Movie – Rebecca (1940)

Movie – Rebecca
Score : 9/10
Year : 1940
Director: Alfred Hitchcock
Cinematography: George Barnes
Country : USA
Language : English (bit of French) 
Duration: 2h11

Authors : 
Daphne du Maurier (novel) (it's review is here)
Robert E. Sherwood & Joan Harrison (screenplay)
Philip MacDonald & Michael Hogan (adaptation)

Full cast : IMDB 

Just a couple years after Du Maurier released her eponymous novel, Hitchcock directed this magnificent cinematic version - which is his first work for Selznick, who requested a few changes ; I presume they were to avoid shocking the audience too much, which is why certain aspects from the novel are toned-down, whilst there are a few scenes that bind several pages from the book. 

However, having finally read the novel and finished it just a few days ago, I can assure my blog readers that the adaptation is around 80 or 90% faithful, and that the very few alterations work very well in a movie, because a lot of the original novel is made of internal dialogues by the narrator, who remains unnamed just like intended ; she marries Max de Winter, whom she met in Monte Carlo. They move together to Manderley, his estate in Southern England, where most of the story takes place (the location is fictional and presumed to be in Cornwall where Du Maurier herself lived). 

During her life there, the ''second Mrs de Winter'' is always compared to the first wife, Rebecca, who have been dead for a year. 

Cinematography, lighting and direction all shine in this superb, and nearly totally faithful adaptation of Rebecca.

Since Manderley never existed, its counterpart was built on the Selznick studios, and is given massive proportions because Manderley is its own character... 

Franz  Waxman's music is usually very well suited, which is a very good point indeed ; many Hitch' movies were plagued on that level. Here, I noted just a couple strident notes that were unpleasant, and maybe an over dramatic note when nothing happens in one scene, but that's all ; 2 tiny flaws in a 130 minutes movie, that's really good! 

The acting is perfect with a great casting :

Joan Fontaine, as the second Mrs de Winter. It's her voice that starts the movie, with a quotation from the novel itself. Fontaine was quite used to narrative jobs in that area - she just had that kind of voice that carries you into the story. The rest of the movie unfolds naturally after her initial narration, which isn't overly used in this respect. 
She interprets her role wonderfully, with talent and confidence, always very believable and uses all her body language and facial expressions to convey emotions that the original narrator has only in internal dialogue. Really well played!  

Laurence Oliver as Mr Max de Winter, with all his mood swings and what one comes to know as ''British elegance'' and also his acerbic tongue. He is the perfect Max - and his acting is also very precise. 

Judith Anderson as Mrs Danvers, the creepy housekeeper ; she does an amazing job in her role, almost like a living undead, or some kind of vampire - very well suited for this role. 

Also with them, and I cannot tell you more so to avoid spoilers :
George Sanders, Reginald Denny, Gladys Cooper, C. Aubrey Smith, Niger Bruce, Florence Bates, Edward Fielding, Leo G. Carroll (who appears in many Hitchcock movies and shows), Leonard Carey, Lumdsen Hare, Forrester Harvey & Philip Winter are each good at their respective roles, all taken from the novel. 

This is one of the strongest points, actually : everyone in the movie is in the novel and in this respect, contrary to some adaptations, this one didn't deviate in people. 

Decor and costumes are very striking and add to the grandeur of this movie, whilst the dialogues are pertinent and go right to the core of the plot - even if a few times I was aware of the changes and composited scenes in comparison to the novel, they were very well adapted to suit the needs of a film, and limit its overall duration - because otherwise, it wouldn't have been a 3 hour movie!

There is a lot of humor and suspense, all is well balanced, offering a great cinematic experience - one of the best movie adaptations I've ever seen, and one of the best of Hitch, already the master of suspense in Rebecca. 

If you haven't read the novel, do so, and then watch this - compare, talk about the comments left by the author and enjoy !