David Selznick tested Anne Baxter for the role and Larry Olivier wanted his love Vivien Leigh to star as Rebecca but David Selznick and Hitchcock cast -correctly in my estimation-Fonaine.
David Selznick was a great producer and thru his efforts 3 of his stars got Oscars
Vivien Leigh Gone With The Wind
Joan Fontaine Rebecca
Ingrid bergman Gaslight
Jennifer Jones Song of Bernadette
Larry Olivier wanted his love Vivien Leigh to star as Rebecca
She was perfect in that part, just like she was fantastic in Suspicion, which I saw for the first time a couple of days ago. I want to see more of her in film noir.
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💕 JimHutton (1934-79) and ElleryQueen 👍
I want to see more of her in film noir.
Oh yes, I did track down a couple of those and I enjoyed them. However, none of them really stuck with me.
I have really been enjoying her in Letter From an Unknown Woman. There's a film which I can watch over and over again.
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Jim Hutton (1934-79) & Ellery Queen 🎇
The OP errs in saying Ms. Fontaine won the Oscar for Rebecca. It was actually Suspicion that she won it for.
As for other Fontaine roles, The Constant Nymph was very impressive as was Letter From an Unknown Woman. But the list is longer than that. I thought she was also great in Jane Eyre, opposite Orson Welles. A less well known film This Above All suffers from a kind of WWII rah rah patriotism that wears somewhat less than perfectly, but Ms. Fontaine is both excellent in acting and visually stunning in it. She also had a small but memorable role in The Women (although imo Rosalind Russell stole that film).
I intend to see more films with Ms. Fontaine.
Leigh would have been very wrong as the second Mrs. De Winter. Anne Baxter? Maybe. But Fontaine was perfect.
shareI've seen Leigh's screen test, it's probably up on youtube. She SUCKED!!!
Fontaine understood what it was to be out of her depth and painfully insecure, and Leigh just didn't. In her test she's limp and lifeless, presumably because in real life she was beautiful, intelligent, passionate, and vivacious, and had no clue what it was like to feel like she wasn't good enough! Of course I have no idea what Fontaine's real emotional state was like, but the fact is, her performance vibrates with an awkward intensity that really draws the viewer in.
And BTW she won her Oscar for another film, but that's commonly referred to as a "make-up Oscar", where the AMPAS voters realized they'd made a mistake and awarded the Oscar she deserved to someone else.
I have heard that Laurence Olivier was quite brusque with Joan Fontaine on set because there was a creeping resentment about his wife not getting the part. Also Hitchcock encouraged this and was brusque with her himself. I suppose as he saw it this behavior towards her would illicit an uncomfortable mindset in Joan Fontaine. This may have contributed to her excellent portrayal of a vulnerable and harassed Mrs De Winter. Not that I would want to take anything away from her acting ability because she proved that in other films.
shareFontaine didn't win for Rebecca. She won the following year for Suspicion, which Selznick didn't produce. Do your homework.
I agree she was wonderful in this.
I noticed even her posture changed. She was slightly hunched over at the beginning, when that tiresome biddy is bossing her around and berating her. At the turning point, when she stands up to "Danni," she stands tall and erect. Her face changes, too.
Not to detract from Judith Anderson. I sense Mel Brooks used her character as a basis for Nurse Diesel in "High Anxiety."