Image attribution: © 1939 by United Artists Corporation. Public domain, via Wikimedia
Rebecca (1940 Movie, Alfred Hitchcock)
Last night, I dreamt I went to Manderley again. Okay, no. I did not dream that. That is the famous, haunting opening sentence of the famous novel, “Rebecca,” by Daphne du Maurier, and it is also the opening line of the film by the same name, which was adapted from the novel and directed by none other than the illustrious Alfred Hitchcock. The book came out in 1938, and the movie came out quite rapidly, only two years later.
My fiancé and I watch a lot of old movies and many of them are amazing. I think this is partly because the ones that were not amazing are simply not available in modern times, but another explanation is that they used to make better movies. I really enjoy watching old movies with my fiancé. At first, he was very resistant. He is a high tech, gaming type of guy, and, honestly, I like those things also. However, he has come to appreciate the things I love about old movies, which is really nice because it means we can enjoy them together.
Where can you find these old movies?
If you are fortunate, you might have a streaming service that makes some of them available. However, also, you can stream many of them for free on the Internet Archive, which is sort of a library. I previously thought it was public domain, but, after reading a recent article by 
Nevertheless, as I write this, you can find the movie Rebecca and many others (as well as so much other cool stuff) at the Internet Archive. You can find Rebecca here just in case this review leaves you needing to watch it immediately (as well you should).
Rebecca…
As you may know, “Rebecca” was Daphne du Maurier’s most famous novel. I would like to say that I read it prior to watching the movie. However, that is not true. I want to read it now, but… spoiler alert! I know the end.
One of the joys of impending senility (and there are few) is that I find I cannot recall things such as plots after only a few weeks or months. So, I shall wait until I no longer remember the ending and then I will read the book. I think, incidentally, that this is an important life hack – learning to find the positive aspects of the negative things in your life that you cannot alter.
I do a lot to work on my memory. I have memory aids. I work on my vascular system because I know that also plays a role in memory. However, at the end of the day, this is it. It’s a hard limit. We all have them. Why not look forward to a day when I no longer recall the end and can read the book and have it be a surprise twist?
So… we were talking about “Rebecca,” though.
According to Wikipedia, though, the movie “Rebecca” was not 100% faithful to the novel although it was fairly close. Warning: Wikipedia does not protect you from spoilers! Ha ha.
In the movie, the main characters are played by Laurence Olivier and Joan Fontaine. The movie has a very atmospheric, gothic feel to it while being set in a “modern” (1940’s) setting. I find it fascinating how much society has changed since the 1940’s. In many ways, people are fundamentally the same. However, we are less overt about class differences and certainly less overt about racism and sexism. I like to think that there is less of the latter two, but it is arguable in some ways.
It was my fiancé who noticed that the protagonist is never named, which, of course, is extremely important and symbolic. Can I just point out that he (my fiancé) is so strange because he won’t notice something about me that I think is blatantly obvious and then this point of plot or symbolism that I think I ought to have picked up on… he gets it and I do not. Well, this is why he and I are a good match, after all. We get along well and love each other, but I catch what he cannot and vice versa.
(This is a review of “Rebecca,” right?)
I feel myself procrastinating about writing anything of substance about this movie, and here is why: it is such a good movie that I don’t want to ruin it for you. So, let me first try to convince you to watch the movie. Then you can go watch it and come back and read the rest of the article. Or just go watch it now. It’s good. I promise. You’ll thank me later.
What is it about?
The basic plot is that a young woman is hired as a companion to a wealthy older widow. She meets Mr. deWinter while they are on vacation in Monte Carlo and the widow is ill with a cold. Mr. deWinter’s first wife Rebecca mysteriously died at sea. After a whirlwind romance, Mr. deWinter surprises everyone by asking the young woman to marry him and taking him home to live with him at his mansion in Cornwall called Manderley.
The young woman is not used to this grand life and feels awkward with a house full of servants. She has the sense that the ghost of his first wife Rebecca still lingers. Everything is monogrammed with Rebecca’s initials.
The head housekeeper, Mrs. Danvers is cruel and creepy and makes the young woman feel uncomfortable and inadequate. She (the young woman) feels like she is living in Rebecca’s shadow and falling short, and Mrs. Danvers does everything possible to magnify this discomfort.
Why did I like it?
What was not to like? It was ominous and suspenseful. The cinematography was amazing, especially for 1940. Hitchcock developed his techniques in later years, but I sometimes, in later films, have the feeling that it is a “device” and it removes me from the moment. In this film, it just kept me at the edge of my seat.
It has been a long time since I have felt so invested in the characters in a film as opposed to, say, deciding to play a game on my phone while I am watching (short attention span). I could not play a game on my phone during this movie. It was gripping.
I might have driven my fiancé crazy by turning to him periodically and saying things such as, “Oh no!” and “Oh, she didn’t!” and “I can’t believe it! Oh… I hope… no!!!” and then covering my eyes. I am a bit emotional. I am sure I have mentioned that before, if you had not noticed already.
Spoiler Alerts Ahead: Recommend You Follow the Link Above and Watch the Movie First
I am not really going to spoil the movie because you must watch the movie, but what I will say is that the ending surprised me. I didn’t think it was going to surprise me. I thought I knew what was going to happen, but no. I did not expect it.
I read a stupid number of domestic and/or psychological thrillers (usually as audiobooks). I love them, but they are very trendy these days, and everyone is trying to out-thrill the next author. Each book tries to come up with an ending more surprising or twisty than the next.
That being said, I found that “Rebecca” as a psychological thriller was as thrilling, suspenseful, and plot twisty as anything these modern authors are cranking out. I am surprised I haven’t read the book or watched the movie before.
Classics
I think the book has been labeled a classic, which is a terrible fate for any book or movie. As soon as it is called a “classic,” automatically, certain people read or watch them to seem smarter and others avoid them. However, how do books or movies become classics? They usually become classics because they are awesome for their time. Either they change the genre, or they change society or they are just plain amazing.
Why are classics so maligned? I blame the English language and society. Both have evolved over time, which means that a book written even 100 years ago is hard for many people to understand, both in terms of the basic vocabulary, and in terms of everyday life.
One small example from the movie “Rebecca” is the young woman being a paid companion at the beginning of the film. The young woman has no family to take care of her, so she is “forced” to work. Her “job” is being company to a wealthy widow. Although being a companion to a senior citizen is a job even in modern times, it is not the same. Companions to seniors are (usually) not full-time, live-in situations, for one thing, and, for another thing, the widow lady in the movie was not a senior.
It can be difficult sometimes to read a classic book or watch a classic movie because the pacing is different from what you expect, the vocabulary is different, etc. Also, some things can be difficult to accept even though we all know that they are an indelible (not inedible… those two words are so similar…) part of our history.
Conclusion
“Rebecca” is one of the best classic films I have seen in a while. “Rebecca” won two Academy Awards including Best Picture. It was nominated for nine more. It has the dubious honour of being the only film that, despite winning Best Picture did not win the Academy Awards for acting, directing or writing.
I strongly recommend it. IMDB gave it 8.1/10. When I looked up the latter fact, I found that they made a 2020 movie of “Rebecca.” It got 6.1/10, but how could it possibly compete?
Do you like old movies? Do you have a favourite? Which one(s)?
Much love,
Harlow