The master once again delivers a suspenser that marks his class and caliber. Not the first time that Hitchcock had adapted Daphne Du Maurier, he had done it earlier in England with Jamaica Inn which is mostly forgotten but had in its offering a newcomer who would be lapped up in Hollywood-Maureen O'Hara and as a villain Charles Laughton. The film is supposed to have been a failure but its brooding photography and direction was in a class of its own.
In Rebecca he once again converts the book into a great film with astounding performances by Joan Fontaine & Laurence Olivier. The novel is adapted in its entirety with the ending changed to protect the image of the hero from that of a murderer which spoils the climax a little. In the book the climax where Mrs DeWinter realizes that her husband is a killer transforms her character and the reader is left to imagine the life that she has to live with him in later years. In the movie the entire episode is projected as an accident and the hero is made to look as absolved of any attempt to kill.
Joan Fontaine is explicitly photographed as the terrified young wife, Mrs.Danvers (Judith Anderson) is frightening. All the characters from the book come alive and the musical score is excellent. A must see.
Krishna Kumar Menon, Chennai(Madras) India