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Alfred Hitchcock is arguably one of the best directors
of all time. Rebecca was his first Hollywood feature and
the only film he directed that received the award for Best
Picture. Hitchcock said that he had did not have a pleasant
time directing the film. Mostly because him and the producer,
David O. Selznick, were like water and oil. However, the
movie was mostly a learning experience, but there are moments
of brilliance which indicated that Hitchcock would become
a legendary director.***
Anyway the movie begins with a dream sequence. Mrs.
De Winter (Joan Fontaine), the second Mrs. De Winter, is
dreaming of going back to Manderley, the old manor house.
Then there is lash back to how she came to Manderley in
the first place. She was staying in Monte Carlo with a rich
woman, Edythe Van Hopper (Florence Bates), working as her
assistant. There she meets Maxim De Winter (Laurence Olivier),
a widower still grieving from the loss of his wife and he
is less than courteous with Edythe or the second Mrs. De
Winter, who doesn't have a name in the movie. To simplify
the review I’m just going to call the Second Mrs. DeWinter,
Joan, since she is played by Joan Fontaine. Later he bumps
into Joan while the two are both eating breakfast and this
time he invites her to eat with him, as a way of apologizing
for his previous behavior. He even drives her to the sea
so she can draw the countryside. He's still morose, especially
after Joan mentions a man drowned there last year. The two
seem to have a connection and start spending all her free
time together. When Edythe's daughter decides to get married,
she and Joan have to go to New York for the wedding. However,
Maxim proposes to Joan.***
Maxim and Joan are married right away and shortly after
that they go to Manderley. Joan got a warning from Edythe
about the demands of being a lady of a manor, but Maxim
says not to worry, as the day-to-day maintenance will be
done by Mrs. Danvers. Unfortunately, Mrs. Danvers is the
only member of the manor's staff that is not friendly to
Joan. When Maxim's sister and her husband, Beatrice and
Major Giles Lacy, come for lunch, Beatrice is quite blunt
in her warning about Mrs. Danvers. She came to Manderley
when the Rebecca was the first Mrs. de Winter and practically
worships the memory of Rebecca. As much as Joan tries to
adapt to her new home, Mrs. Danvers and the shadow of Rebecca
always loom nearby. Additionally, Maxim still tends to be
moody and sporadic at times. She begins to think she will
never be able to replace Rebecca in Maxim's heart.***
The main problem I had with Rebecca was that it was
very slow moving. At times it was hard to keep up with.
Also this is nowhere near the top five films in his career.
It’s probably in the top ten. Nevertheless, Hitchcock sets
the mood wonderfully, and the viewers will feel both the
romance and the dread of living in Manderley. There is plenty
of dread in the film, especially in the end.***
Image & Sound:
For a film that’s almost 70 years old, the audio and
video sound pretty good. There is too much grain in some
of the shots and you can tell there is some print damage
and lack of details, but this is to be expected given the
age of the film. It's more than 70 years old, so one shouldn't
be surprised there's a bit too much grain in some shots,
or that there are scenes that are lacking in details, or
that there are a few instances of print damage. The audio
track is mono, but it sounds good for the current slate
of Hitchcock’s Blu-ray movies. The dialogue is always clear,
but there is a slight hiss at times. It’s nothing to distracting
though.***
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| Special
Features: |
There are plenty of extras on the disc, which is a relief.
There is an audio commentary by film critic Richard Schnickel,
but it lacks energy, but makes up for with some interesting
insight and information. Next you can watch the movie with
an isolated music and effects tracks. There are several
featurettes that include “The Making of Rebecca”, which
talk about the conflict between Hitchcock and Selznick and
how challenging it was to adapt “Rebecca” onto the big screen.
The other featurette is called “The Gothic World of Daphne
Du Maurier, which is a fascinating look at the author of
the book. There are also screen tests and Hitchcock audio
reviews. In addition, there are several radio plays on the
disc based off the novel. One of them features the legendary
Orson Welles, which is always a plus. Finally, there is
the standard theatrical trailer. Unfortunately, all of these
special features are in standard definition.***
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