Sorry this forum needs one of these. I have yet to see a Hitchcock film that was as painful to sit through as this one. I kept waiting for it to get interesting and it never did! Wheres the suspense? *Spoiler* Are you telling me you guys didnt see it coming that Max was involved with his wife's death? Maybe just the last 5 minutes were at all suprising but not worth the 2 hours of seeing that tight wooden Olivier brooding over and over again.
shareTorn Curtain was Hitchcock's worst, but your comment might have been intelligent if it weren't for the last sentence. No self respecting person could ever accuse Olivier of being a bad actor.
black and white movies were better
I kind of agree with the OP. I thought it started off well. It already was clear that Max was involved but this movie failed to sustain my attention. But, I did like the scenes where Max's new wife explores the house. The movie got too ridiculous after Max tells the truth to his new wife.
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I wouldn't say it's his worst (Mr and Mrs Smith? Waltzes from Vienna? Champagne?), but it strikes me as highly overrated. Hitch often said he was mystified by its enduring popularity. He felt it was more Sleznick's film than his. There are some wonderful touches, but it doesn't really have the feel of genius his very best do.
shareWell. Waltzes and Champagne don't really count because he made those in Europe very quickly and sloppily trying to fill his quota with Usa and Gaumont films so he could get out and on to America (although gaumont stopped him again but he was able to make The Man Who Knew Too Much and The Lady Vanishes). But i would say his worst of the ones that I have seen is The Trouble With Harry which i still gave a 7/10. Greatest Director of all time!!
shareJust because they were made to fulfil a contract, doesn't mean they don't count as his worst films - he still made them. There's more to 'Champagne' as well; accounts suggest Hitch had much greater hopes for it until the finished product went off the boil. But even discounting them, 'Torn Curtain' and 'Topaz' are still well below average and a great deal less effective than 'Harry'. Add to them 'Saboteur' and 'The Secret Agent' and you are still looking at films with good moments, but well below par.
However, my original point still stands. In comparison to all of those, you cannot really call 'Rebecca' his worst.
"Music comes from within, from your heart, and from your soul"
I think Rebecca is a classic, actually one of my all time favourite movies. Whether it's Hitchcock's best or worst is up for debate. It's certainly not his worst, and although I am a huge Hitchcock fan, I do need to see a few more of his films before concluding which one's his best. I loved North By Northwest, and I really liked Dial M For Murder and Stage Fright(which I do think is overlooked, only the abrupt ending let it down) Strangers on a Train and Rear Window were brilliant too.
Forestar44,
Wow! I totally agree with you. Especially what you said about tight, wooden Olivier. He was horrible! He was so bad at acting the part of a man much older. I thought Olivier's character was just a bossy, arrogant, condescending little brat with premature gray on his temples. Then, I watched the commentary and found out he was supposed to be much older than he was. I think Lionel Barrymore would've been a much better choice. This movie was a total "chick flick". I was very disappointed with this one...
Hitchcock's films are not about surprises. Hitchcock explained in many occasions that "susprise" and "suspense" are mutually exclusive. His films are essentially character studies. Olivier was perfectly cast in this film, as was Joan Fontaine. She received an Oscar the next year for for "Suspicion", to make up for the one she did not receive for "Rebecca" (the same thing happened to James Stewart when he got his Oscar for "The Philadelphia Story." Voters where thinking about his wonderful, unawarded performance in "Mr. Smth Goes to Washington" the year before).
The only problem with "Rebecca" is that there is too much information in the last reel, but this is a characteristic of some of the films produced by David O. Selznick, for example, "David Copperfileld" and "Gone With The Wind." All Selznkick films had wonderful casts though. In this respect he was a Master Producer. The producer as "ateur". One year after GWTW Selznick was the most respected producer in Hollywood. "Rebecca" by Daphne Du Maurier was considered at the time a literary classic. Noboy in 1940 viewed "Rebecca" as a Hitchcock film. That came much later, after the Frenchs!!
Thank you for sharing your thoughts. The fact that I don't agree with you does not mean that I don't respect you.
I think many viewers see "Hitchcock" and they think "Psycho" and when the film turns out to be something other than the classic Hitchcock shock-value horror or gut-wrenching suspense film, they condemn it as boring. This is just not that type of film, and if you are not willing to let it be what it is, rather than expecting it to be something other, you will be disappointed. It is a pity, however, to lose appreciation for what a good film it is, simply because of false preconceptions. Thank goodness that Selznick (if we can trust the documentaries) kept a tight rein on Hitchcock and made him stay pretty close (by Hollywood standards) to the original story.
shareI haven't seen Torn Curtain or Topaz, but I've gotta say, Under Capricorn was a really bad movie. Some of it was technically excellent, but it was just such a terrible slow-moving cookie-cutter melodrama. It was weird that the movie was supposed to be set in Australia, of all places, too. No atmospheric flavor or anything came through. Just a bomb overall.
But Rebecca's really good, and so is To Catch A Thief! Vertigo and NBNW are his best, though, I think, although Rear Window and The Man Who Knew Too Much (remake) are probably my favorites.
This film didn't have any of the surprising plot twists of Hitchcock's other work, this is true (it doesn't take long to suspect that Maxim probably killed Rebecca - the only "surprise" was that he wasn't the villain in the whole thing). On the other hand, the film has a certain atmosphere that you don't see in Hitch's more popular works (particularly the ones with Jimmy Stewart, which are completely plot-driven) with the exception of Psycho.
I also think that this movie is worth its reputation not for either of the two leads (neither Maxim nor the new Mrs. de Winter is an interesting character), but for one of Hitchcock's most disturbing female characters - Mrs. Danvers.
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It was a little slow and too melodramatic for a Hitchcock film, but I enjoyed it for what it was.
I was pretty surprised to see this thread, as Rebecca seemed to me like a movie that almost any Hitchcock fan would like. I was a little iffy about it for the first hour or so, but by the end Rebecca had fully won me over. I enjoyed it, 8/10.
Movies I've seen in 2010: http://www.flixster.com/movie-list/2010-movies-6
I think Rebecca is a classic as well as a Hitchcock classic. I would cal this film a Gothic psychological romantic-thriller. Sure, if doesn't have a scene like the shower scene in Psycho or any of the bird attacks in The Birds. But the scenes where Mrs. Danvers is talking to the 2nd Mrs. De Winter about Rebecca are quite suspenseful when you imagine how torturous it must be for the 2nd Mrs. De Winter. The scene where Mrs. Danvers almost convinces the 2nd Mrs. De Winter to jump out the window is absolutely terrifying. The music, the atmosphere, the set (with those gigantic doors!), the camerawork (where Maxim is telling his story in the cabin and the camera shows Rebecca's movements as if the ghost is really floating around) is just pure Hitchcock. I think Hitchcock was totally wrong in saying it wasn't a Hitchcock picture or that didn't have any humor (I found Fontaine to be charmingly awkward in the beginning). My only complaint is that after Maxim's big revealtion, it becomes a different movie (but not in a good way like Vertigo after Judy's revelation). Still an all-time classic and one that should be seen many times
"It's hard for me to watch American Idol because I have perfect pitch."
-Jenna, 30 Rock
The scene with Ms. Danvers and our distraught, nameless heroine, and the telling of the story of Rebecca's death are two of my favorite scenes from any Hitchcock movie.
Movies I've seen in 2010: http://www.flixster.com/movie-list/2010-movies-6
Well this thread went on much longer than expected. Its true, I still havent seen a lot of Hitchcock's early and more obscure movies so this is likely not the worst I will see. Lets change the topic to how awesome Rope is.
shareRope is a middle of the pack Hitchcock movie, for me. Okay, but I probably won't ever feel compelled to own it. I can appreciate the things about it that other people love, though.
Movies I've seen in 2011: http://www.flixster.com/movie-list/2011-movies-5