Tonight on Arte: Hitchcock Galleries on the Set of Rebecca

If Alfred Hitchcock is the only director of Rebecca, we have to admit that the film had a lot of difficulties with the ending. Filming will not be easy due to disagreements with his producer. and because.

In 1939, Alfred Hitchcock had just made La Taverne de la Jamaïque, based on the novel by Daphne du Maurier, and after an aborted project, hired producer David O. Selznick to deliver another book by the author. Rebecca. And as usual, “Hitch” revisits the original story.

He keeps the original idea of ​​a dead woman whose traces are still visible in the lives of those close to him and follows his version. It was the way he worked in the UK and he has no intention of changing it when he comes to the US. Except Selznick, who bought the rights to the book, wants to see the book brought to the screen, not a reimagining of it.

He wrote to Hitchcock on June 12, 1939 that his treatment of the story was “distorted and vulgarized”. The novel is a bestseller, and he says it’s important to give fans of the book what they expect from it.

Then how do two men get between two opposing visions. Important to Selznick, in addition to respecting the book, is that he wants the main character, played by Joan Fontaine, to be as strong as in the original story. So he directs his principal to do what he wants.

Hitchcock, who had just arrived from Great Britain and left part of his family behind when the war broke out, suddenly felt vulnerable. He reacts by shooting only what he needs for the final cut. With editing already in mind, he shoots with strings so that Selznick can make no other edits than his own.

He also manages to disprove some of Selznick’s suggestions, such as that the smoke from the last fire draws an “R”. Hitchcock prefers to display this “R” embroidered on a fiery earring.

In the end, the producer and the director constantly make compromises, and the final film, which follows the footsteps of both, will collect 11 Oscar nominations, and will win the statuette for Best Picture and Best Cinematography. Hitchcock lost Best Director to John Ford for The Grapes of Wrath.

Rebecca Hitchcock sets foot in Hollywood, but the director steps away for a while with the thriller Correspondent 17 and the joys of marriage. She will return to him with a shadow of a doubt and doubt, which will bring Joan Fontaine (star of Rebecca) the Oscar for best actress.

A remake was released on Netflix in 2020, but lacked the impact of the original film.