REBECCA directed by Alfred Hitchcock (USA, 1940) 
This was Hitchcock’s first American film but he was savvy enough to realise that the level of haughty condescension and understated cruelty of the key characters are best expressed by English actors Laurence Olivier as Maxim de Winter and George Sanders as his slimy rival, Jack Favell.
In this context, one could also adopt Joan Fontaine as a token Englishwoman on the basis that her parents were British.
The key American member of the cast is Judith Anderson as the scary housekeeper Mrs Danvers who is always dressed in black as though permanently mourning the death of Rebecca de Winter; Maxim’s first wife.
The official story is that Rebecca drowned in a tragic boating accident leaving her devoted husband bereft. Before the end a darker version of events emerges but not before the new Mrs de Winter (Fontaine) is driven to the brink of suicide by living in the shadow of her predecessor.
Based on a novel by Daphne du Maurier, the drama here is substantially psychological – unlike the novel, there isn’t even a single murder. This is perhaps why the movie is sometimes overlooked as one of Hitchcock’s masterpieces but the way he creates a slow building tension shows his genius. Continue reading
SHADOW OF A DOUBT directed by Alfred Hitchcock (USA, 1943)
It’s a sign of the times that two films in contention for this year’s Oscars are essentially reminders of the magic of cinema and its power to help us visualise our dreams.
Central to the story is also the appreciation of Méliès visionary films in the early 1900s, particularly Le Voyage Dans La Lune (1902). Scorsese’s reverence for the Frenchman’s innovative work is obvious and the biographical details of him are quite accurate.
Isabelle’s love of reading mirrors Hugo’s fascination for cinema. She likes to show off her wide vocabulary and so delights in using words she has learnt like “steadfast”, “covert” and “panache”. She has been brought up to find dreams in books while Hugo’s father introduced him to the wonder of movies at an early age.
