Rebecca

Release date 27th March 1940
Country : USA
Running time : 130 mins
Genre : Thriller
Starring Laurence Olivier, Joan Fontaine, Judith Anderson
Screenplay by Philip McDonald and Michael Hogan based on the novel by Daphne du Maurier
Directed by Alfred Hitchcock

Maxim de Winter still apparently mourning his wife Rebecca  falls in love with a quiet ladies' companion. They are married but Rebecca still has a hold over everyone at Manderley particularly Mrs Danvers who totally adored her. Mrs Danvers tries to drive the young bride to madness and suicide.

"I dreamt I went to Manderley again" it is always a joy to return to this gothic thriller with its many twists so common with this director. Olivier is at his brooding best, Fontaine is good too but Judith Anderson is genuinely creepy as Mrs Danvers and almost steals the movie.    

This was Hitchcock's first American film and one of the few for which he wasn't involved in the scripting process.

Olivier wanted his lover Vivien Leigh to play the second Mrs de Winter so treated Fontaine horribly on the set.
 Hitch used this to his advantage by telling the actress everyone on the film hated her thus helping her to deliver the frightened young girl portrayal she does so well.