{"id":2726,"date":"2025-08-01T02:45:13","date_gmt":"2025-08-01T06:45:13","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/scottsfilmreviews.com\/?p=2726"},"modified":"2025-08-30T09:42:22","modified_gmt":"2025-08-30T13:42:22","slug":"rebecca-1940","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/scottsfilmreviews.com\/?p=2726","title":{"rendered":"Rebecca-1940"},"content":{"rendered":"

Rebecca-1940<\/strong><\/p>\n

Director Alfred Hitchcock<\/strong><\/p>\n

Starring Laurence Olivier, Joan Fontaine<\/strong><\/p>\n

Top 250 Films #96<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Scott’s Review #345<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"895272\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Reviewed January 9, 2016<\/p>\n

Grade: A<\/strong><\/p>\n

The only Alfred Hitchcock film to win the coveted Best Picture Oscar trophy, Rebecca is a very early offering in the famous director’s repertoire.<\/p>\n

His heyday being well ahead of this film (the 1950s and 1960s saw his best works), Rebecca is a blueprint of fine things to come and, on its own merits, is a great film.<\/p>\n

Shot in black and white, the film is a descent into mystery, intrigue, and madness with a gothic look.<\/p>\n

Laurence Olivier stars as wealthy widower Maxim de Winter, whose first wife, the title character Rebecca, died sometime before the story begins. In a clever twist, the character of Rebecca is never seen but takes on a life of her own through the tellings of the rest of the cast.<\/p>\n

Joan Fontaine plays a nameless, na\u00efve young woman who meets the sophisticated Maxim and marries him, becoming the new Mrs. de Winter.<\/p>\n

This development is met with disdain by the servants who work in the Grand de Winter mansion, Manderley, a character in its own right.<\/p>\n

The housekeeper, Mrs. Danvers (Judith Anderson), is cold and distant from Maxim’s new wife. She begins to reveal an obsession with the deceased Rebecca, which creates jealousy and intimidation for Fontaine’s character, to the point where she starts to doubt her sanity and decision-making capabilities.<\/p>\n

Thanks to Hitchcock’s direction, Rebecca is a fantastic, old-style film with layers of mystery and wonderment. The mansion, Manderley, is central to the story, as is Mrs. Danvers’s creepy obsession with Rebecca.<\/p>\n

She keeps the dead woman’s bedroom neat, a sort of shrine to her memory, so much so that, despite the time the film was made, 1940, a lesbian element is crystal clear to attention-paying audiences.<\/p>\n

This aspect may not have been noticed at the time, but it is apparent now.<\/p>\n

The film is also a ghost story since the central character, Rebecca, is never seen.<\/p>\n

Could she be haunting the mansion? Is she dead, or is this a red herring created to throw the audience off the track? Is the new Mrs. de Winter spiraling out of control? Is she imagining the servant’s menacing actions? Is Maxim in on the tormentor, simply seeking a replacement wife for his steadfast love?<\/p>\n

The pertinent questions are asked not only of the character but also of the audience as they watch with bated breath.<\/p>\n

The climax and finale of Rebecca (1940) are fantastic.<\/p>\n

As the arguably haunted mansion is engulfed in flames and the sinister Mrs. Danvers can be seen lurking near the raging drapes, the truth comes to the surface, leaving a memorable haunting feeling to audiences watching.<\/p>\n

Rebecca is a true classic.<\/p>\n

Oscar Nominations: 2 wins<\/strong>-Outstanding Production (won)<\/strong>, Best Director-Alfred Hitchcock, Best Actor-Laurence Olivier, Best Actress-Joan Fontaine, Best Supporting Actress-Judith Anderson, Best Screenplay, Best Original Score, Best Art Direction, Black and White, Best Cinematography, Black-and-White (won)<\/strong>, Best Film Editing, Best Special Effects<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Rebecca-1940 Director Alfred Hitchcock Starring Laurence Olivier, Joan Fontaine Top 250 Films #96 Scott’s Review #345 Reviewed January 9, 2016 Grade: A The only Alfred Hitchcock film to win the coveted Best Picture Oscar trophy, Rebecca is a very early offering in the famous director’s repertoire. His heyday being well ahead of this film (the … Continue reading Rebecca-1940<\/span> →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7948,315,38,42,362,3910,3942,493,3656,468,4069,3916,204,7530,7464],"tags":[7949,316,109,58,363,3911,3945,494,3657,471,4071,3918,258,7533,7460],"class_list":["post-2726","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-96-favorite-film","category-1940-movie-reviews","category-hitchcockfilms","category-bestpictureoscar","category-favorite-film-of-the-year","category-george-sanders","category-gladys-cooper","category-joan-fontaine","category-judith-anderson","category-laurence-olivier","category-leo-g-carroll","category-nigel-bruce","category-thrillers","category-top-100-films","category-top-250-films","tag-96-favorite-film","tag-1940-movie-reviews","tag-alfred-hitchcock-films","tag-best-picture-oscar-winners","tag-favorite-film-of-the-year","tag-george-sanders","tag-gladys-cooper","tag-joan-fontaine","tag-judith-anderson","tag-laurence-olivier","tag-leo-g-carroll","tag-nigel-bruce","tag-thrillers","tag-top-100-films","tag-top-250-films"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/scottsfilmreviews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2726","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/scottsfilmreviews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/scottsfilmreviews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/scottsfilmreviews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/scottsfilmreviews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2726"}],"version-history":[{"count":16,"href":"https:\/\/scottsfilmreviews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2726\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":21953,"href":"https:\/\/scottsfilmreviews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2726\/revisions\/21953"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/scottsfilmreviews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2726"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/scottsfilmreviews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2726"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/scottsfilmreviews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2726"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}