The Hewitt Times

“Last night I dreamt I went to Manderley again” is the iconic opening of Daphne Du Maurier’s 1938 romantic suspense novel Rebecca. Rebecca was also adapted into a movie, and it was directed by Alfred Hitchcock. Rebecca was nominated for eleven Academy Awards and won two: Best Picture and Best Cinematography.  In the movie, the same line, “Last night I dreamt I went to Manderley again,” is used as the opening. After this line, the reader or viewer is immediately drawn into the mystery of Manderley – What is Manderley? Why did the speaker leave? And why did she dream of returning?

I was ecstatic to learn that Rebecca is being adapted into a musical, which is set to open on April 22, 2012. The New York Times has already announced that Tam Mutu and Sierra Boggess will take on the leading roles. Coincidentally, these actors worked together previously in the musical sequel to The Phantom of the Opera, Love Never Dies. As you may know from my previous article, I am obsessed with The Phantom of the Opera, and I am so thrilled that there will be a link between my love of Phantom and my new love of Rebecca, which I plan to see in the theater on opening night!

The story of Rebecca revolves around a young woman, whose name we never know, who marries a rich and well-known man by the name of Maxim de Winter after knowing him for only several weeks. The new, young Mrs. de Winter soon learns that Maxim had a wife before her, a woman named Rebecca who was adored by everyone. The previous year, Rebecca had a boating accident and drowned, and Maxim has seemed to be extremely distraught ever since.

Mrs. de Winter moves to Manderley, her husband’s estate, where she attempts to become the new Mrs. De Winter–a fearless, talented, and confident woman. But Mrs. de Winter–a young, unsure, innocent woman–simply lacks these traits and is therefore unable to run Manderley as successfully as Rebecca once did. She also has to deal with the head housekeeper, Mrs. Danvers, who was especially fond of Rebecca. Mrs. Danvers will do anything… from humiliating Mrs. de Winter in front of Maxim to trying to convince her to commit suicide by jumping out of a window… to get Mrs. de Winter out of Rebecca’s once-held spot at Manderley. Mrs. Danvers even goes so far as to tell Mrs. de Winter that jumping to her death is “a quick kind of way [to die]. It’s not like drowning,” intimating that she would have a much easier death than poor Rebecca.

Meanwhile, Mrs. de Winter struggles with her own uncertainty and lack of self-confidence. She has convinced herself that Maxim still loves Rebecca and only married her because he was lonely. As Mrs. de Winter continues to live at Manderley, the secrets behind Rebecca and her death slowly start to unravel until the shocking and unbelievable truth is revealed.

Alfred Hitchcock directed the movie version of Rebecca in 1940, starring Laurence Olivier as Maxim de Winter and Joan Fontaine as the second Mrs. de Winter. The movie was filmed in black and white, and Hitchcock used this to his advantage. He consistently used light and shadows to represent good and evil, respectively; however, this also added to the mystery of the story because some of the characters were represented with both light and dark (for example, a person would have a dark shadow or wear a dark outfit while holding a very bright light), leaving the viewers unsure about the true motives of those characters. In addition, throughout Manderley, Mrs. de Winter frequently sees the letter R, representing Rebecca, whether it’s embroidered on a pillowcase, or written on the cover of a book, representing her never-ending battle to escape the legacy and mystery of Rebecca.

In my opinion, all of the actors in the movie did a fabulous job of portraying the depth of their characters; however, some of the appearances and personalities of the characters differ between the book and the movie. For example, in the book, Mrs. Danvers is described as an older woman who is “tall and gaunt, dressed in deep black, whose prominent cheek-bones and great, hollow eyes gave her a skull’s face, parchment-white, set on a skeleton’s frame.” Meanwhile, in the movie, she is younger, has less of a “skeleton” appearance, and is portrayed as more resentful than cold. In the book, Rebecca’s cousin, Jack Favell, who plays an integral role in the story, has “the hot blue eyes usually associated with heavy drinking and loose living. His hair was reddish like his skin. In a few years he would run to fat, his neck bulging over the back of his collar.” In the movie, however, Favell is handsome and slick; he is less of a drunkard and has only a hint of dubious moral character.

I was very pleased that Hitchcock accurately followed Daphne du Maurier’s brilliant story while adding a touch of his own. According to the book The Films of Alfred Hitchcock by Neil Sinyard, “Hitchcock elaborates [the basic story outline] with typically offbeat details… [For example,] Mrs. Danvers is made particularly sinister by the strict, dehumanized choreography of her almost inaudible movements.” In addition, Hitchcock contrasts Mrs. de Winter’s growing uneasiness in Manderley by including “a splendidly shot scene where pictures from a home movie of [Mr. and Mrs. de Winter’s] idyllic honeymoon counterpoint the de Winters’ marital bickering.” Hitchcock’s directing choices truly brought du Maurier’s story to life while adding eeriness and suspense, in visual form, to the already-suspenseful content of the book.

After reading the book Rebecca, I immediately wanted to read more of Daphne du Maurier’s works (I have already started reading some of her short stories, including “The Blue Lenses,” which I found particularly interesting.). The movie has inspired me to see more of Alfred Hitchcock’s movies as well. I am now going to go on a Daphne du Maurier and Alfred Hitchcock escapade, one on which I strongly encourage you to embark with me.