|
Rebecca
(1940)
In Alfred Hitchcock's Best Picture-winning gothic romance-drama,
his first American film that was based upon the 1938 Daphne du Maurier novel of the same
name, it told about a humble, shy and meek new bride, recently married
to a dashing, rich, but distant aristocratic nobleman who owned an
ancestral manor named Manderley. She began to be tormented by the
"haunting" presence and memory of the brooding man's first wife -
his unseen, former deceased wife named Rebecca.
This black and white film received eleven Academy Award
nominations - and won for the nominated director his first and
only Best Picture Oscar, beating out strong competition in 1940
from The Grapes of Wrath, The
Great Dictator, The Philadelphia Story,
and Hitchcock's own Foreign Correspondent.
With his Best Picture win, David O. Selznick became the first producer
to win consecutive Best Picture Oscars. The film also won an Academy
Award for Best B/W Cinematography (George Barnes), and was nominated
in nine other categories, including Best Actor (Olivier), Best Actress
(Fontaine), Best Supporting Actress (Judith Anderson with her sole
career nomination), Best Director (Hitchcock's first nomination in
this category), Best Screenplay, Best B/W Interior Decoration, Best
Original Score (Franz Waxman), Best Film Editing, and Best Special Effects.
- the opening scene revealed the film's ending -
the ruins of an estate known as Manderley; the unnamed second Mrs.
De Winter (Joan Fontaine) in voice-over described her flashbacked
dream: ("Last night, I dreamt I went to Manderley again. It
seemed to me I stood by the iron gate leading to the drive, and
for a while I could not enter for the way was barred to me. Then,
like all dreamers, I was possessed of a sudden with supernatural
powers and passed like a spirit through the barrier before me.
The drive wound away in front of me, twisting and turning as it
had always done. But as I advanced, I was aware that a change had
come upon it. Nature had come into her own again, and little by
little had encroached upon the drive with long tenacious fingers,
on and on while the poor thread that had once been our drive. And
finally, there was Manderley - Manderley - secretive and silent.
Time could not mar the perfect symmetry of those walls. Moonlight
can play odd tricks upon the fancy, and suddenly it seemed to me
that light came from the windows. And then a cloud came upon the
moon and hovered an instant like a dark hand before a face. The
illusion went with it. I looked upon a desolate shell, with no
whisper of the past about its staring walls. We can never go back
to Manderley again. That much is certain. But sometimes, in my
dreams, I do go back to the strange days of my life which began
for me in the south of France...")
- while vacationing in the off-season in the south
of France at Monte Carlo, wealthy, grieving British widower Mr.
George Fortescu Maximilian "Maxim" De Winter (Laurence Olivier)
was viewed contemplating suicide by jumping to his death from a
cliffside; he was apparently depressed by the recent drowning death
in a boating accident of his wife Rebecca
A Disconsolate Man Contemplating Jumping to His Death in Monte Carlo
|
Young Blonde Woman at Cliffside
|
Mr. Maxim De Winter (Laurence Olivier)
|
- he was interrupted by the appearance of a young,
unnamed blonde woman (Joan Fontaine), another guest at the Princesse
Hotel, who was walking on a nearby trail and he was dissuaded
from his thoughts of self-harm; she was the paid companion of matronly
and wealthy socialite Edythe Van Hopper (Florence Bates); afterwards,
he sought her out to provide company with him as he dined and went
on drives in his car
- after a short period of courtship, as she was about
to suddenly depart from France, Maxim unexpectedly
and impulsively proposed marriage to her; in an untraditional way,
he asked her to make a choice between leaving for America or returning
with him to his estate at Manderley in Cornwall, England; she didn't
understand his veiled marital proposal (delivered off-screen from
the bathroom), thinking he wanted to hire her for some other purpose
(Woman: "You mean you want a secretary or something?" Maxim De Winter: "I'm
asking you to marry me, you little fool"); a hasty ceremony was performed in a French provincial
marriage office
- once the newlywed couple arrived at his estate of Manderley and entered
the great front hall in the midst of a sudden rainstorm, the stern,
domineering and unsmiling housekeeper Mrs. Danvers (Judith Anderson)
made her first appearance to the second Mrs. De Winter; they were
greeted by an army of over fifteen servants standing as if posed
for a picture; the young bride met the unsmiling, severe, ominous,
dark-haired, and slightly hostile housekeeper Mrs. Danvers as she
appeared from the left in front of the lineup: ("How
do you do? I have everything in readiness for you"); they both
stooped to pick up the young woman's dropped gloves
|
|
|
The Entrance of the Stern Housekeeper
Mrs. Danvers (Judith Anderson) in the Front Lobby of Manderley to Greet the Newlywed Couple
|
- the new bride (the second Mrs. de Winter) was shown
her previously-unused grand bedroom quarters in the East Wing of
the mansion by the black-garbed, slightly hostile housekeeper Mrs.
Danvers; on their way downstairs, Mrs. Danvers
pointed out the closed-off bedroom of the deceased first wife Rebecca;
she had maintained the room as a shrine to her existence, since the sinister Mrs. Danvers seemed
to be obsessed by the beauty, elegance and intelligence of the former wife
Evidence of Rebecca's Lingering Presence Throughout
the Mansion
|
Fancy Monogrammed Napkins
|
Monogrammed Desk Items and Stationary
|
Rebecca's Signature
|
- the new bride felt intimidated and overwhelmed,
lacking the social skills and the graces of de Winter's first wife;
in the morning room, she noticed Rebecca's monogrammed
stationary on the desk; she kowtowed to her housekeeper who had
presumably instructed the entire household staff to not vary routines
established by Rebecca; she felt clumsy and ungracious, especially
after breaking an expensive small ceramic statue on Rebecca's desk,
and hiding the broken pieces in the back of a desk drawer
- she was also viewed as highly inferior to Rebecca
during a visit by Maxim's sister Beatrice Lacy (Gladys Cooper)
and brother-in-law Major Giles Lacy (Nigel Bruce) who regarded
her as uncultured, unskilled, and possibly an "ex-chorus girl";
Beatrice disparaged the new mistress: "I can see by the way you dress
you don't care a hoot how you look"
- after lunch and their departure, while walking along
the cliff's edge and disobeying Maxim's wishes, the second Mrs.
de Winter scampered down to a cove and beach house, where she encountered "Barmy"
Ben (Leonard Cary), a deranged drifter; she found more evidence of
Rebecca's influence inside the beach house (monogrammed beach towels);
Ben recalled Rebecca's death: "She's gone in the sea, ain't she? She'll
never come back no more"; when the new bride walked back to the mansion,
Maxim muttered that he was wrong to bring her to Manderley, bringing
tears to her eyes; she noticed the "R" monogrammed
handkerchief that he had offered her
A Disobedient Visit to the Beach house
|
Deranged Drifter "Barmy" Ben (Leonard Cary)
|
Scolded and Comforted by Maxim
|
- one morning, while questioning the
manager of the estate Frank Crawley (Reginald Denny) about the beach
house and details about Rebecca's death, the new wife admitted
her inferiority: "I, I realize the things that she had that I lack - beauty and wit
and intelligence and all the things that are so important";
Crawley encouraged the overwhelmed new bride, but then noted about
Rebecca: "She was the most beautiful creature I ever saw"
- one evening while preparing
to view home movies of their honeymoon together, the second Mrs.
de Winter was forced to admit to Maxim that she had broken
the statue-ornament; when she tried to make Maxim understand how
inadequate she felt with everyone and her situation, Maxim
was too preoccupied or insensitive to realize that his wife was
painfully lonely, insecure and sincerely fearful; he reacted to
her concerns by feeling selfish for marrying her at such a young
age; in the darkness with the flickering light of the projector, she
showed worried desperation in her face
- during Maxim's absence one day in London to conduct
business, the second Mrs. de Winter had an encounter with Mr. Jack
Favell (George Sanders) being secretly escorted around by Mrs.
Danvers; he asked that his visit be kept a secret from Maxim (who
detested him), and described himself as just "a lonely old
bachelor" and "Rebecca's favorite cousin"
- the curious new bride decided to investigate the
interior of Rebecca's West Wing bedroom quarters; as she began snooping
around, in one of the film's most chilling
scenes, Mrs. Danvers appeared and offered to give her a full tour; she
opened the curtains to the bedroom and explained her obsessive attentiveness:
"Everything is kept just as Mrs. de Winter liked it. Nothing has
been altered since that last night"
- Mrs. Danvers began to go through Rebecca's
intimate belongings; she opened the closet: ("This
is where I keep all her clothes"), selected a fur coat, seductively
held it and caressed it next to her own cheek (with a lesbian-fetish
interest) and then brushed it by the cheek of a nameless, horrified,
and recoiling second Mrs. de Winter, stating:
"Feel this. It was a Christmas present from Mr. de Winter.
He was always giving her expensive gifts, the whole year round.
I keep her underwear on this side..."
- Mrs. de Winter was urged to sit at Rebecca's dressing
table and follow the routine of her precise habits; Mrs. Danvers
pretended to brush her hair and repeated conversations between
Rebecca and herself; she also showed off
an embroidered pillowcase on the bed (monogrammed with an "R")
and its "delicate" sexy nightgown inside - one of Rebecca's
most intimate articles of clothing: "Did
you ever see anything so delicate. Look, you can see my hand through it"
Tour of Rebecca's Bedroom and Her
Intimate Belongings by Mrs. Danvers
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
- creating further torment, Mrs. Danvers also suggested
that Rebecca still inhabited the house and came back from the dead
to watch the living - including the new couple; left alone in Rebecca's
room for the remainder of the day, the new Mrs. de Winter searched
through stacks of ribbon-tied love letters - and found a "costume
ball" invitation to Jack Favell - with his handwritten note in reply that suggested
that the first Mrs. de Winter and Favell had been lovers (he pens: "Rebecca
- I'll be there - and how!")
- in the next striking scene,
the second Mrs. De Winter courageously summoned Mrs. Danvers and
demanded that all of Rebecca's monogrammed stationary and personal
effects be destroyed immediately; when Mrs. Danvers protested, she
stood up to Mrs. Danvers and asserted her controlling authority as
mistress of the house: "I am Mrs. de Winter now"
- once Maxim returned from London, she rushed into
his arms and asked permission to host her own fancy-dress
costume ball to lighten up the atmosphere; she promised: "I'll design
a costume all by myself and give you the surprise of your life"; while
the new wife was sketching costume designs, the manipulative and
evil Mrs. Danvers made a seemingly-innocent suggestion to take inspiration
from the stairs-hall portrait of one of Maxim's ancestors (Caroline
de Winter) with a fluffy white dress, similarly worn by Rebecca at
the previous costume ball about a year earlier - it was actually
a cruel set-up to embarrass the bride
- after following the advice and to surprise Maxim
with her "secretive" costume, the radiant new bride glided down
the stairs in a copy of Rebecca's white ruffled dress for the fancy
ball; to her stunned shock, she was rebuked and told harshly by
Maxim to take the dress off: ("What the devil do you think
you're doing?...Go and take it off. It doesn't
matter what you put on. Anything will do. What are you standing there
for? Didn't you hear what I said?")
- in the following horrifying scene set in Rebecca's
bedroom, Mrs. Danvers inflicted cruel torment upon the second Mrs.
de Winter; she suggested that she would never be able to take the
previous wife's place: "I watched you go down just as I watched
her a year ago. Even in the same dress you couldn't compare...You
tried to take her place. You let him marry you. I've seen his face,
his eyes. They're the same as those first weeks after she died.
I used to listen to him, walking up and down, up and down, all
night long, night after night, thinking of her. Suffering torture
because he lost her...You thought you could be Mrs. de Winter.
Live in her house. Walk in her steps. Take the things that were
hers. But she's too strong for you. You can't fight her. No one
ever got the better of her. Never. Never. She was beaten in the
end, but it wasn't a man. It wasn't a woman. It was the sea"
Mrs. Danvers' Torment of the 'Second' Mrs. De
Winter - To Even Commit Suicide
|
Mrs. Danvers: "You tried to take her place"
|
The Tormented 'Second' Mrs. de Winter
|
Mrs. Danvers: "You can't fight her. No one
ever got the better of her. Never. Never."
|
Collapsed in Tears On the Bed
|
"Why don't you go? Why don't you leave Manderley?"
|
Mrs. Danvers Urging Suicide: "Why don't you?
Go on. Go on. Don't be afraid!"
|
- after the tormented wife collapsed in tears on the
bed, Mrs. Danvers opened the window for fresh air, and then played
upon the fears of the over-identifying Mrs. de Winter; she urged
her to jump to her death from the second story window: "Why
don't you go? Why don't you leave Manderley? He doesn't need you.
He's got his memories. He doesn't love you - he wants to be alone
again with her. You've nothing to stay for. You've nothing
to live for really, have you? Look down there. It's easy, isn't
it? Why don't you? Why don't you? Go on. Go on. Don't be afraid!"
- suddenly from outside, commotions and distractions
from explosive flares and shouts of the discovery of a sunken boat
were heard: ("Shipwreck! Ship on the rocks"); a storm
at sea had prevented her from losing her sanity and jumping to
her death; the shouting was about the discovery of the actual sailboat
in which Rebecca had presumably drowned; she saw her husband leaving
the house, and followed him down to the beach area, where she found
him morbidly depressed and sitting alone in the beach house; he
expressed his concern about the discovery: "The
thing has happened, the thing I've dreaded, day after day, night
after night....Rebecca has won. Her shadow has been between us all
the time, keeping us from one another. She knew that this would happen"
- in the film's high point, the haunted Mr. de Winter
for the first time dramatically confessed to his wife that Rebecca's
body would be found there in the boat because he had planted it
there: ("I put it there"); he knew that the deceased
female that he had identified earlier as Rebecca, who was buried
in the family crypt, was not Rebecca, but some unknown,
unclaimed stranger; he felt that everything in his life was now
ruined and he had no hope: ("No, it's no use. It's too late")
- then in the revelation of the film's major plot twist - to her shock - he told her that he
actually despised Rebecca: ("You thought I loved Rebecca? You thought that? I hated her!...But
I never had a moment's happiness with her. She was incapable of
love, or tenderness, or decency"); the second wife replied
with disbelief - and relief: "You didn't love her? You didn't love her?"
- Maxim reenacted the troubling
event of Rebecca's actual death in the boat house for his second
wife - he summarily recounted how his marriage with Rebecca was
a miserable and "rotten fraud"; Rebecca's character was
vicious, conniving, and cruel; as a cuckolding creature, she mocked
her husband with infidelity; only four days after their marriage,
he was forced to make a "dirty bargain" with her; she would be able
to carry on her private, sexually perverse and promiscuous lifestyle, while in public,
she would maintain the family's honor and act as the perfect wife;
she was particularly promiscuous with her own cousin and sleazy playboy Jack Favell
- then, Maxim began to recount the troubling event
of the night of Rebecca's death in the beach house; as
Maxim spoke, the camera panned through the room, pausing on various
key objects (such as the divan and the ship's tackle coiled up
on the floor) that followed the actions of Rebecca as he described
them; in the sequence, Maxim told how the conniving Rebecca had attempted to have him
murder her by telling him that she was pregnant with another man's
illegitimate child - possibly due to her affair with
Jack Favell; during their fearsome taunting and
quarrelling, Rebecca accidentally tripped over some ship's tackle
on the boathouse floor, fell, and struck her head - and was mortally
wounded; Maxim would have deliberately taken her life had she not
died accidentally during their argument
- Maxim finished the story of how he panicked
and then confessed that he had covered up the act; he took Rebecca's
body to her boat, went into the ocean and deliberately sank it by
creating a hole in its hull, and then escaped and watched it sink
in a cove; afterwards, he lied - claiming that Rebecca was lost in
a storm at sea and drowned; and further, when a different body conveniently
washed up at Edgecoombe, he identified it as the body of his late wife
- at the conclusion of their conversation, Maxim remained
despondent: "I told you once that I'd done a very selfish thing
in marrying you. I can understand now what I meant. I've loved
you, my darling. I shall always love you. But I've known all along
that Rebecca would win in the end" - she encouraged him with a
hug to keep fighting for their marriage: "No, no. She hasn't won.
No matter what happens now, she hasn't won"
- as a result of the discovery of Rebecca's body in
the boat, another inquest was to be held following an inspection
of the boat that has been disgorged by the ocean; at
Manderley the night before a coroner's inquest into Maxim de Winter's
first wife's drowning death, the second Mrs. de Winter was worried
about how her husband might lose his temper at the hearing; she
lovingly asked to be there at his side, as they stood together
in front of the huge fireplace: "Promise me that they won't
make you angry...No matter what he asks you, you won't lose your
head...I want to go to the inquest with you....I promise you I won't
be any trouble to you. I must be near you so that no matter what happens, we-we won't be separated
for a moment"
|
|
|
|
|
|
Kisses In Front of Fireplace Before the Coroner's
Inquest: "Ah, it's gone forever, that funny young, lost look
I loved won't ever come back"
|
- as Maxim examined his new
wife's face, he realized that Rebecca's continued haunting presence
had aged her, and noticed how she had lost her youth and matured
in spite of his wishes; they shared a very mature, heart-felt embrace
and some kisses after he confessed to her: "I
don't mind this whole thing, except for you. I can't forget what
it's done to you. I've been thinking of nothing else since it happened.
Ah, it's gone forever, that funny young, lost look I loved won't
ever come back. I killed that when I told you about Rebecca. It's
gone. In a few hours, you've grown so much older"
- at the inquest, the evidence suggested
that Maxim might be charged with 'foul play' and murder for deliberately
sabotaging the boat and killing his wife, although it was also possible
that Rebecca might have committed suicide due to problems in her
marriage; as predicted by his wife, Maxim became agitated during
questioning and was about to divulge the truth of what really happened,
but he was saved when she fearfully fainted
to the ground in the front row; during a lunch break seated in a
vehicle with the couple, the conniving Favell attempted to blackmail
Maxim with a note written by Rebecca to him on the day of her death
that proved she wasn't suicidal; Favell implied that the note about
Rebecca's visit to a London doctor earlier in the day was related
to Maxim's motive for murder - Rebecca provoked her husband to strike
her down after revealing to him news of an illegitimate child
- following Favell's allegations, the Chief Constable
of the county - Col. Julyan (C. Aubrey Smith), Maxim, and Favell paid
a visit to the London office of her physician
Dr. Baker (Leo G. Carroll), to speak about Rebecca's secret appointment; Favell
had assumed that they were meeting to discuss her pregnancy and illegitimate
child; the film's second twist was also unexpected; on
the day of her death, Rebecca had apparently
lied about her pregnancy; during the interview with Dr. Baker, he revealed
that Rebecca was shocked to learn in the office of that
she was NOT pregnant with a child, but was suffering from terminal,
inoperable, deep-rooted cancer; she knew that she had little time
left before her death and wished to spare herself from a possibly
lengthy and unglamorous death
- Rebecca's last words
in the office revealed that she was determined to suicidally end her
life immediately and not prolong her life for a few months more; after
hearing the bad news, she responded to Dr. Baker: ("Oh
no, doctor, not that long"); her final intended revenge was to provoke Maxim into killing her in
the beach house (taunting him with the deceitful news of a pregnancy
by another man and carrying a child that would someday inherit his
possessions) to try to destroy him as well; she deliberately
goaded Maxim into killing her, but then she fell and accidentally died;
this explanation provided a believable motive for her suicidal fall;
Maxim was acquitted and exonerated of any wrong-doing and the inquest
was terminated; Favell called Mrs. Danvers
from a phone booth to tell her that her deceased mistress Rebecca had
kept the truth from both of them: ("Rebecca held out on both of
us - she had cancer"); Mrs. Danvers became spiteful of the new
wife once again, realizing that now "Maxim and that dear little
bride of his will be able to stay on at Manderley and live happily ever after"
- in the film's eerie and suspenseful conclusion, devoted and faithful
housekeeper Mrs. Danvers was crazed by the truth that was revealed
about Rebecca - that she actually had terminal cancer; she carried
a lighted candle through the darkened hallways and set Manderley
on fire, determined to burn the cavernous mansion; as the master
of the house Maxim de Winter drove home from London
(his wife had preceded him) and proceeded up the long driveway to
Manderley, the sky was brightly lit by the flames of the mansion
- he exclaimed: "That's not the Northern lights. That's Manderley!"
- outside the mansion, he and Mrs. de Winter found each other and embraced, while they watched
the great house burn near them; Mrs. de Winter told her husband
that Mrs. Danvers was unable to relinquish Manderley to the new couple: "It's
Mrs. Danvers. She's gone mad. She said she'd rather destroy Manderley
than see us happy here"
- the deranged Mrs. Danvers died in Rebecca's bedroom where she was consumed in the blazing
inferno as the flames burned her and the memories of her beloved mistress;
she was last seen through a West Wing window, remaining trapped inside
Rebecca's bedroom as the burning roof caved in on top of her; the movement
of destructive flames approached an embroidered, monogrammed "R" on
the pillowcase
Manderley's Destructive Flames - Mrs. Danvers'
Self-Destructive Arson
|
|
|
Mrs. Danvers' Final Revenge
|
"She said she'd rather destroy Manderley
than see us happy here"
|
The Mad Mrs. Danvers in Flames in the West Wing
|
The Fire Burning the Monogrammed "R" on
the Pillowcase
|
|
Opening Flashback: Ruins of Manderley
The Young Woman - a "Paid Companion" (Joan Fontaine) for Socialite Edythe
Van Hopper (Florence Bates)
Maxim's New Young Demure and Self-Conscious Acquaintance
- Out For a Ride in His Car
(Off-screen) Wedding Proposal by Maxim De Winter
Newly-Married Bride Accompanying Maxim to Manderley
Housekeeper Mrs. Danvers Showing the New Bride Her Grand
Bedroom Quarters (East Wing)
Viewing the Expensive Ceramic Cupid Statue on Rebecca's
Desk Before Breaking It
Maxim's Sister Beatrice Lacy (Gladys Cooper) and Brother-in-Law Major
Giles Lacy (Nigel Bruce)
The New Bride Devastated by Criticisms
With Estate Manager Frank Crawley (Reginald Denny), Expressing Feelings of Inferiority
During Showing of Home Movies - Attempting to Explain to Maxim Her Insecurities
Mr. Jack Favell (George Sanders) - Rebecca's Cousin
Costume Ball Invitation Handwritten Response from Jack Favell to Rebecca - Hinting
at Their Affair
Summoning All of Her Courage To Confront Mrs. Danvers: "I
am Mrs. de Winter Now"
Portrait of One of Maxim's Ancestors
New Bride Wearing Rebecca's Dress (To Match the
Portrait)
Maxim's Stunned Reaction and Rebuke to Her Costume Ball Dress
Finding Maxim Brooding in the Beachhouse ("Rebecca
has won") After the Discovery of Rebecca's Body in Sunken Boat
Maxim's Shocking Revelation
About Rebecca: "I
hated her"
Maxim Re-Enacting the Night of Rebecca's Death
His Wife's Hug of Reassurance
During a Lunch Break at the Inquest, Favell's Attempt to Blackmail
Maxim, Suggesting He Murdered Rebecca Due to News of Her Illegitimate
Child
Rebecca's Physician Dr. Baker's (Leo G. Carroll) Recollection of
Her Visit to His Office on the Day of Her Death
Rebecca's Physician
Describing Rebecca's Terminal Illness and Her Desire to Kill
Herself - She Was Not Pregnant
Favell Phoning Mrs. Danvers With the News of Maxim's Exoneration
|