Comments on Screen Savour: Rebecca (1940)

This is one of my favorites of his canon, and I'm ...

2008-10-14T22:25:00.000-04:00

This is one of my favorites of his canon, and I'm ashamed to say it. You actually made your most overiding observation near the beginning of this marvelously comprehensive essay--the one which asserts that the film is a blend of Hitch's sensibilities with that of producer extraordinaire David O. Selznick. And therein lies the diacotomy for greatness, as the film's daunting set design and visual moodiness and opulance (it won an Oscar for George Barnes, but one wonders why Greg Toland didn't win for THE GRAPES OF WRATH, which is one of the greatest of all American films) Still Barnes' work is extraordinary as are all the techs including one of the Golden Age's greatest scores ever by Franz Waxman.
You do a terrific job in tauting all the justly famed performances by Oliver, Joan Fontaine, Judith Anderson and George Sanders. This is melodrama with bite, with psychological insight (again, as you note) and as anyone who knows the film well will attest to, there isn't a boring second. The secenes with Fontaine and her temporary employer are hilarious, and the scenes inside the mansion are deliciously melodramatic in the best sense.
And yes Dark City Dame, T.S. does rightly transcribe that famous story of Leigh and Fontaine.
Ironically, Hitchcock didn't win the directing prize, it instead went to John Ford, who should have brought home Best Pix as well. But REBECCA as far as I am concerned was a close second place.

You have given this film the richly detailed essay it deserves.

Cont..."Perhaps no other Hitchcock movie has a mor...

2008-10-14T04:02:00.000-04:00

Cont..."Perhaps no other Hitchcock movie has a more gossipy behind-the-scenes story than Rebecca. After all, the film pitted the megalomaniacal (and incredibly talented) producer David O. Selznick against a director of equal professional self-esteem."
"The history has been well documented even beyond what I've written, but I think it's of utmost importance for the purposes of this film criticism as well. It is necessary to consider that if Selznick..." See:[Leonard J. Leff's book Hitchcock & Selznick] There is also a companion documentary with the same title as the book.

Question
Did Hitchcock base the murderous husband in T.S.'s favorite film "Rear Window" on producer David Selznick? according to author Laff, Hitchcock
did base Thorwald on David Selznick.

Finally, I think what "opened the door" in order for me to walk in and sit down and "introduce" my self to director Alfred Hitchcock's work on film. Is when my mother first purchased the 1940 film Rebecca along with Hitch's 1946 film Notorious for me.

Hi! T.S.,
This is a very well written, very det...

2008-10-14T03:08:00.000-04:00

Hi! T.S.,
This is a very well written, very detailed and if you don't mind me saying so, "well researched" "with a touch of humour" in the right places review of Hitchcock's 1940"Rebecca."("Gothic noir")See author Helen Hanson's
[Hollywood Heroines:Women in Film Noir and the Female Gothic Film]

T.S. said,"For the role of the new Mrs. de Winter, Selznick wanted Vivian Leigh, but the part eventually went to Fontaine."
All I can say, is Thank-goodness!
the role went to Fontaine, because I think actress Vivian Leigh resembled the unseen character name "Rebecca"...Which is why she was "overlooked" for the role of the 2nd Mrs. deWinter.
See: author Dan Auiler's book [Hitchcock's Notebook] (The title has been edited...)(Cont..)

Good review, havent seen the film, but it sounds l...

2008-10-14T01:03:00.000-04:00

Good review, havent seen the film, but it sounds like another winner from Hitchcock

Comments on Screen Savour: Rebecca (1940)

This is one of my favorites of his canon, and I'm ...

Cont..."Perhaps no other Hitchcock movie has a mor...

Hi! T.S.,This is a very well written, very det...

Good review, havent seen the film, but it sounds l...

Hi! T.S.,
This is a very well written, very det...