Story of a young woman who marries a fascinating widower only to find out that she must live in the shadow of his former wife, Rebecca, who died mysteriously several years earlier. The young wife must come to grips with the terrible secret of her handsome, cold husband, Max De Winter. She must also deal with the jealous, obsessed Mrs. Danvers, the housekeeper, who will not accept her as the mistress of the house.
Direction
Hitchcock's first American film—note the fire sequence.
Acting
Judith Anderson invented unhinged housekeeper energy.
Cinematography
Shadows that breathe. Manderley as character.
Director
Alfred Hitchcock
Laurence Olivier
Maxim de Winter
Joan Fontaine
Mrs. de Winter
George Sanders
Jack Favell
Judith Anderson
Mrs. Danvers
Nigel Bruce
Major Giles Lacy
Reginald Denny
Frank Crawley
C. Aubrey Smith
Colonel Julyan
Gladys Cooper
Beatrice Lacy
Florence Bates
Edythe Van Hopper
Melville Cooper
Coroner
Leo G. Carroll
Dr. Baker
Leonard Carey
Ben
Lumsden Hare
Tabbs
Edward Fielding
Frith
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Hitchcock had to fight producer David O. Selznick to keep Rebecca's death ambiguous in the film—the Hays Code demanded punishment for her 'sins.'
Joan Fontaine's character famously has no first name, making her literally无名 in her own story—a radical choice for female identity in 1940.
US
