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Rebecca
Theatrical poster
Directed by	Alfred Hitchcock
Produced by	David O. Selznick
Written by	Original novel: Daphne du Maurier Adaptation: Philip MacDonald and Michael Hogan Screenplay: Joan Harrison Robert E. Sherwood
Narrated by	Joan Fontaine
Starring	Laurence Olivier Joan Fontaine Judith Anderson
Music by	Franz Waxman
Cinematography	George Barnes
Editing by	W. Donn Hayes
Distributed by	Selznick International Pictures United Artists
Release date(s)	April 12, 1940 (USA)
Running time	130 minutes
Country	USA
Language	English
Budget	$1,288,000
All Movie Guide profile
IMDb profile

Rebecca is an Academy Award–winning 1940 psychological thriller directed by Alfred Hitchcock as his first American project. It is an adaptation by Joan Harrison and Robert E. Sherwood of Daphne du Maurier's 1938 novel of the same name, and was produced by David O. Selznick.^[1] It stars Laurence Olivier as Maxim de Winter, Joan Fontaine as his second wife, and Judith Anderson as his late wife's housekeeper, Mrs. Danvers.

The film is a gothic tale about the lingering memory of the title character, which still affects Maxim, his new bride, and Mrs. Danvers long after her death.

Contents 1 Plot 2 Adaptation 3 Cast 4 In Popular Culture 5 Awards 6 Footnotes 7 External links

The story begins with images of a ruined country manor, and a woman telling us that she can never return to Manderley. Joan Fontaine plays a young woman (who is never named) who works as a companion to the aristocratic Edythe Van Hopper (Florence Bates). In Monte Carlo, she meets the wealthy widower Maxim de Winter (Laurence Olivier) and they fall in love. Within weeks, they decide to get married.

Maxim takes his new bride to Manderley, his country house in Cornwall, England. However, the servants are reluctant to accept the new Mrs. de Winter as the new lady of the house. They are loyal to Maxim's first wife, Rebecca, who died under mysterious circumstances.

Particularly unpleasant is the housekeeper, Mrs. Danvers (Judith Anderson). She is still obsessed with Rebecca's beauty and virtues, and preserves her former bedroom as a shrine. Rebecca's cousin Jack (George Sanders), who occasionally appears at the house when Maxim is away, seems to know Mrs. Danvers well, calling her by the name "Danny", which was Rebecca's pet name for her.

The new Mrs. de Winter is intimidated by Mrs. Danvers and by the responsibilities of being the new chatelaine of Manderley. As a result, she begins to doubt her relationship with her husband. The continuous presence of Rebecca in the house starts to haunt her.

A crisis begins when a sunken boat is found off the coast with Rebecca's body in it. Maxim admits to his new wife that he misidentified another body as Rebecca's to prevent discovery of the truth: He and Rebecca hated each other, and he suspected her of being pregnant with another man's child. During an argument, she fell, hit her head and died. Maxim took the body out in a boat and scuttled it.

In the ensuing police investigation, officials question whether the damage to the boat indicated that Rebecca committed suicide. Jack quickly provides evidence that Rebecca was not suicidal, and Maxim comes under suspicion of murder. The second Mrs. de Winter must face the prospect of losing her husband. The investigation focuses on Rebecca's secret visits to a London doctor, visits that everyone assumes were due to her illicit pregnancy. However, an interview with the doctor reveals that Rebecca was, in fact, suffering from cancer, and would have died very shortly. She was not pregnant: She lied to Maxim, apparently trying to encourage him to kill her as a form of suicide.

As Maxim returns home to Manderley, he finds it on fire, set alight by the deranged Mrs. Danvers, who dies in the flames.

At Selznick's insistence, the film adapts the plot of du Maurier's novel Rebecca faithfully.^[2] However, one plot detail was altered to comply with the Hollywood Production Code, which said that the murder of a spouse had to be punished.^[2] In the novel, Maxim shoots Rebecca, while in the film, he only thinks of killing her after she taunts him, whereupon she suddenly falls back, hits her head on a piece of boat equipment, and dies from her head injuries, so that her death is an accident, not murder. The scene of the burning of Manderly did not appear in the novel; rather, it was inspired by the scene in Charlotte Brontë's Jane Eyre of Mr. Rochester's first wife setting Thornfield on fire.

• Laurence Olivier as Maxim de Winter
• Joan Fontaine as The Second Mrs. de Winter
• George Sanders as Jack Favell
• Judith Anderson as Mrs. Danvers
• Nigel Bruce as Major Giles Lacy
• Reginald Denny as Frank Crawley
• C. Aubrey Smith as Colonel Julyan
• Gladys Cooper as Beatrice Lacy
• Florence Bates as Mrs. Edythe Van Hopper
• Melville Cooper as Coroner
• Leo G. Carroll as Dr. Baker
• Leonard Carey as Ben
• Lumsden Hare as Tabbs
• Edward Fielding as Frith
• Forrester Harvey as Chalcroft
• Mary Williams - The Head Maid
• Keira Tate - The Parlour Maid
• Rose Trace - The Parlour Maid
• Sandra Phillip - The Parlour Maid
• Kelly Sanderton - The Parlour Maid
• Herietta Bodvon - The Housemaid

Hitchcock's cameo appearance, a signature feature of his films, takes place near the end; he is seen outside a phone box when Jack is making a call.

As "The Second Mrs. de Winter", the only valid name for the unnamed narrator-protagonist, is a bit of a mouthful, the character was referred to as "Daphne" during production.

An episode of the popular sitcom Mama's Family spoofs this film. Thelma Harper, the eponymous Mama, marries a widower in a dream sequence; on their two-year anniversary, she finds that her new husband and the entire family try to change her into his first wife--Rebecca.

Academy Awards wins (1941)

• Best Picture - Selznick International Pictures - David O. Selznick.
• Best Cinematography, Black and White - George Barnes.

Academy Award nominations (1941)

• Best Actor in a Leading Role - Laurence Olivier.
• Best Actress in a Leading Role - Joan Fontaine.
• Best Actress in a Supporting Role - Judith Anderson.
• Best Director - Alfred Hitchcock.
• Art Direction, Black and White - Lyle R. Wheeler.
• Special Effects - Jack Cosgrove, Arthur Johns.
• Best Film Editing - Hal C. Kern.
• Best Music, Original Score - Franz Waxman.
• Best Writing, Screenplay - Robert E. Sherwood, Joan Harrison.

• Rebecca at the TCM Movie Database.
• Criterion Collection essay by Robin Wood.
• Complete list of actors who were considered for roles

Awards
Preceded by Gone with the Wind	Academy Award for Best Picture 1940	Succeeded by How Green Was My Valley

v • d • e The films of Alfred Hitchcock
1920s	Number 13 · Always Tell Your Wife · The Pleasure Garden · The Mountain Eagle · The Lodger: A Story of the London Fog · Downhill · Easy Virtue · The Ring · The Farmer's Wife · Champagne · The Manxman · Blackmail
1930s	Juno and the Paycock · Murder! · Elstree Calling · The Skin Game · Mary · Number Seventeen · Rich and Strange · Waltzes from Vienna · The Man Who Knew Too Much · The 39 Steps · Secret Agent · Sabotage · Young and Innocent · The Lady Vanishes · Jamaica Inn
1940s	Rebecca · Foreign Correspondent · Mr. & Mrs. Smith · Suspicion · Saboteur · Shadow of a Doubt · Lifeboat · Aventure Malgache · Bon Voyage · Spellbound · Notorious · The Paradine Case · Rope · Under Capricorn
1950s	Stage Fright · Strangers on a Train · I Confess · Dial M for Murder · Rear Window · To Catch a Thief · The Trouble with Harry · The Man Who Knew Too Much · The Wrong Man · Vertigo · North by Northwest
1960s	Psycho · The Birds · Marnie · Torn Curtain · Topaz
1970s	Frenzy · Family Plot
Misc	List of Hitchcock cameo appearances · List of unproduced Hitchcock projects

v • d • e Academy Award for Best Picture: Winners (1927-1940)†

1927–28: Wings, Sunrise · 1928–29: The Broadway Melody · 1929–30: All Quiet on the Western Front · 1930–31: Cimarron · 1931–32: Grand Hotel · 1932–33: Cavalcade · 1934: It Happened One Night · 1935: Mutiny on the Bounty · 1936: The Great Ziegfeld · 1937: The Life of Emile Zola · 1938: You Can't Take It with You · 1939: Gone with the Wind · 1940: Rebecca †From 1927 to 1933, the Academy Awards did not follow a calendar year. Complete List · Winners (1941–1960) · Winners (1961–1980) · Winners (1981–2000) · Winners (2001– )