Rebecca (1997 film)
Encyclopedia
Rebecca is a 1997
British
/German
miniseries
directed by Jim O'Brien. The teleplay
by Arthur Hopcraft
is based on the 1938 novel of the same name
by Daphne du Maurier
.
The miniseries was filmed for Carlton Television
by Portman Productions in association with WGBH
and Tele München. It was broadcast in the United States
as a presentation of Masterpiece Theatre
on PBS.
in 1927, Maxim de Winter meets the young and somewhat naive British companion of Mrs. Van Hopper, a typical Ugly American
whose bout with influenza
frees the girl - who, as in the original novel, is never identified by name - to spend time with the wealthy widower. When Mrs. Van Hopper announces plans to return to New York City
, Max proposes to the girl and brings her to his Cornwall
coast estate known as Manderley. There a large household staff is supervised by Mrs. Danvers, who was devoted to Max's first wife Rebecca, the victim of a sailing accident some ten months before, whose battered body was discovered forty miles up the coast and identified by her distraught husband.
The new Mrs. de Winter feels overwhelmed by the vast manor, and Mrs. Danvers does nothing to put her at ease, although she finds a friend in Frank Crawley, who oversees the estate. The young bride's discomfort with her new lifestyle isn't helped by the fact the memory of Rebecca has a strong hold on Mandereley and all of its inhabitants and visitors. Lacking self-confidence, she commits one faux pas
after another until she is convinced Max is still deeply in love with his seemingly perfect first wife and regrets his impetuous decision to marry his second one. She is also curious about a cottage on the beach and Ben, a dimwitted scavenger who constantly assures her he has said nothing and begs her not to commit him to the asylum, references the girl doesn't understand.
Max's sister Beatrice and brother-in-law Giles convince him to revive his custom of hosting an annual costume ball at the estate, Mrs. Danvers suggests Mrs. de Winter replicate a dress worn by a family ancestor in a portrait hanging in the gallery. The girl complies, unaware the same costume was worn by Rebecca to much acclaim shortly before her death the previous year. When Max sees her descend the staircase just before the arrival of their guests, he furiously demands she change into a different dress.
In the early morning hours after the ball, Mrs. Danvers openly displays her contempt for the second Mrs. de Winter by taking her on a tour of Rebecca's bedroom, which she has maintained as a shrine. Showing the young girl Rebecca's wardrobe and luxurious possessions, she tells her she will never be worthy of replacing her former mistress, and she encourages her to commit suicide
by jumping out the window to the stone patio far below. Her manipulations are interrupted by a distress signal from a ship that has crashed on the reef just off the coast.
Divers hired to investigate damage to the hull of the ship discover the remains of Rebecca's boat with a body in the locked cabin. When it is raised, the body is identified as that of Rebecca by her jewelry and dress, and it is discovered that holes had been drilled deliberately in the bottom, causing it to sink.
Max confesses to his bride he strangled Rebecca in the beach cottage when she taunted him with the news she was pregnant and the child wasn't his. He locked her body in the cabin of her boat, sailed it offshore, drove holes into its blanks, and then escaped on the dinghy
, and when a body washed ashore up the coast, he intentionally misidentified it. He confesses he never loved Rebecca, revealing she was a vile woman who made a mockery of their marriage by consorting with numerous men of low character in a flat she kept in London
and the cottage she maintained on the beach specifically for her many tryst
s.
A subsequent inquest concludes with a verdict of suicide, but Rebecca's cousin Jack Favell is unconvinced. He has a note from Rebecca urging him to join her at the beach cottage on the night she died because she had something important to tell him. Jack reveals he was Rebecca's lover and suspects she was pregnant with his child, a fact uncovered by Max, prompting him to kill her. He attempts to blackmail
Max, who refuses his demands.
A notation in Rebecca's appointment book leads them to a doctor she visited on the day she died. He reveals Rebecca was riddled with cancer
and had only months to live, thus supporting the verdict of suicide. Max realizes she intentionally misled him into believing she was expecting another man's child in order to spur him to kill her in a murderous rage.
Upon returning to Manderley, Max and his wife discover the estate is in flames, the fire set by a vengeful and despairing Mrs. Danvers. Max races upstairs to rescue the woman from Rebecca's bedroom. Though he manages to make it to the bedroom and retrieve Mrs. Danvers, he stumbles on the way back down. Mrs. Danvers' fate is unclear. In an epilogue
set ten years later, we learn Max walks with a limp and is scarred slightly as a result of his heroic action. Having lost Manderley and choosing not to rebuild it, Mr. and Mrs de Winter now live a quiet life in a small hotel, seemingly free of Rebecca's hold.
, the character of Rebecca never is seen. In the miniseries, she is shown from behind, and there are frequent flashes of her eyes and mouth (courtesy of Lucy Cohu
), although her full face never is revealed.
The miniseries was filmed on location in Charlestown
in Cornwall, the Luton Hoo
Estate in Bedfordshire
, Mothecombe House in Devon
, and Rotherfield Park in Hampshire
. Interiors were shot in Shepperton Studios
.
1997 in television
The year 1997 in television involved some significant events.Below is a list of television-related events in 1997.- Events :-Debuts:-Miniseries:*Knots Landing: Back to the Cul-de-Sac, a reunion of the 1979–93 series*The Last Don...
British
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
/German
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
miniseries
Miniseries
A miniseries , in a serial storytelling medium, is a television show production which tells a story in a limited number of episodes. The exact number is open to interpretation; however, they are usually limited to fewer than a whole season. The term "miniseries" is generally a North American term...
directed by Jim O'Brien. The teleplay
Screenplay
A screenplay or script is a written work that is made especially for a film or television program. Screenplays can be original works or adaptations from existing pieces of writing. In them, the movement, actions, expression, and dialogues of the characters are also narrated...
by Arthur Hopcraft
Arthur Hopcraft
Arthur Hopcraft was an English scriptwriter, well known for his TV plays such as The Nearly Man, and for his small-screen adaptations such as Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy, Hard Times, Bleak House, and Rebecca...
is based on the 1938 novel of the same name
Rebecca (novel)
Rebecca is a novel by Daphne du Maurier. When Rebecca was published in 1938, du Maurier became – to her great surprise – one of the most popular authors of the day. Rebecca is considered to be one of her best works...
by Daphne du Maurier
Daphne du Maurier
Dame Daphne du Maurier, Lady Browning DBE was a British author and playwright.Many of her works have been adapted into films, including the novels Rebecca and Jamaica Inn and the short stories "The Birds" and "Don't Look Now". The first three were directed by Alfred Hitchcock.Her elder sister was...
.
The miniseries was filmed for Carlton Television
Carlton Television
Carlton Television was the ITV franchise holder for London and the surrounding counties including the cities of Solihull and Coventry of the West Midlands, south Suffolk, middle and east Hampshire, Oxfordshire, south Bedfordshire, south Northamptonshire, parts of Herefordshire & Worcestershire,...
by Portman Productions in association with WGBH
WGBH-TV
WGBH-TV, channel 2, is a non-commercial educational public television station located in Boston, Massachusetts, USA. WGBH-TV is a member station of the Public Broadcasting Service , and produces more than two-thirds of PBS's national prime time television programming...
and Tele München. It was broadcast in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
as a presentation of Masterpiece Theatre
Masterpiece Theatre
Masterpiece is a drama anthology television series produced by WGBH Boston. It premiered on Public Broadcasting Service on January 10, 1971, making it America's longest-running weekly prime time drama series. The series has presented numerous acclaimed British productions...
on PBS.
Synopsis
While vacationing in Monte CarloMonte Carlo
Monte Carlo is an administrative area of the Principality of Monaco....
in 1927, Maxim de Winter meets the young and somewhat naive British companion of Mrs. Van Hopper, a typical Ugly American
Ugly American
Ugly American is an epithet used to refer to perceptions of loud, arrogant, demeaning, thoughtless and ethnocentric behavior of American citizens mainly abroad, but also at home...
whose bout with influenza
Influenza
Influenza, commonly referred to as the flu, is an infectious disease caused by RNA viruses of the family Orthomyxoviridae , that affects birds and mammals...
frees the girl - who, as in the original novel, is never identified by name - to spend time with the wealthy widower. When Mrs. Van Hopper announces plans to return to New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
, Max proposes to the girl and brings her to his Cornwall
Cornwall
Cornwall is a unitary authority and ceremonial county of England, within the United Kingdom. It is bordered to the north and west by the Celtic Sea, to the south by the English Channel, and to the east by the county of Devon, over the River Tamar. Cornwall has a population of , and covers an area of...
coast estate known as Manderley. There a large household staff is supervised by Mrs. Danvers, who was devoted to Max's first wife Rebecca, the victim of a sailing accident some ten months before, whose battered body was discovered forty miles up the coast and identified by her distraught husband.
The new Mrs. de Winter feels overwhelmed by the vast manor, and Mrs. Danvers does nothing to put her at ease, although she finds a friend in Frank Crawley, who oversees the estate. The young bride's discomfort with her new lifestyle isn't helped by the fact the memory of Rebecca has a strong hold on Mandereley and all of its inhabitants and visitors. Lacking self-confidence, she commits one faux pas
Faux pas
A faux pas is a violation of accepted social norms . Faux pas vary widely from culture to culture, and what is considered good manners in one culture can be considered a faux pas in another...
after another until she is convinced Max is still deeply in love with his seemingly perfect first wife and regrets his impetuous decision to marry his second one. She is also curious about a cottage on the beach and Ben, a dimwitted scavenger who constantly assures her he has said nothing and begs her not to commit him to the asylum, references the girl doesn't understand.
Max's sister Beatrice and brother-in-law Giles convince him to revive his custom of hosting an annual costume ball at the estate, Mrs. Danvers suggests Mrs. de Winter replicate a dress worn by a family ancestor in a portrait hanging in the gallery. The girl complies, unaware the same costume was worn by Rebecca to much acclaim shortly before her death the previous year. When Max sees her descend the staircase just before the arrival of their guests, he furiously demands she change into a different dress.
In the early morning hours after the ball, Mrs. Danvers openly displays her contempt for the second Mrs. de Winter by taking her on a tour of Rebecca's bedroom, which she has maintained as a shrine. Showing the young girl Rebecca's wardrobe and luxurious possessions, she tells her she will never be worthy of replacing her former mistress, and she encourages her to commit suicide
Suicide
Suicide is the act of intentionally causing one's own death. Suicide is often committed out of despair or attributed to some underlying mental disorder, such as depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, alcoholism, or drug abuse...
by jumping out the window to the stone patio far below. Her manipulations are interrupted by a distress signal from a ship that has crashed on the reef just off the coast.
Divers hired to investigate damage to the hull of the ship discover the remains of Rebecca's boat with a body in the locked cabin. When it is raised, the body is identified as that of Rebecca by her jewelry and dress, and it is discovered that holes had been drilled deliberately in the bottom, causing it to sink.
Max confesses to his bride he strangled Rebecca in the beach cottage when she taunted him with the news she was pregnant and the child wasn't his. He locked her body in the cabin of her boat, sailed it offshore, drove holes into its blanks, and then escaped on the dinghy
Dinghy
A dinghy is a type of small boat, often carried or towed for use as a ship's boat by a larger vessel. It is a loanword from either Bengali or Urdu. The term can also refer to small racing yachts or recreational open sailing boats. Utility dinghies are usually rowboats or have an outboard motor,...
, and when a body washed ashore up the coast, he intentionally misidentified it. He confesses he never loved Rebecca, revealing she was a vile woman who made a mockery of their marriage by consorting with numerous men of low character in a flat she kept in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
and the cottage she maintained on the beach specifically for her many tryst
Tryst
Tryst may refer to:*A meeting of two lovers, as in courtship*Tryst , a book by Elswyth Thane*Tryst , a play by Karoline Leach*A nightclub at the Wynn Las Vegas hotel...
s.
A subsequent inquest concludes with a verdict of suicide, but Rebecca's cousin Jack Favell is unconvinced. He has a note from Rebecca urging him to join her at the beach cottage on the night she died because she had something important to tell him. Jack reveals he was Rebecca's lover and suspects she was pregnant with his child, a fact uncovered by Max, prompting him to kill her. He attempts to blackmail
Blackmail
In common usage, blackmail is a crime involving threats to reveal substantially true or false information about a person to the public, a family member, or associates unless a demand is met. It may be defined as coercion involving threats of physical harm, threat of criminal prosecution, or threats...
Max, who refuses his demands.
A notation in Rebecca's appointment book leads them to a doctor she visited on the day she died. He reveals Rebecca was riddled with cancer
Cancer
Cancer , known medically as a malignant neoplasm, is a large group of different diseases, all involving unregulated cell growth. In cancer, cells divide and grow uncontrollably, forming malignant tumors, and invade nearby parts of the body. The cancer may also spread to more distant parts of the...
and had only months to live, thus supporting the verdict of suicide. Max realizes she intentionally misled him into believing she was expecting another man's child in order to spur him to kill her in a murderous rage.
Upon returning to Manderley, Max and his wife discover the estate is in flames, the fire set by a vengeful and despairing Mrs. Danvers. Max races upstairs to rescue the woman from Rebecca's bedroom. Though he manages to make it to the bedroom and retrieve Mrs. Danvers, he stumbles on the way back down. Mrs. Danvers' fate is unclear. In an epilogue
Epilogue
An epilogue, epilog or afterword is a piece of writing at the end of a work of literature or drama, usually used to bring closure to the work...
set ten years later, we learn Max walks with a limp and is scarred slightly as a result of his heroic action. Having lost Manderley and choosing not to rebuild it, Mr. and Mrs de Winter now live a quiet life in a small hotel, seemingly free of Rebecca's hold.
Production
In the 1940 film adaptation of the Du Maurier novel directed by Alfred HitchcockAlfred Hitchcock
Sir Alfred Joseph Hitchcock, KBE was a British film director and producer. He pioneered many techniques in the suspense and psychological thriller genres. After a successful career in British cinema in both silent films and early talkies, Hitchcock moved to Hollywood...
, the character of Rebecca never is seen. In the miniseries, she is shown from behind, and there are frequent flashes of her eyes and mouth (courtesy of Lucy Cohu
Lucy Cohu
Lucy Cohu is an award-winning English stage and film actress, known for portraying Princess Margaret in The Queen's Sister, Evelyn Brogan in Cape Wrath and Alice Carter in Torchwood: Children of Earth.-Background:...
), although her full face never is revealed.
The miniseries was filmed on location in Charlestown
Charlestown, Cornwall
Charlestown is a village and port on the south coast of Cornwall, United Kingdom, in the parish of St Austell Bay. It is situated approximately south east of St Austell town centre....
in Cornwall, the Luton Hoo
Luton Hoo
Luton Hoo straddles the Hertfordshire and Bedfordshire borders between the towns of Harpenden and Luton. The unusual name "Hoo" is a Saxon word meaning the spur of a hill, and is more commonly associated with East Anglia.- Early History :...
Estate in Bedfordshire
Bedfordshire
Bedfordshire is a ceremonial county of historic origin in England that forms part of the East of England region.It borders Cambridgeshire to the north-east, Northamptonshire to the north, Buckinghamshire to the west and Hertfordshire to the south-east....
, Mothecombe House in Devon
Devon
Devon is a large county in southwestern England. The county is sometimes referred to as Devonshire, although the term is rarely used inside the county itself as the county has never been officially "shired", it often indicates a traditional or historical context.The county shares borders with...
, and Rotherfield Park in Hampshire
Hampshire
Hampshire is a county on the southern coast of England in the United Kingdom. The county town of Hampshire is Winchester, a historic cathedral city that was once the capital of England. Hampshire is notable for housing the original birthplaces of the Royal Navy, British Army, and Royal Air Force...
. Interiors were shot in Shepperton Studios
Shepperton Studios
Shepperton Studios is a film studio in Shepperton, Surrey, England with a history dating back to 1931 since when many notable films have been made there...
.
Principal cast
- Charles DanceCharles DanceWalter Charles Dance, OBE is an English actor, screenwriter and director. Dance typically plays assertive bureaucrats or villains. His most famous roles are Guy Perron in The Jewel in the Crown , Dr Clemens, the doctor of penitentiary Fury 161, who becomes Ellen Ripley's confidante in Alien 3 ,...
..... Maxim de Winter - Emilia FoxEmilia FoxEmilia Rose Elizabeth Fox is an award-winning English actress, known for her role as Dr. Nikki Alexander on BBC crime drama Silent Witness, having joined the cast in 2004 following the departure of Amanda Burton. She also appears as Morgause in the BBC's Merlin beginning in the programme's second...
..... Mrs. de Winter - Diana RiggDiana RiggDame Enid Diana Elizabeth Rigg, DBE is an English actress. She is probably best known for her portrayals of Emma Peel in The Avengers and Countess Teresa di Vicenzo in the 1969 James Bond film On Her Majesty's Secret Service....
..... Mrs. Danvers - Geraldine JamesGeraldine JamesGeraldine James, OBE is an English actress.-Early life and family:James was born in Maidenhead, Berkshire, to a cardiologist father...
..... Beatrice - Denis LillDenis LillDenis Lill is a New Zealand-born British actor.Some of his many film and television roles include Fall of Eagles , Edward the Seventh , Survivors , The Scarlet Pimpernel , as William Knox d-Arcy, the Australian oil pioneer in Persia, in Reilly: Ace of Spies , Rumpole of the Bailey , Mapp &...
..... Giles - Tom ChadbonTom ChadbonTom Chadbon is an English actor, who has spent the larger part of his career appearing on British television. While principally a character actor, he has occasionally had leading or recurring roles....
..... Frank Crawley - Jonathan Cake ..... Jack Favell
- John Branwell ..... Ben
- Faye DunawayFaye DunawayFaye Dunaway is an American actress.Dunaway won an Academy Award for Best Actress for her performance in Network after receiving previous nominations for the critically acclaimed films Bonnie and Clyde and Chinatown...
..... Mrs. Van Hopper