RELEASED: 1940, Cert. PG RUNNING TIME: Approx. 122 mins DIRECTOR: Alfred Hitchcock PRODUCER: David O. Selznick SCREENPLAY: Philip MacDonald & Michael Hogan MUSIC: Franz Waxman MAIN CAST:- Laurence Olivier as Maxim de Winter Joan Fontaine Mrs de Winter no.2 Judith Anderson as Mrs Danvers ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ FILM ONLY REVIEW Adapted from Daphne du Maurier's novel of the same name and filmed in black and white, Rebecca was Alfred Hitchcock's first Hollywood production. Whilst on holiday in the South of ...  Read the complete review

Despite being a huge fan of Hitchcock the oscar winning Rebecca really isn't one of my favourite films. Based on the Du Maurier book of the same name and shot in black and white ( colour film wasn't widely used until the 60's, partly because of cost but primarily due to its associations with fantasy i.e in The Wizard of Oz - The 'real' world was black and white 'Oz' colour) Rebecca follows the bizarre tale of a nondescript unamed female ( played appropriately enough by Joan Fontaine ) who trades in her 'life' as paid companion to marry playboy with a past Maxim de Winter ( Laurence Olivier ). Being a Hitchcock film it goes ...  Read the complete review

Up until now, each time I have watched an Alfred Hitchcock film, I have thought it better than the last. Here, with Rebecca, it was the director's first Hollywood film, and the one that launched him as a cross Atlantic success. It won an Oscar for Best Picture. However, I didn't feel it was that great, and it took me a while to get into it. We start off by meeting a young lady working as a companion for an older woman. She meets the dashing and debonair Maxim De Winter, and the pair of them fall rather quickly in love and have a knee jerk wedding, before returning to his stately country mansion called Manderlay, built on the clifftops by the coast. Expecting a ...  Read the complete review

Rebecca Based on the Daphne Du Maurier novel, this was Alfred Hitchcocks first big budget Hollywood film. Following a string of highly regarded films made in the UK, the Americans decided it was time to get this rising star of world cinema to America. The studio chose this film adaptation specifically as a highly melodramatic response to the hugely popular Gone with the Wind. This film is nothing like that one though as this is based much more on careful characterisations and atmosphere. Joan Fontaine plays the second wife of Maxim de Winter (Laurence Olivier), she also narrates the film, she meets the handsome, dashing Maxim on the ...  Read the complete review

Introduction Rebecca, based on the well-known book by Daphne du Maurier, was Alfred Hitchcock's first Hollywood film, although not his first film based on Daphne du Maurier's work, having had not much success with Jamaica Inn the year before. However, starring Laurence Olivier and Joan Fontaine, this film was much more of a success and one the Best Picture Academy Award - although it was the producer, David Selznick, that won the award rather than Alfred Hitchcock. The film is very gothic in feeling, and has the usual tense atmosphere of a Hitchcock film, although it is not seen as a typical Hitchcock. The director Known as 'The Master of Suspense', ...  Read the complete review