry me you little fool" Mr de Winter called from the bathroom while he was getting dressed, then promised her a honeymoon where he "shall be making violent love to you behind a palm tree". Oh stop, you're making me blush...
Still, the smitten lady accepts (I bet it was the palm tree allusion that swung her) and leads us to the estate where we meet the household staff and we get a feel for the late Mrs Rebecca de Winter and how much she seemed to have been adored by everyone before her death. But how loved was she really? Hitchcock loves to pepper us with doubt and it's that doubt that draws us into a very compelling and sordid world.
The icy cold housekeeper Mrs Danvers (Judith Anderson) was a tough nut to crack; she started off cold and creepy, then started to be nice (which was, quite frankly, even creepier). Rebecca remained very much a part of the house in death, her memory kept disturbingly alive by Mrs Danvers.
I loved the use of lighting; nothing seemed overlooked right down to tree shadows passing across the car bonnet in what was obviously a motion backdrop, though I had to chuckle as a pan-out effect managed to disturb a bunch of flowers in a vase. I swear, when Mrs de Winter was making her tea, nothing came out of the milk jug or the teapot. Or maybe the black-and-white disguised it.
More importantly, does Alfred Hitchcock do one of his famous cameos? Yes he does! With a little help from Uncle Google I found him, in a typical blink-you'll-miss-him moment walking past a phone booth.
Overall the film drew me in from the first quarter after a slow warm-up. The wrap-up was somewhat convenient and left the story a bit inconclusive; having said that it was still an attention-grabbing mixture of suspense, haunting and whodunnit (or was anything done at all??). Excellent film!
The Slap
Although Mrs Danvers is the sort who would put coal in your Christmas stocking and tell a small child the Easter Bunny's dead, the slap is going to Jack Favell (Sanders) for being a total slimeball in every possible way.
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