"Rebecca": Hitchcock's Classic Film Noir Was Ahead Of Its Time

Tonight I was in the mood for a classic suspense thriller (Is it because the Halloween spirit is in the air? ) Anyway, I checked out Alfred Hitchcock's long list of film credits on Youtube. I have already seen some of Hitchcock's masterpieces, including "Vertigo" and "Psycho" countless times, but it was my first time to watch this 1940s Hitchcock film that won the Academy Awards for Best Picture.
(A little trivia: "Rebecca" is the only film in Oscar history that won Best Picture but none in the acting, directing, and writing categories--something that made me really wonder.)

The film, which stars Sir Laurence Olivier and Joan Fontaine,  begins with a narration from Daphne du Murier's novel of the same title: "Last night I dreamt I went to Manderley again."

Manderley is the major setting, and symbolism,  of this gothic tale of love haunted by the shadows and secrets of the past. A rich widower Maxim de Winter (Laurence Olivier), marries a naive young girl (Joan Fontaine) and settles in Manderley, which houses spirits-dead and alive-that are threatened by the happy marriage. Both the house and the people living in it remain in the shadow of the memory of Mrs. Rebecca de Winter, whose death continues to be felt by the people she left behind.The scenes that follow will take you literally to Manderlay's closets and forbidden rooms full of skeletons and dark secrets.

Quite interestingly, Rebecca's physical image and the name of Joan Fontaine's character are unknown, creating the contrast between the two female characters: Rebecca is a person with a name but without a face, whereas the other has a face but has no name. One is dead, but her memory lingers on, while the other is still living but is almost forgotten.

Here are some of the most powerful and memorable scenes from this vintage Hitchcock classic:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Md5DtabHoqU&feature=relmfu

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WxO68PacfxE&feature=relmfu


I cannot forget the stern and eerie look on the housekeeper's face (played superbly by Judith Anderson) as the moonlight illuminates it in the dark. Hitchcock, in fact, employs this technique many times throughout the movie, as if carrying a torchlight to probe into the darkness of the human psyche.

Seventy two years later, the film continues to attract and astound thousands of modern viewers (as indicated by the number of views on Youtube). Like the fictitious Manderley, "Rebecca" will continue to haunt us even if it's burnt down to ashes.

Here's to the good old movies that make us continuously marvel at the gift of creative genius in the likes of Alfred Hitchcock.