Let me just start off by saying that I am a huge fan of Alfred Hitchcock. I love his classic films like Psycho, Vertigo, The Birds, Rear Window, and some of his lesser-known films such as The Man Who Knew Too Much and Strangers on a Train. As far as the Top 250 goes, he is the most decorated director and yet he never won an Oscar for his efforts. I hope to one day own all of his films, but for now I’ll just settle for watching them. One of his movies I hadn’t watched in a very long time is Rebecca, which I fortunately recorded via DVR when it came on TCM a few weeks ago.
Unlike some of Hitch’s other films, Rebecca is much more dramatic, relationship- oriented, and dialog-based. It’s more of a psychological thriller than it is a “wrong man” thriller as so many of Hitchcock’s movies are. This doesn’t mean it isn’t excellent, however. Hitchcock injects his trademark suspense into this story based on Daphne Du Maurier’s novel of the same name.
The story follows a woman played by the beautiful Joan Fontaine, who interestingly is not given a name either in the book or the movie, who falls in love with a wealthy upper class widower named Maxim de Winter (played by Laurence Olivier). As their relationship becomes more involved, Joan finds out that Maxim has never truly gotten over his exotic and popular former wife Rebecca, who was very well-received and loved by the upper-class community. As Joan struggles to fit into her new surroundings and the upper class society, Maxim’s behavior becomes more suspicious. Is Maxim hiding something? Will the absurd expectations surrounding Maxim’s new love drive her to insanity? You’ll have to watch the movie to find out.
One of the highlights of the movie is the head maid of the de Winter manor, Mrs. Danvers (Judith Anderson). She was the former personal assistant to Rebecca, who continually compares Maxim’s new love to his old one. Hitchcock uses her character to provide a spooky undertone to all her scenes and quietly become a thorn in Joan’s side throughout the film. This is one of Hitchcock’s better qualities; to create suspense and tension out of conflict between characters. The result is that the audience cares about Joan Fontaine’s character and comes to loathe Mrs. Danvers.
Most of the scenes in the movie are pretty tame by Hitchcock standards. The camera work is typical of the drama genre and there’s nothing too exciting or ground-breaking here, since there isn’t really any action. There’s nothing of Rear Window, Psycho, or North by Northwest caliber anyway.
Overall, I have to say that this film surprised me. I was expecting a lot out of this movie, but I did have some reservations. The plot doesn’t sound all that interesting and the pacing is fairly slow thanks to the fast-paced dialog, it is a drama after all. That having been said, I still found Rebecca to be a good change of pace from other Hitchcock films, such as North by Northwest. Like most of his films, he manages to wrap it up in his typical fashion. It is a little slow at times and there is lot of dialog, so you need to pay attention, but it is the entertaining and witty dialog that carries the characters and makes this film enjoyable. If you’re not expecting an action-packed movie and you enjoy older films, especially of the drama variety, there is a whole lot to like here. Rebecca is deserving of a spot in the Top 250. 8/10
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