The 1940 film is based on Daphne du Maurier's 1938 novel Rebecca. Directed by Alfred Hitchcock, it was nominated for 11 Academy Awards, and won two. From Wikipedia:
A naïve young woman (Joan Fontaine), whose name is never mentioned, is in Monte Carlo working as a paid companion to Edythe Van Hopper (Florence Bates) when she meets the aristocratic but brooding widower Maximilian "Maxim" de Winter (Laurence Olivier). They fall in love, and within two weeks they are married.
She is now the second "Mrs. de Winter"; Maxim takes her back to Manderley, his country house in Cornwall. The housekeeper, Mrs. Danvers (Judith Anderson), is domineering and cold, and is obsessed with the beauty, intelligence and sophistication of the first Mrs. de Winter, the eponymous Rebecca, preserving her former bedroom as a shrine. Rebecca's so-called "cousin", Jack Favell (George Sanders), visits the house while Maxim is away.
The new Mrs. de Winter is intimidated by her responsibilities and begins to doubt her relationship with her husband. The continuous reminders of Rebecca overwhelm her; she believes that Maxim is still deeply in love with his first wife. She also discovers that her husband sometimes becomes very angry at her for apparently insignificant actions.
There was this interview with Ms. du Maurier that took place in late 30's or early 40's, and she was asked what was the second Mrs. DeWinters name?
ReplyDeleteEveryone was stumped. Then she answered "Mrs. DeWinter".
I never noticed before this that she didn't have one.