Rebecca (1940) is the classic Hitchcock gothic thriller and a compelling mystery (and haunting ghost story) about a tortured romance.An expensively-produced film by David O.Selznick (following his recent success with Gone With The Wind (1939)),it was Hitchcock's first American/Hollywood film,although it retained distinctly British characteristics from his earlier murder mysteries.The somber film's screenplay (by Robert E.Sherwood and Joan Harrison) was based on a literal translation of Daphne du Maurier's 1938 gothic novel of the same name,in the tradition of Charlotte Bronte's Jane Eyre.One of the film's posters asks the intriguing question:"What was the secret of Manderley?"
The film creates a brooding atmosphere surrounding the tragic courtship,marriage and relationship of a naive,plain and innocent young woman (Joan Fontaine) to a brooding and overburdened widower - an aristocratic,moody patriarch (Laurence Olivier) who lives in an estate named Manderley.The pathetic,bewildered and shy bride experiences fear,pain and guilt when psychologically dominated by the 'presence' (and memories) of the deceased first wife (named Rebecca but never seen on screen),and when she is tormented by Rebecca's blindly adoring,sinister and loyal housekeeper's (Anderson) recollections of the dead woman.Only by film's end,with the flaming destruction of the estate,do the real character and secrets of Rebecca's death become clear.Many well-known actresses tested for the part of the young woman - Loretta Young,Margaret Sullavan,Anne Baxter and Vivien Leigh (her role in Gone With the Wind (1939) made her participation impossible),and Ronald Colman was also considered for the male lead role.
This black and white film received eleven Academy Award nominations - and won for the nominated director his first and only Best Picture Oscar,beating out strong competition in 1940 from The Grapes of Wrath,The Great Dictator,The Philadelphia Story,and Hitchcock's own Foreign Correspondent.With his Best Picture win,Selznick became the first producer to win consecutive Best Picture Oscars.The film also won an Academy Award for Cinematography (George Barnes),and was nominated in nine other categories,including Best Actor (Olivier),Best Actress (Fontaine),Best Supporting Actress (Judith Anderson with her sole career nomination),Best Director (Hitchcock's first nomination in this category),Best Screenplay,Best B/W Interior Decoration,Best Original Score (Franz Waxman),Best Film Editing,and Best Special Effects.
