Whenever a movie is made of a favorite book I'm always torn. I'm so excited that I'll get to see my favorite story acted out but on the other hand what if it's terrible? It would ruin the experience! Many times the movie will divert from the original storyline and sometimes it's tolerable and sometimes it's terrible. I would say that just about every time the book is better than the movie. But, a side by side comparison will also show the movie is not so bad.
This is one of my favorite stories and a favorite movie as well. The novel was released in 1938 and in 1940 Alfred Hitchcock adapted it to the big screen. The movie won two Academy Awards, one of which was Best Picture.
This is the story of the unnamed narrator, a young girl in the service of the odious Mrs. Van Hopper. While the two are in Monte Carlo the narrator meets the mysterious Maxim de Winter. Rumors abound over the secretive aristocrat who lost his wife in a sailing accident. After only a few weeks Maxim proposes marriage and the narrator goes to live with him at his Cornwall manor, Manderly. There the new Mrs. De Winter receives a chilly welcome at best from the residents of Manderly; her greatest advesary lies in the frightening Mrs. Danvers, the former companion and confidante of the late Rebecca De Winter.
Was the first Mrs. De Winter a perfect wife and socialite, a paragon of virtues who managed to make every one like her? Worse, is Maxim still in love with her?
Or...was she evil, distant, and up to something sinister that still lingers at Manderly even after her death.
Thrilling both psychologically and physically, the only difference between the movie and book was one alteration of the events. The Hollywood Production Code had requirements that demanded that change of the event, but the ending remains somewhat the same.
Hitchcock adapted the film wonderfully, Joan Fontaine is the perfect second Mrs. De Winter. It's hard to live up to the shadow of the first wife, especially when no one will say anything about her.
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