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Rebecca




Rebecca (1940)
Director: Alfred Hitchcock

From the opening shot I was sold on watching this with little effort. Beautiful photography, lighting and miniatures. The trees loomed within a fog, and the camera lens had a spread de-focus around the edges creating a hazy frame.

When the dialog started it was that thick Mid-Atlantic accent that would require me to hit pause and go find some chocolate. I grabbed 2 cherry covered Cella's and a cup of marshmallow cocoa sprinkled with nutmeg powder and returned to viewing. I need to be prepared for these kinds of things. Frame of mind is very important seeing films outside of your comfort zone.

Now I was ready.

I thought Joan Fontaine's character of The Second Mrs. de Winter was simply adorable, and I got a few nice light laughs from Olivier's Maxim character constantly berating her in a playful manner. Sometimes I felt kind of bad laughing, though. She is so cute and beautiful, how could anyone treat her like that, joking or not? Well, she didn't seem to mind so..anyway.

I enjoyed the twists and the acting. I kept waiting for de Winter II to fire that haggish old maid but it just didn't happen. I was yelling at the screen at one point for dWII to just "get out! Get out of that house!"


This wasn't a masterpiece of cinema to me but it did entertain me and allow me to escape from an otherwise stressful day, and for that I am thankful.

The interiors were all lavish and complex. Sometimes I wondered whether they were matte paintings or a real location. Black and white photography really takes advantage of that in that you're not always sure. One thing I was sure about was the rear projection work. There was even a scene when the married couple walks along the sea up on the road through the trees. They rear projected that!

I had a good time.
+


Btw, is it me, or does Cary Elwes look a lot like Laurence Olivier?