Rebecca: Difference between revisions

[[File:Rebecca.jpg|frame|"You're overwrought, madam; I've opened a window for you."]]

 

|'''The Second Mrs. de Winter,''' her opening narration from both film and novel.}}

 

 

While working in Monte Carlo as the companion for the wealthy Mrs. Van Hopper, our young unnamed heroine meets the much wealthier Maxim de Winter: a moody, inscrutable widower presumed still to be in deep mourning for his late wife, the beautiful Rebecca, tragically drowned in a boating accident. Thus no-one is more surprised than the shy, gauche little companion when Maxim not only seems attracted to her but impetuously proposes they wed there and then.

...then they find the remains of a boat...

 

{{tropelist}}

* [[Adaptational Attractiveness]]: The role of the creepy "skull's face" Mrs. Danvers was created for the musical by [http://www.musicalsessen.de/wb/media/Autogrammkarten/Rebecca/Wietske-van-Tongeren-Uwe-Kroeger-Susan-Rigvava-Dumas.jpg Susan Rigvava-Dumas]{{Dead link}}. ''Yow.''

** In a textbook case of [[Hollywood Homely]], [http://images2.fanpop.com/image/photos/13000000/Diana-Rigg-diana-rigg-13070480-1696-1869.jpg Diana Rigg] played her in the 1997 adaption.

** Arguably justified because {{spoiler|the second Mrs. de Winter's greatest fear was that Maxim still loved Rebecca. When he confesses to killing her, it proves that he doesn't and never did.}}

* [[Animal Motifs]]: Rebecca, the wild and untamed one, is likened to the horses she trained, whereas our young, submissive heroine is likened to the loyal de Winter dog, Jasper.

* [[Bitch in Sheep's Clothing]]

* [[Blackmail]]: Favell attempts to blackmail Maxim with his note from Rebecca, {{spoiler|which suggests that Rebecca did not actually suicide, implicating Maxim himself.}}

** Avoided in the novel, {{spoiler|in which Mrs. Danvers is clearly stated to have fled Manderley before it's burned down.}}

* [[Character Title]]

* [[Death by Falling Over]]: Rebecca, in the film version and [[The Musical]], {{spoiler|she stumbled and hit her head.}}

** This would be because of the [[Moral Guardians|Hays Code]]. {{spoiler|In the book, she goads Maxim into shooting her.}}

* [[Foregone Conclusion]]: The novel begins some time ''after'' everything has happened, with the de Winters living a grim, inconsequential existence overseas.

* [[Grande Dame]]: Edythe van Hopper, who passes over into [[Rich Bitch]] territory; Beatrice, who is on the more intelligent and sympathetic end of the scale.

* [["I Am" Song]]: "I'm An American Woman".

* [["I Want" Song]]: "''Zeit in einer Flasche''".

* [[The Lost Lenore]]: The novel is driven by the haunted Maxim's love for the dead and beautiful Rebecca, and the second Mrs. de Winter's fixation with her. {{spoiler|Subverted, in that Maxim actually hated her.}}

* [[Memento MacGuffin]]: Manderley

* [[Nothing Is Scarier]]

* [[Obfuscating Stupidity]]: Ben, to an extent.

* [[Posthumous Character]]: Rebecca.

* [[Pretty in Mink]]: Mrs. Danvers proudly showing the furs Maxim brought Rebecca.

* [[Psycho Supporter]]: Mrs. Danvers.

* [[Shrinking Violet]]: The second Mrs. de Winter.

* [[Smug Snake]]: Jack Favell, especially as played by George Sanders, one of the smuggest snakes in movie history.

* [[Sympathetic Murder Backstory]]: {{spoiler|Maxim murdered Rebecca. But she was a horrible person, and she manipulated him into doing it.}}

* [[Tall, Dark and Handsome]]: Described to the first Mrs. de Winter:

{{quote|"Tall, slim, dark, very handsome?" said Colonel Julyan quietly.}}

* [[Thanatos Gambit]]: See Suicide By Cop.

* [[Triumphant Reprise]]: "''Jenseits der Nacht''".

* [[Unreliable Narrator]]: The second Mrs de Winter describes herself as plain, a bit foolish, and makes out she's not very emotionally strong. Other characters regularly comment on her prettiness, and she is clearly both intelligent and emotionally strong underneath her shyness.

* [[Upper Class Twit]]: The second Mrs. de Winter finds herself surrounded by these.

* [[Upper Class Wit]]: Maxim gets decidedly snarky at the inquest. Not the cleverest tack to take when the police are suggesting you killed your wife...

* [[Villainous Breakdown]]: Mrs. Danvers has a mild one in all versions, but the musical takes the cake when she {{spoiler|puts on Rebecca's nightgown and walks through Manderley in a daze, lighting the place on fire as she goes.}}

* [[Villainous Incest]]: {{spoiler|Rebecca and Jack.}}

* [[Wag the Director|Wag The Producer]]: Hitchcock had to resort to some tricky measures to get around producer David O. Selznick's creative demands. Among others, he edited "in-camera" - shooting only the scenes he wanted to include in the final cut so that Selznick couldn't recut the film if he didn't like it. This is why, for example, the film does ''not'' end [[Anvilicious|with a giant "R" appearing out of the smoke]] from {{spoiler|the burning Manderley}}, as Selznick originally envisioned.

* [[Wham! Line]]: Maxim's {{spoiler|"I ''hated'' her!"}}

* [[Wrong Genre Savvy]]: The second Mrs. de Winter keeps imagining herself as the heroine of a conventional romance novel, instead of a gothic romance.

 

{{reflist}}

{{Academy Award Best Picture}}

[[Category:Films of the 1940s]]

[[Category:The Criterion Collection]]

[[Category:The Criterion Collection (LaserDisc)]]

[[Category:Films Based on Novels]]

[[Category:The Great American Read]]

[[Category:National Film Registry]]