Being an avid fan of Alfred Hitchcock's films, I should rank Rebecca high on my list. It was the only of Hitch's films to win an Academy Award, winning Best Picture in 1940. However, much like North by Northwest, another fan favorite, I don't care for Rebecca. Almost everything that makes a film Hitchcock-esque seems to be missing in Rebecca. The film is full of imposing camera angles and the wonderful lighting I adore in Hitchcock pictures, but his standard care with which his narrative is formed seemed completely different. Starring Laurence Olivier and Joan Fontaine, Rebecca tells the story of a recently married couple and the self-consciousness experienced by the new bride who cannot seem to escape the shadow of her new husband's deceased first wife.
'Maxim' de Winter (Laurence Olivier) a wealthy man living in a sprawling estate meets a quiet, timid young woman who he instantly falls in love with and decides to marry. The new Mrs. De Winter (Joan Fontaine) soon learns that there is a spirit hanging over her new home, that spirit belongs to the first wife of her new husband, Rebecca. Mrs. de Winter soon becomes fully aware just how much Rebecca's memory has engulfed her husband's thoughts. There are even rooms in her home that haven't been changed since Rebecca was there. Mrs. de Winter clashes with the staff in the home, as it seems everyone is longing for the first Mrs. de Winter.
Rebecca seems less like a Hitchcock film than the sole comedy he made Mr. & Mrs. Smith. The audience wasn't thrown into the suspense like in Strangers on a Train, the tone wasn't set like it was in Psycho, it was a diligent narrative that seemed more like a John Ford film than a Hitchcock picture. The cinematography was brilliant, and more than deserving of top prize that year for George Barnes. The film itself was fine, just not at all what I expected from Hitchcock's only Oscar winner.
'Maxim' de Winter (Laurence Olivier) a wealthy man living in a sprawling estate meets a quiet, timid young woman who he instantly falls in love with and decides to marry. The new Mrs. De Winter (Joan Fontaine) soon learns that there is a spirit hanging over her new home, that spirit belongs to the first wife of her new husband, Rebecca. Mrs. de Winter soon becomes fully aware just how much Rebecca's memory has engulfed her husband's thoughts. There are even rooms in her home that haven't been changed since Rebecca was there. Mrs. de Winter clashes with the staff in the home, as it seems everyone is longing for the first Mrs. de Winter.
Rebecca seems less like a Hitchcock film than the sole comedy he made Mr. & Mrs. Smith. The audience wasn't thrown into the suspense like in Strangers on a Train, the tone wasn't set like it was in Psycho, it was a diligent narrative that seemed more like a John Ford film than a Hitchcock picture. The cinematography was brilliant, and more than deserving of top prize that year for George Barnes. The film itself was fine, just not at all what I expected from Hitchcock's only Oscar winner.