Rebecca

MOVIE #1,443 • 🍿🍿🍿🍿🍿🍿🍿🍿 • 03.15.24 EVERY OTHER FRIDAY I’M REVIEWING THE COMPLETE WORKS OF ALFRED HITCHCOCK IN CHRONOLOGICAL ORDER. THIS IS TGI-HITCHOCK! The only Hitchcock Best Picture winner at the Oscars was also, not surprisingly, his first American picture. Naturally, this is a landmark crossroads event on this complete filmography review series. As with many movies to take home the Academy’s top prize, this isn’t anywhere close to Hitchcock’s personal best. I felt it ran a little long and was needlessly convoluted in places. This is one a few collaborations with David O. Selznick, the legendary (and controlling) producer, and this union seems emblematic of a bigger problem: that Hitchcock would not have full start-to-finish authority on his films until 1946, or NINE more pictures.

While I found the plot a little threadbare to warrant its length, the movie is engaging due in large part to both Hitchcock’s flourishes — more A+ miniatures work, painted background, etc. (that I feel like I highlight every time now) — and the two leads: Laurence Olivier and Joan Fontaine.

The film is set in England and uses mostly English actors, so despite being a Hollywood production, it works as a subtle bridge between the British and American filmographies. Unfortunately, this is the only Hitchcock to feature Olivier, as his brooding presence is a perfect fit for the Master of Suspense’s sensibilities. It’s worth watching for the final set-piece, the fire at country manor Manderlay, alone.

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CHRONOLOGICALLY
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Rebecca is a 1940 American romantic psychological thriller film directed by Alfred Hitchcock. It was Hitchcock's first American project, and his first film under contract with producer David O. Selznick. The screenplay by Robert E. Sherwood and Joan Harrison, and adaptation by Philip MacDonald and Michael Hogan, were based on the 1938 novel of the same name by Daphne du Maurier. It was released on March 21, 1940.