- published: 09 Aug 2012
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Rebecca is a 1940 psychological/dramatic noir thriller directed by Alfred Hitchcock as his first American project, and his first film produced under his contract with David O. Selznick. The film's screenplay was an adaptation by Joan Harrison and Robert E. Sherwood from Philip MacDonald and Michael Hogan's adaptation of Daphne du Maurier's 1938 novel of the same name, and was produced by Selznick. It stars Laurence Olivier as the aristocratic widower Maxim de Winter, Joan Fontaine as his second wife, and Judith Anderson as the housekeeper, Mrs. Danvers.
The film is a gothic tale about the lingering memory of the title character, Maxim de Winter's dead first wife, which continues to haunt Maxim, his new bride, and Mrs. Danvers. The film won two Academy Awards, including Best Picture, out of a total 11 nominations. Olivier, Fontaine and Anderson were all Oscar nominated for their respective roles. Since the introduction of awards for actors in supporting roles, this is the only film named Best Picture that won no other Academy Award for acting, directing or writing.
Rebecca (also spelled Rebekah) (Hebrew: רִבְקָה, Modern Rivkah Tiberian Riḇqāh ISO 259-3 Ribqa, from the Hebrew ribhqeh (lit., "connection"), from Semitic root r-b-q, "to tie, couple or join" or "to secure") appears in the Hebrew Bible as the wife of Isaac and the mother of Jacob and Esau. Rebecca and Isaac were one of the three couples buried in the Cave of the Patriarchs, the other two being Abraham and Sarah, and Jacob and Leah.
According to the account in the Book of Genesis, Rebecca was the wife of Isaac and the sister of Laban, who would later become the father of Rachel and Leah, two of the wives of Rebecca's son Jacob.
The news of her birth was told to her great-uncle Abraham after he returned from Akeidat Yitzchak (the Binding of Isaac), the episode in which Abraham was told by God to bring Isaac as a sacrifice on a mountain.
After the Binding of Isaac, Sarah, Abraham's wife, died. After taking care of her burial, Abraham went about finding a wife for his son Isaac, who was already thirty-seven years old. He commanded his servant (whom the Torah commentators identify as Eliezer of Damascus) to journey to his birthplace of Aram Naharaim to select a bride from his own family, rather than engage Isaac to a local Canaanite girl. Abraham sent along expensive jewelry, clothing and dainties as gifts to the bride and her family. If the girl had refused to follow him, Abraham stated that Eliezer would be absolved of his responsibility.
The year 1940 in film involved some significant events, including the premieres of the Walt Disney classics Pinocchio and Fantasia.
* After theatrical reissues
U.S.A. unless stated