Rebecca - Criterion Collection

Rating:
Summary: The film is as thrilling as the novel.
Review: "Rebecca" is one of my most favorite novels and the film was true to every word which is unusual for Hollywood. Even though I know almost every bit of the story, I still am held in suspense when either reading or viewing this fantastic story. I rate it right up there with "Jane Eyre"

Rating:
Summary: This movie was thrilling!
Review: The movie stayed so true to the book. It was really a classic. When I first saw it on the television I was chilled to the spine. The acting was splendid and it gave a thrilling aspect to the story. The story is really wonderful. It makes a perfect story for the movie and the movie did it more justice than I would have expected. I give it 5 stars!!

Rating:
Summary: A superb achievement from the Master.
Review: This is one of the best mystery/romance films I've ever seen, and the fact that Hitchcock directed it adds to the overwhelming sense of fear and horror that builds inside the character of Mrs. de Winter, winningly portrayed by Joan Fontaine, who never looked lovelier than she does here as a simple nameless woman suddenly swept into another world plagued by the spirit of a dead woman. Laurence Olivier never looked more handsome or dashing as the tortured husband trying to escape the clutches of his dead first wife. Dame Judith Anderson is wickedly frightful as the sinister housekeeper bent on wrecking the life of Fontaine's character, making her one of the most hated and brutal villains in literature and film history. She's so cruel you love to hate her. Don't miss her deceptive plot to humiliate the new Mrs. de Winter at a gala costume ball. The sets and photography (winner of an Oscar) add to the tension and terror that builds with each passing scene as we are pulled deeper into the life of the first Mrs. de Winter. The music is also enchanting and chilling when necessary, particularly during that opening dream sequence. Hitchcock couldn't have done it better, neither could anybody else. It is a must for the Hitchcock buff and for lovers of suspense mysteries and hair-raising occurences. It sure deserved the Oscar it won for Best Picture of 1940. No other mystery/romantic/suspence picture can equal the fear and terror this film so genuinely evokes in the viewer. You've got to get your hands on it!!!

Rating:
Summary: brilliant, fantastic...why is it not available????
Review: Why is this video out of print? No library or video shop seems to have it! It is such a great movie, and I can't seem to get hold of it anywhere!THIS IS REALLY ANNOYING! I hope it is re-released soon because I really really want to see it. Olivier is sooo good looking, Fontaine is the best actress, and the plot is amazing thanks to author Du Maurier. SOMEBODY, PLEASE re-release it. Surely it must be available somewhere.

Rating:
Summary: ENCHANTING!!!!
Review: Laurence Olivier and Joan Fontaine give a stunning performance in this movie of mystery and intrigue. Fontaine plays a nieve woman so in love with her husband yet afraid of life in their fabulous home because she lives in the shadows of his dead wife Rebecca. The plot takes an interesting twist and actually has you doubting the loyalty of Olivier's character. The ending makes it all worth while.

Rating:
Summary: SPELLBINDING
Review: I'll never forget when I first saw this movie. I had rented it, but it wasn't until I was babysitting my younger brother, when I decided to put it in the VCR. My mother came home and started to watch it with me. We both got so involved in it that we almost missed my championship swimming meet. I can't believe that it's currently not out. This is one of my favorite movies and if you love old movies, you MUST see this! It had better be re-released very soon.

Rating:
Summary: romantic and kept you guessing
Review: Such a wonderful romantic story - Joan Fontaines's character is so sweetly in love with "Maxim" - in a most touching way. Hitchcock has you fooled most of the movie, which is great! Wait for the part when Maxim says "You can't understand ... can you?" I'm undone. Also, do you notice how Joan Fontaine's character has no name? If you can't accept dated movies don't get this but for those who can it's one of the greats. I watch it over and over. Olivier is, of course, handsome, desirable and very British. .

Rating:
Summary: A Classic .. But so many questions left..
Review: got this dvd from the Hitchcock OOP boxset and was eager to watch it right away when i saw that this film won a couple of Oscars. production wise, efforts by Selznick and Hitchcock gave this film a classic status. Olivier is definitely affective. Fontaine is sweet and beautiful but at times irritatingly charming.---> can't read her expressions (which frustrates me), very unpredictable, which worked positively in so many scenes.

Nice plot but very abrupt ending and left many questions in my bag after seeing the film. nice transfer and features by criterion though.. really something to grab in your collection.

Rating:
Summary: Great movie but terrible DVD
Review: This is one of my favorite movies ever. However, I purchased this "collectors edition version" and was suprised and annoyed to find it came with Japanese subtitles (quite distracting), a sound track that did not match the video exactly (also quite distracting), and a hilarious Japanese interpretation of the story line for "Lubeka" on the cover. For the price I paid, I expected much more than a "knock-off".

Rating:
Summary: "Listen....listen to the sea".....
Review: What's most delightful about "Rebecca", Hitch's first American film, is the development of the storyline and characters. There is plenty of tension, but not in the typical Hitchcock style of his later movies. Usually the master of suspense lets the audience in on at least part of a secret, and we watch the hero or heroine, who is in the dark, try to solve the puzzle. But in the case of Rebecca, we are all in the dark, and when the lights are turned on, the results are delicious. And the lights are turned on numerous times.

Joan Fontaine plays the role of a young, somewhat mousy and naïve American who is a "paid companion" to a well-to-do, overweight and over-the hill lady-about-town (played brilliantly by Gladys Cooper). In Monte Carlo she meets Max deWinter (Laurence Olivier), a rich widower who is obsessed with the memory of his first wife (Rebecca) who died a tragic death. After a quick and somewhat juvenile "whirlwind courtship", the two are married and head back to Max's huge estate, Manderley. It turns out Max is not the only one haunted by Rebecca's death. Enter Mrs. Danvers, Rebecca's former personal attendant and quite obviously Matriarch of Manderley. It is here the twists and turns of the plot take us on a journey with many surprises, all done with Hitchcock's master touch of direction.

Judith Anderson astounds in her role here. As for Fontaine and Olivier, they are flawless. It is impossible to imagine any other 2 paired for this performance. Also great acting from George Sanders as the seedy Jack Favell.

This movie is in a sense all about power - how it is gained , lost, and how it can destroy. Without ruining the story, simply see it. This is fast percolating to the top of my all-time favorite movies with every viewing. I only wish I had purchased the Criterion Collection DVD with all the special features.