---
title: "Rebecca"
year: 1940
kind: "film"
canonical: "https://film.one/film/rebecca"
fi1m_score: 85
critics_score: 82
critics_reviews: 17
published: "2026-09-16T11:55:53.579023+00:00"
updated: "2026-09-16T11:56:11.135380+00:00"
region: "US"
licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL."
---

# Rebecca (1940)

Directed by Alfred Hitchcock · 2h 10m · MPA NR · Mystery, Romance, Thriller

**Fi1m score: 85** · Critics 82 from 17 reviews

*In a sentence:* Judith Anderson makes a house feel overcrowded by someone who is no longer there

> Alfred Hitchcock’s *Rebecca* is an absorbing, unsettling romance, with Joan Fontaine making insecurity painfully recognisable and Judith Anderson making it dangerous. The closing stretch loses some of that precision, but the unease is worth staying with.

## Synopsis

A shy woman becomes Mrs. de Winter (Joan Fontaine), the second wife of Maxim de Winter (Laurence Olivier), and tries to settle into married life at Manderley. Rebecca, his first wife, is dead, but her memory dominates the household. Mrs. Danvers (Judith Anderson) makes that memory harder to escape, and the new wife struggles to find an identity beyond being Rebecca’s replacement. She wants to feel secure in her marriage, but jealousy and the sense that she is being measured against her predecessor turn Manderley into a place where she cannot feel at home.

## Review

Alfred Hitchcock’s *Rebecca* is an absorbing romance that becomes frightening through the simple business of making a woman feel unwelcome. Adapted from Daphne du Maurier’s novel, it puts a shy second wife at Manderley, where her predecessor still dominates the household. The pleasure is in watching ordinary insecurity become difficult to distinguish from a sensible response to danger. We recommend it, with one reservation: the later changes of tone are less assured than the patient accumulation of unease.

Joan Fontaine is the reason we care what happens inside this marriage. Her Mrs. de Winter wants to belong, but her expressive face keeps betraying the uncertainty she hopes to conceal. We felt painfully embarrassed for her, because trying to look at ease seems to exhaust her. She allows the character to seem inexperienced without making her foolish, and gives her shyness enough weight to sustain our interest. Being unnamed could leave the heroine indistinct; the performance makes us attend to her face instead.

Judith Anderson’s Mrs. Danvers is frightening because the performance never asks us to enjoy her as an amusing villain. Her attachment to Rebecca has an intimacy that makes the new marriage feel like an intrusion. The film gives that attachment a troubling force without reducing it to a tidy explanation. Laurence Olivier makes Maxim de Winter attractive enough for the romance to be credible, though his forbidding manner gives us reason to worry about it. His reserve sometimes leaves Joan Fontaine doing too much of the emotional work, but it also helps explain why her character cannot simply relax.

George Barnes’s cinematography keeps Manderley shadowy and imposing, while allowing it to retain the appeal that makes the heroine’s position so uncomfortable. The polished production is useful here: this is a home she might reasonably want, and she has to live with the sense that she is spoiling it. We can understand why she suspects a failure in herself before she questions the household. Alfred Hitchcock uses the house’s grandeur to make her hesitation credible, rather than merely giving us rooms to admire.

Franz Waxman’s music strengthens the gloom, although we occasionally wanted it to leave Joan Fontaine to carry the feeling unaided. The film is already persuasive about her unhappiness, and the score can press a little too firmly. The pacing is more patient than brisk, which suits the time spent making her feel small and uncertain. At 130 minutes, though, it allows some of the later shifts to feel prolonged when they need to be decisive.

Joan Harrison and Robert E. Sherwood’s screenplay is strongest when the marriage remains difficult to read. The later movement towards explanation is less absorbing than the jealousy and embarrassment that precede it, and the change of tone takes away some of the fear. There is also a limit to the sympathy granted to the heroine: the film can seem too ready to make her accept the terms of Maxim de Winter’s unhappiness. Her anxiety has been so carefully understood that this narrowing feels ungenerous.

As a gothic romance, *Rebecca* understands the humiliating side of falling in love: affection does not automatically make someone feel entitled to be there. The worry is how readily a person can learn to accept being diminished, especially when the surroundings look so respectable. We would not take the marriage as a model, but the film takes the woman’s need for it seriously. Watch it for Joan Fontaine and Judith Anderson, with patience for the less assured closing stretch.

*Fi1m score 85, published 16 September 2026.*

## What the critics say

Most critics respond warmly to Rebecca, with praise clustering around Hitchcock’s control of suspense, the oppressive atmosphere and the performances. Joan Fontaine’s expressive portrayal of the shy second wife draws particular attention, while Judith Anderson’s Mrs Danvers is repeatedly singled out for her menace. The reviews largely admire how the adaptation develops the novel’s gothic material through its visuals and psychological detail, finding room for romance, jealousy and repression within the polished production.

Reservations concern both the storytelling and whose perspective it serves. Time Out finds the final act tonally uneven, while The Hollywood Reporter notes the slow pace and gloom despite praising the direction and cast. The spread of scores is wide, but the dissent is concentrated: sixteen of seventeen reviews are positive. Sight and Sound offers the sharpest objection, arguing that the film favours a masculine viewpoint despite its insight into obsession and repression.

### Reviews we read (17)

- **Radio Times**, Tony Sloman (5/5): The review hails the film as a sumptuous, suspenseful Best Picture winner with excellent performances, especially Joan Fontaine's, and clever handling of the source material's darker elements. [Read](https://www.radiotimes.com/movie-guide/b-mfspc5/rebecca/)
- **Empire**, Patrick Humphries (90/100, inferred): The critic calls Rebecca a masterpiece of old-fashioned filmmaking and an undoubted essential from Hitchcock, praising the performances of Laurence Olivier and Joan Fontaine along with Judith Anderson's chilling Mrs. Danvers. [Read](https://www.empireonline.com/movies/reviews/rebecca-review/)
- **Slant Magazine**, Chuck Bowen (90/100, inferred): The critic highlights the film's layers of neurosis intensified by its polish, its exploration of erotic suppression, and calls it a pivotal work in Hitchcock’s evolution as a master explorer of sexual neuroses. [Read](https://www.slantmagazine.com/dvd/rebecca-2017/)
- **The Guardian**, Peter Bradshaw (90/100, inferred): Bradshaw calls the 1940 Hitchcock film a must-see re-release that delivers sheer swooning pleasure through its melodrama, romance and extravagant menace. He praises it as a masterclass in craftsmanship, expertly opening out the novel visually and dramatically with characters who satisfyingly change over the course of the story. [Read](https://www.theguardian.com/film/2006/jun/30/alfredhitchcock.thriller)
- **The New York Times**, Frank S. Nugent (90/100, inferred): The critic calls the film an altogether brilliant, haunting, suspenseful, and handsome adaptation that succeeds thanks to Hitchcock's firm grasp of the material and the strong ensemble cast. Fontaine's expressive performance as the shy second wife is singled out for particular delight. [Read](https://www.nytimes.com/1940/03/29/archives/the-screen-splendid-film-of-du-mauriers-rebecca-is-shown-at-the.html)
- **The Times**, James Christopher (90/100, inferred): Christopher describes Hitchcock’s 1940 film as one of cinema’s great milestones and a dazzling thriller that blends gothic melodrama and psychological drama. He highlights the vertiginous plot reversals, the tension created by the cast (especially Judith Anderson as Mrs Danvers and Laurence Olivier), and calls it a vintage and superior joy. [Read](https://www.thetimes.com/travel/destinations/uk-travel/england/cornwall/rebecca-tvqdpw06w0w)
- **Los Angeles Times**, Philip K. Scheuer (85/100, inferred): The film is praised as a masterpiece of mood with exquisite production, faultless casting, and terrific Hitchcock suspense that sustains remarkably for over two hours. The dominating spirit of the dead Rebecca and the overall atmospheric recreation are highlighted as key strengths. [Read](https://www.latimes.com/archives/story/2022-09-21/from-the-archives-mood-magic-of-rebecca-re-created)
- **The New Yorker**, John C. Mosher (85/100, inferred): Hitchcock has overcome the challenges of adapting a best-seller and working with an American studio to deliver a rich, ripe, and stirring film that captures every tragic or ominous nuance. The critic singles out the atmospheric use of Joan Fontaine's looks and the menacing performance of Judith Anderson as Mrs. Danvers. [Read](https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/1940/03/30/1940-03-30-071-tny-cards-000003381)
- **The AV Club**, Keith Phipps (80/100, inferred): The review praises the film's smart extrapolation on gothic themes and Brontë novels, its psychological depth, and notes it kick-started Hitchcock's development despite not being a typical Hitchcock picture. [Read](https://www.avclub.com/rebecca-dvd-1798197126)
- **Time Out**, Ben Walters (4/5): The critic commends Hitchcock's technical mastery and recurring motifs while noting the film's tonal inconsistency in its final act and the unnamed heroine's struggle for identity. [Read](https://www.timeout.com/movies/rebecca)
- **Variety**, Variety Staff (80/100, inferred): The picture is an artistic success and one of the finest productional efforts of the year, noteworthy for its literal and somber translation of the novel with exceptional direction and portraiture. Joan Fontaine's emergence as a major screen personality and Hitchcock's assured handling of the psychological mood are singled out. [Read](https://variety.com/1940/film/reviews/rebecca-1200413156/)
- **Little White Lies**, Malcolm Ring (70/100, inferred): The review praises the film's depiction of three women transgressing traditional femininity, focusing on themes of jealousy, queer subtext, and the heroine's transformation amid Manderley's oppressive legacy. [Read](https://lwlies.com/in-praise-of/alfred-hitchcock-rebecca-transgressive-femininity)
- **The Hollywood Reporter**, THR Staff (70/100, inferred): The critic calls it an artistic masterpiece with superb performances, especially from Joan Fontaine and Judith Anderson, and effective direction by Hitchcock, but notes its gloom, slow pace, and foreign note may hurt box office. [Read](https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/general-news/rebecca-review-1940-movie-1098095/)
- **Sight and Sound**, Alison Light (30/100, inferred): The piece examines tensions between Hitchcock and producer Selznick in adapting the novel, arguing the film leans toward a masculine viewpoint despite its Gothic trappings and psychological insight into obsession and repression. [Read](https://www.bfi.org.uk/sight-and-sound/features/rebecca-alfred-hitchcock-1940-du-maurier-gothic-romance-feminine-angle)
- **The Playlist**, The Playlist Staff (A): The piece describes Rebecca as a textbook classic psychological drama and Hitchcock's first US production. It praises the film's masterfully sinister and shadowy tone while noting the influence of producer David O. Selznick. [Read](https://theplaylist.net/retrospective-the-films-of-alfred-hitchcock-pt-2-1940-1976-the-hollywood-years-20121031/)
- **Collider**, Liam Gaughan (90/100, inferred): The critic praises Hitchcock’s 1940 Rebecca as the best adaptation of the novel, noting how it develops a believable romance between the leads and devotes significant time to the character of Mrs. Danvers. It singles out the film’s atmospheric visuals and emotional depth as standout elements that later versions fail to match. [Read](https://collider.com/hitchcock-rebecca-movie/)
- **Eye for Film**, Davros (90/100, inferred): The critic calls the film unmissable and a great entry point to Hitchcock's work as an auteur. They single out Judith Anderson's performance as Mrs. Danvers for particular praise, noting how it dominates the picture. [Read](https://www.eyeforfilm.co.uk/review/rebecca-film-review-by-davros)

## Details

- **Director:** Alfred Hitchcock
- **Director:** Alfred Hitchcock
- **Screenplay:** Joan Harrison, Robert E. Sherwood
- **Novel:** Daphne du Maurier
- **Cinematography:** George Barnes
- **Music:** Franz Waxman
- **Producer:** David O. Selznick
- **Cast:** Laurence Olivier as Maxim de Winter; Joan Fontaine as Mrs. de Winter; George Sanders as Jack Favell; Judith Anderson as Mrs. Danvers; Gladys Cooper as Beatrice Lacy; Nigel Bruce as Giles Lacy; Reginald Denny as Frank Crawley; C. Aubrey Smith as Colonel Julyan
- **Runtime:** 2h 10m
- **Certificate (MPA):** NR
- **Release (the US):** 12 April 1940
- **Genres:** Mystery, Romance, Thriller

## Where to watch in the US

Not streaming, renting or buying in the US at the last check.

Also available in: IT, JP. Add `?region=XX` to this URL for another country.

## Awards

- Academy Awards 1941: Best Actor (nominated); Best Actress (nominated); Best Art Direction, Black and White (nominated); Best Director (nominated); Best Film Editing (nominated); Best Original Score (nominated); Best Special Effects (nominated); Best Supporting Actress (nominated); Best Writing, Adapted Screenplay (nominated); Best Cinematography, Black-and-White (won); Best Picture (won)

## If you liked this

- *Gaslight* (1944): Domestic cruelty and self-doubt make a handsome home difficult to endure.
- *The Innocents* (1961): Another anxious arrival at a grand house, with fear in every interpretation.
- *The Heiress* (1949): For the painful business of learning what affection may actually cost.
- *The Handmaiden* (2016), Fi1m 85: Desire and household authority collide in a more openly sensual gothic thriller. — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/film/the-handmaiden.md)
- *The Others* (2001), Fi1m 80: An imposing house and strained domestic rules sustain another carefully controlled mystery. — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/film/the-others.md)

---
© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Canonical: https://film.one/film/rebecca