Rebecca

Just watched this Criterion bluray. WOW. I can definetly see the infuence on the Phantom Thread.

Also big time previews to Vertigo and Pyscho. Hitch is the master no question.

 

I always thought that film was genius. But read the book many years after I first saw the movie, and all of it is in the book! So if Hitchcock did his story-boarding, the book was really a roadmap to virtually everything in the film. Been a while since I've seen it (and read the book). Great movie!

 

It truly looks wonderful too. I am getting ready to do a Hitchcock marathon which will take me a long time, but I wanted to jump ahead for a preview.

I have seen maybe 20 of his films at best and I am very much looking forward to seeing all his directed work.

This movie was a straight up masterpiece and I think....how many crappy kovies have I watched instead of this??!!!

 

I read that Hitchcock didn't spend a lot of time with the leads and spent much of the time with Dame Judith. Smart move.
She doesn't steal the film, but she is the lynchpin.

 

Lovely film with excellent performances. I do prefer the novel, though. Daphne du Maurier was a brilliant writer and the gothic, unsettling tone of that novel pours off the pages. I've read it several times.

 

She was so good. She almost stole it for sure. I see she was nominated as well.

One thing that comes to mind is the Carol Burnette parody. Didn't understand it at the time. Now I do.

The music was great as well. Nothing about the film lacked to me, but I can imagine reading this one and just feeling it.

 

Hm.

First of all Rebecca is one of my favorite films. But as much as Mrs. Danforth's character is important to the film, and Ms. Anderson's performance was so great, I do think an overemphasis of her character's role in the film can occur. Mrs. Danforth as performed by Ms. Anderson plays into the psychological anxieties and at times terror of the story, but the film is about much more than that.

The second Mrs. de Winter is the central character of the story, tying in all the elements of it. Personally I find Joan Fontaine's performance in such role one of the great female leads in film history, but no doubt that's partly because such performance made me fall in love with her. But hardly only that on her performance.

Of course some of the film's best scenes are those shared by Ms. Fontaine and Ms. Anderson. But then the film really has no weaknesses, and the cast throughout is exceptional.

 

Without Danvers, there is no conflict to the film.
I don't disagree about JF being the classic heroine and our sympathies must lie with her or the film sinks.
the conflict is between JF and the memory of Rebecca. Danvers puts flesh to the conflict, and escalates it. Better drama = better film.

 

I agree up to a point about Mrs. Danvers's role in the story. But she is more a kind of expressive face of the underlying tensions, the societal conflicts, that involve the comparison between the two Mrs. de Winters. The conflict was there in any event.

For example one of the things that has always struck me about the film is how the Maxim character is simultaneously portrayed as the embodiment of the old school as it were. The lord of the estate, honoring tradition and worried about the family reputation and standing in the community. Yet he more than anyone else knows that he must move beyond that to the world the second Mrs. de Winter represents. Much of that conflict is within him. As his need to move beyond Rebecca's memory plays out, much of what occurs does not really involve Mrs. Danvers.

But yes, Mrs. Danvers definitely escalates the tension. I think I am mostly in agreement with you, but am reluctant to assign too central a role to the Danvers character.

 

I just love George Sanders in this movie. And Leo G. Carroll, because my grandfather looked just like him.

 

One of my all time favorite films. I love that it starts a bit stiff and old fashioned, mostly thanks to Olivier's acting style, then midway when we get the first twist it feels much more modern.

And Foreign Correspondent came out the same year, and is also fantastic in a completely different way.

 

One of my favorite Hitchcock flicks........love the gothic feel. Mrs. Danvers is more than creepy.

 

Had the Criterion of this for a while but not yet viewed - thanks for the encouragement. Will watch this, then follow-up with the 4K of The Phantom Thread.

 

I didn't do an all out re-watch but I had to peek at it.

I am a huge fan of Paul Thomas Anderson and someone close to me said that while they thought the film was well made...it was a mistake for Daniel Day Lewis career and it was overall not a good film.

I wanted to say GTFOOH...but I settled for an eye roll because I was on the phone.

Some comments are either designed to annoy (and this person knows how I feel about the director) or are just grounded in stupidity. Love this person to death...but leaning towards both here. If I believed it was a true opinion I might actually respect it.

Sorry for that side note.

 

Awesome movie.



Here's a cool Italian poster focusing on the menace of Mrs. Danvers.

 

I’ve seen Phantom Thread 5 times now, twice in the theater. It was my favorite film of last year and the entire cast was perfect.

Yes Rebecca was just one of its influences

 

And as great a story as 'Rebecca' is, how about the look of it? Incredible cinematography by George Barnes & art direction by Lyle Wheeler give the movie a perfect fit for it's 'gothic' esthetic. Few movies look better IMHO...

 

The only drawback is Olivier.

 

Curious what you thought was wrong?

 

Olivier was perfect. He almost always had a more theater approach and style in his film work.

 

His scene where he "confessed" to his second wife was great acting.

Not to digress, but my favorite film actor all time is Humphrey Bogart. According to Lauren Bacall (in her autobio.), Bogart's favorite actor was none other than Olivier. And Bogie knew acting.

 

Love Bogart. And I think Jack Nicholson is of similar style with a bit more of a manic side maybe. Two actors that are amazing but rarely really disappeared into the character like Oliver, Daniel Day Lewis or Gary Oldman

 

There's a new film of Rebecca coming, with Lily James and Armie Hammer.

Lily James and Armie Hammer to star in Rebecca movie remake

 

Please no.

This is one of my favorite Hitchcock films. I read the book long ago and the plot is fascinating, as usual with these brooding-masters-of-the-English-manor type stories. Wasn’t it this movie where Hitchcock didn’t want Joan Fontaine for the lead role but David O. Selznick insisted?

Laurence Olivier was at his most handsome here, and perfect for the role.

It had always bothered me that the beautiful estate was destroyed by fire because of the delusional Ms. Danvers.

 

He's stiff and too theatrical. Gives me the feeling he always thought he was better than the film he was acting in