You know, I, I wish there could be an invention that bottled up the memory like perfume. And it never faded, never got stale. Then whenever I wanted to, I could uncork the bottle and live the memory all over again. – The Nameless Heroine of Rebecca (Joan Fontaine), giving away one of the movie’s key points.
One of the major and justifiable knocks against the Oscars is that Alfred Hitchcock, one of the most successful and influential directors of all time, never won a Best Director award (he did get an Honorary award late in life). However, that doesn’t mean Hitchcock’s movies never won the big one. Rebecca, Hitchcock’s first American movie (he’d been making movies in his native England for more than a decade, some of which were already hits in the U.S.), was the 1940 Best Picture. While not as well-known as Hitchcock’s later thrillers like Vertigo or Psycho, Rebecca is still an intense psychological study of a woman trapped in the shadow of a deceased heiress.
The movie starts with the unnamed heroine (Really! She is never given a name through the whole movie on purpose, a fact many film studies papers have certainly explored) (btw, she’s played by the great Joan Fontaine) a poor paid traveling companion to a wealthy and mean older woman, arriving in Monte Carlo. She soon meets and falls in love with rich and moody Maxim de Winter (Lawrence Olivier), still tormented by the accidental death of his wife Rebecca. The first thirty minutes plays like an abbreviated screwball romance, as the “common” Fontaine brings de Winter out of his shell and the two realize that, despite their socio-economic differences, they are in love.
Joan Fontaine as the nameless heroine and Judith Anderson as the unhealthily fixated Mrs. Danvers
But things take a dramatic twist when the newly wed de Winters return to Maxim’s familial estate, Manderlay. There, the staff, particularly the cold and stern Mrs. Danvers (Judith Anderson), seem unable to grasp the idea that Maxim has remarried or is trying to move on with his life. The staff continues to push Fontaine to do things as “Rebecca” – alternatively described as fearless or beautiful or both! – would have done them. Maxim himself is no help, getting set off at the simplest reminder of Rebecca. When Fontaine broaches Rebecca’s hidden bedroom, she is given a harrowing tour by Mrs. Danvers, who apparently had an unhealthy fascination with Rebecca. And the question “how did Rebecca die anyway?” slowly bubbles to the surface.
Alfred Hitchcock
Rebecca is a great combination psychological murder mystery and unique twist on the classic British upstairs/downstairs drama, of the sort now seen on Downton Abbey. While it’s not as scary as later Hitchcock works, the director does a great job in setting the moody tone and has some really awesome shots, particularly the creepy scene where Mrs. Danvers finally shows the nameless heroine Rebecca’s bedroom. The movie ends rather abruptly, with the long awaited final confrontation between Danvers and Fontaine happening mostly off screen (if the movie were remade today, there would almost certainly be a long fight between the two). Anderson, Fontaine (in her big breakout role) and Olivier (who would have a big impact on the Oscars a few years down the road) all give great performances. Danvers in particular is great as the creepy, cold head of the house and Fontaine is also excellent as she is slowly driven mad by Rebecca’s memory.
Oscar Trivia: Hitchcock is not the only famous Hollywood royalty attached to Rebecca. The movie was produced by David O Selznick, who won the Best Picture two years in a row after winning in 1939 for Gone With the Wind.
Operation: Oscar 