Hey Everyone!!
I hope you enjoyed ‘State Fair’ (1945)! This picture is without doubt one of my favorite classics and hence I’m overjoyed to have shared its viewing with you for week two of our series! Given that no picture was selected last week however (..which was the bye week I’d mentioned at the outset), this week then marks the third of our series!
Now, I must admit, it was rather difficult to settle upon a picture for this week as there exists a seemingly endless number of routes we could travel from here. Sure, we could remain at the fairgrounds and view a picture I’ve longed to see: ‘Carousel’ (1956) starring Gordon MacRae and Shirley Jones, or a British favorite of mine, ‘So Long at the Fair’ (1950) starring Dirk Bogarde and Jean Simmons! We also could remain among several of week two’s cast members: ‘Margie’ (1946) starring Jeanne Crain or ‘Doll Face’ (1945) starring Vivian Blaine. But this week nonetheless, I’d prefer transport to a different flavor of cinematic dramatics; not one staged altogether within the light of day, but one staged, at least in part, within the mind. For this element however, we revisit one of our grandmasters suspense—Alfred Hitchcock!
But as extraordinary is Mr. Hitchcock was (..and still is!), it wasn’t only his directorial participation in week three’s picture that drew me to it; it was the tremendous performances of its three classical cinema legends: Joan Fontaine, Lawrence Olivier, and Judith Anderson!
So without further adieu, ladies and gentleman, buckle your safety belts because this week we will view one of the greatest psychological/suspense pictures of the classical era, ‘Rebecca’ (1940)!!
Based on ‘Rebecca’, a 1938 novel by English author Daphne du Maurier, our picture is about a young nameless lady (Fontaine) who works as a companion of a rich woman yet is courted one evening by a wealthy widower—Maximilian de Winter (Oliver)—and becomes his new wife (and thereby the second Mrs. de Winter as the first—Mrs. Rebecca de Winter—died under a year ago). Maximilian soon drives the young, second Mrs. de Winter to Manderley, his immense rural estate, where it seems as though she’d live a fairytale life for the rest of her days until she encounters Mrs. Danvers (Anderson), the head maid of Manderley who is obsessed with the deceased first Mrs. de Winter and hence strives without end in convincing the second Mrs. de Winter, through subtle and direct means, that she would never amount to half the woman the first was and that Maximilian wasn’t really in love with her (..but still in love with his first Mrs. de Winter!).
Given its well-written plot, phenomenal performances, and exceptional direction, ‘Rebecca’ (1940) promises to be a psychological/suspenseful rollercoaster worth riding!
Enjoy, and we’ll ttys!
Phil