Rebecca (1940)

One of my favorite films. Joan Fontaine stars as a young woman (we never learn her name) who is a paid companion for a older rich woman. While they are in Monte Carlo she meets Max deWinter, a rich man who lost his wife the previous year. The begin to spend time together on Monte and fall in love. They are married and Max takes the second Mrs deWinter to live at the family estate - Manderley. When she arrives she soon realizes that this is not the happy home she pictured and that her husband may still be in love with his first wife. The main tormenter to the second Mrs deWinter is Mrs Danvers - the maid who adored Rebecca. She makes no attempt to hide her displeasure of the new lady of the house and does everything she can to make the second wife miserable. However, things are not always what they seem and there is a twist ending to the film that is wonderful.

This is my favorite Hitchcock film. It was the only film of his to win the Oscar for Best Picture. I saw it for the first time as a little girl and just fell in love with it. I was always scared of Mrs Danvers because she seemed to be pure evil. Now as an adult I see that she is not pure evil but is, like all of us, a complex person. She feels she is doing what is right even though she is way off. Joan Fontaine and Lawrence Oliver are wonderful as the deWinters. If you love suspense movies then who must see this film.