Rebecca

Rebecca is a 1940 film directed by Alfred Hitchcock as his first American project. An adaption by Joan Harrison and Robert E. Sherwood of British author Daphne Du Maurier's 1938 novel Rebecca, it was produced by David O. Selznick. more...

Summary

Rebecca stars Laurence Olivier as Maxim de Winter, Joan Fontaine as his second wife, and Judith Anderson as his late-wife's servant Mrs. Danvers. The film is a gothic tale about the lingering memory of the title character, which still controls her husband, his new bride, and the housekeeper of their estate, Manderley, long after her death. (The plot of the novel Rebecca is largely unchanged in the film.)

In Du Maurier's work, the second wife, who narrated the tale, was never identified by name. This central character, played by Fontaine, remains unnamed in the film as well, a difficult feat for the screenwriters.

Awards

Academy Awards won

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

Academy Award nominations

• 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

Trivia

• In Spain, a rebeca has become the name of a kind of female knit jacket, after the one worn by the protagonist.

Read more at Wikipedia.org