Rebecca and the Oscars
This week, the media is full of talk about the Academy Awards and this year’s Oscar winners.
It has set us thinking about the 1940 film of Daphne du Maurier’s novel, Rebecca, starring Joan Fontaine as the Second Mrs de Winter, Laurence Olivier as Maxin and Judith Anderson as Mrs Danvers. Directed by Alfred Hitchcock and produced by David Selznick, this was the first film Hitchcock made in the US, under contract to Selznick International Pictures.
At the 13th Academy Awards held on 27th February 1941, Rebecca received eleven nominations, more than any other film, and won two Oscars: Best Picture and Best Cinematography. Rebecca was the only film directed by Hitchcock to win Best Picture. But, for David Selznick, it was a double win because his film Gone With the Wind had won the Best Picture Oscar the previous year.
March 2024.