Amazon.com Essentials:
Rebecca is an ageless, timeless adult movie about a
woman who marries a widower but fears she lives in the shadow of her
predecessor. This was Hitchcock's first American feature, and it
garnered the Best Picture statue at the 1941 Academy Awards. In
today's films, most twists and surprises are ridiculous or just
gratuitous, so it's sobering to look back on this film where every
revelation not only shocks, but makes organic sense with the story
line. Laurence Olivier is dashing and weak, fierce and cowed. Joan
Fontaine is strong yet submissive, defiant yet accommodating. There
isn't a false moment or misstep, but the film must have killed the
employment outlook of any women named Danvers for about 20
years. Brilliant stuff. --Keith Simanton
