Rebecca

by Patricia White

The 1940 film adaptation of Daphne du Maurier's gothic romance Rebecca begins by echoing the novel's famous opening line, 'Last night I dreamt I went to Manderley again.' Patricia White takes the theme of return as her starting point for an exploration of the film's enduring power. Drawing on archival research, she shows how the production and reception history of Rebecca , the first fruit of the collaboration between Hollywood movie producer David O. Selznick and British director Alfred Hitchcock, is marked by the traces of women's contributions.

White provides a rich analysis of the film, addressing the gap between perception and reality that is constantly in play in the gothic romance, and highlighting the queer erotics circulating around 'I' (the heroine), Mrs Danvers, and the dead but ever-present Rebecca. Her discussion of the film's afterlives emphasizes the lasting aesthetic impact of this dark masterpiece of memory and desire, while her attention to its remakes and sequels speaks to the ongoing relevance of its vision of gender and power.

Genres: Film, Nonfiction

120 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2021

About the author

Librarian Note: There is more than one author by this name in the Goodreads database.

Patricia White is Professor of Film and Media Studies at Swarthmore College. She is the author of Uninvited: Classical Hollywood Cinema and Lesbian Representability, coauthor of The Film Experience, and co-editor of Critical Visions in Film Theory. She has worked extensively with Women Make Movies and the journal Camera Obscura: Feminism, Culture, and Media Studies.

Reviews

[Alexander Peterhans · Rating 4 out of 5]

Yet another title in the venerable BFI Film Classics series of books examening, well, classic films, and I was surprised to see that Hitchcock's Rebecca hadn't been covered before. So I decided to first read Daphne du Maurier's original novel, then rewatch Rebecca (and I also watched Ben Wheatley's new Netflix version).

Spoilers for both the novel and the film from hereon out.

I loved du Maurier's novel, with its rippling subversiveness regarding the traditional role of women in the UK and female relationships, and having the reader more or less sympathise with the narrator and her murderous husband. Watching the film, it is notable that a lot of the novel's subversive elements are forced out by Hollywood's censorship board - Maxim's murder is now manslaughter, and any hints at lesbianism are pushed down (although not completely). But the film is a classic for a reason - Hitchcock correctly saw that Manderley was a character in itself, and Judith Anderson is a perfect Mrs. Danvers.

And so we come to Patricia White's Rebecca, which consists of three parts. First she looks at Rebecca's story, and the production of the film. Here she takes special care to shine a light on the role of female authorship on the film - the many women who worked on the production and had a great amount of influence on it, while practically being forgotten (a recurring theme on many a Hitchcock production). She focuses especially on screenwriter Joan Harrison and the uncredited Alma Reville (Hitchcock's wife).

The second part consists of a close reading of Rebecca's key elements, being the absent and always present Rebecca, and the underlying erotic tension. The third part looks at the reception of the film, and how it is perceived now, how it is being remade and the influence on other works.

I enjoyed the book's focus on the role of gothic architecture on the film, and its focus on lesbian relationships - something I noticed, but didn't think about very much. The book is filled with interesting observations - for example, in the scene where Mrs. Danvers basically forces the new Mrs. de Winter to look at Rebecca's garderobe, that a lot of what Mrs. Danvers to show her is related to fetish objects.

If I had one bit of very practical criticism, it is that White has decided to refer to the unnamed main character as 'I'. It's not impossible or hard to parse the text, but it did trip me up a couple of times. It just slows down the flow of reading. A minor annoyance.

If you basically view the film as a gothic romance, you might be unpleasantly surprised by this book - but then I can't really imagine seeing Rebecca as no more than that. A valuable addition.

(Thanks to Bloomsbury Academic for providing me with a review copy through NetGalley)

[Natalie all_books_great_and_small · Rating 4 out of 5]

I received an advance reader copy of this book to read in exchange for an honest review via netgalley and the publishers.

Rebecca is a book based on the film adaptation of Rebecca produced by Alfred Hitchcock.
I cannot recall ever seeing a book like this about Rebecca by Daphne Daurier before so I jumped at the chance to read and review this book! I was not disappointed and absolutely delighted in the gothic architecture produced!
I adore the book Rebecca and it is one of my favourite books however I have never watched the film adaptation in fear of it not living up to the book.
Upon reading this I depicted that the cast seem to have done a splendid job of reproducing the book onto film and I'm actually really looking forward to now watching the original film!
The book is divided into three main parts: Rebecca's story with the film production, the key elements of the story and then the way the film is perceived and how it impacts on other works made since.
Such an interesting book and definitely worth a read.

[Nicki Markus · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have been a big fan of Rebecca ever since I first saw the 1940 film and read the book in my teens. There is just something so captivating about the story. This exploration of the film by Patricia White was interesting in a number of ways. I particularly enjoyed the first chapter, which looked into the history of the production of the movie and from which I learnt many new things about the casting and adaptation process. Also interesting was the discussion of the movie as a queer text, alongside its other themes. White briefly mentioned other screen versions and the stage play adaptation, but I was disappointed she made no reference, even in passing, to the awesome musical version, which began in Austria but has since played around the world. I had thought the fact that the musical chose to follow the film rather the book in some key points would have been an interesting comparison. But maybe that's just because I love the musical so much. Getting back to this book, I would conclude by saying I believe it is a work that will be of interest to those studying film and also to fans of Rebecca in any of the story's incarnations. I am giving it four stars.

I received this book as a free eBook ARC via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

[Peter Baran · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is probably the most academic feeling BFI Classic I have read, unlike many of the others it felt the more like a thesis that a monograph. That's not a problem, White certainly nails the point she is trying to make about the queer coding within the film, along with trying to pull out the female voices in what looks initially like a very male production. However she also acknowledges that she is at a mild disadvantage - she doesn't try to say too much new about Hitchcock or Selznick because there isn't much new to say - they are two subjects done to death and also in a mode that is increasingly out of style (auteurist directors and producers are not the way me like to think of cinema so much now). Actually a feminist reading of Rebecca is remarkably easy if you dodge the two behemoths of Hitchcock and Selznick. This is based on Daphne du Maurier book (one of the biggest popular fiction authors in the world at the time), and written by Joan Harrison. And its a book about a woman, whose main antagonist is a woman and a dead woman... the men are starting to look outnumbered.

Even the Queer subtext is not hard to find with Mrs Danvers - an iconinc figure devoted to Rebecca softly caressing her old clothes. There is interesting stuff in here about how the film manages to stay within the Hays Code (both with the sapphic subtext and the Maxim de Winter seemingly getting away with murder). The monograph is full of tidbits like that about the production alongside what felt like some quite old fashioned film theory (Laura Mulvey, Mary Ann Doane - and far too much Freud). It was odd because it felt a lot like one of my MA essays in some ways, which happily namechecked film theorists because I had little confidence in what I wanted to say, whereas White have written extensively on this subject before, My experience of the BFI monographs has often been that the authors feel free to assert their reading of the film and techniques, this seems to be straining to justify it.

Tone and that seeming lack of confidence notwithstanding, there is a lot here. In some ways its the perfect book if you are studying Rebecca, or this mode of classic Hollywood or the "Women's Picture". White knows she is mere adding to an already thick canon so she does not repeat those arguments - and they are all referenced. But it felt less like the BFI Film Classics I am used to, in as much as it spent more time fighting battles which I think have already been won (not least by the author).

[Robin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Patricia White, Rebecca, BFI Bloomsbury Publishing Plc London and New York, 2021.

Thank you to NetGalley for providing me with this uncorrected proof in exchange for an honest review.

I was thrilled to receive this thorough interpretation of Rebecca, a film with which I have grappled, and the novel with which I became reacquainted during a tour of Cornwall visiting locations with which Daphne Du Maurier was associated. A visit the Daphne Du Maurier Literary Centre in Fowey dedicated to her and her writing provided me with a wealth of information to which I shall gladly add this book. I have also read Sally Beauman’s afterword to the Virago Modern Classics with great interest. Rebecca, the novel, and Rebecca, the film, have been interpreted in Patricia White’s book. However, I must be honest and acknowledge that I feel more sympathetic to Sally Beauman’s commentary on the novel than I do with the glimpses White provides of her interpretation of the Du Maurier original. At the same time, I feel that it is possible to consider the film and the novel separately, and in doing so, find White’s understanding of Alfred Hitchcock’s portrayal of Du Maurier’s work, persuasive.

White’s use of authors familiar to me through women’s studies’ interpretation of texts was a pleasant feature. These include Tania Modleski, Teresa de Laurentis, Susan Gubar and Sandra M. Gilbert, Alison Light, Laura Mulvey, Mary Ann Doane, Desley Deacon and Janice A. Radway. It was also interesting to see the links made with Phantom Thread, the 2017 film – setting me thinking about that again. Of course, there are also the familiar film world images looming as large as Hitchcock, Gone With the Wind, David O. Selznick, the cast and crew members of Rebecca, discussions about casting, lighting, sets, the British Director transported to America and its impact on both, the impact of Hollywood morality on the novel’s clarity about de Winter’s guilt and Mrs de Winter’s complicity – all the paraphernalia of the world of film. Most importantly, there are so many pertinent photographs. I cannot labour this point too much: each image is integral to the written text, drawing the reader into the film world of Rebecca, and away from what they might think about the novel. This book is essentially demanding that we enter the film, and interpret the world thus presented as the real Rebecca realm.

Patricia White deals deftly with the role of the second Mrs de Winter by referring to her as ‘I’ throughout. She argues well for that device – I has no ‘fixed identity except in “the present instance of discourse”’; she is not the only Mrs de Winter; she declares ‘I am Mrs de Winter now’. White declares: ‘I call her I. I do this to signal the identification the viewer is encouraged to feel for this character and to echo the theme of possession’. She makes a strong and detailed case for the lesbian theme that she feels underlies the women’s relationships in the novel and was ever present in Hitchcock’s film. The way and why of the current de Winters’ ability and necessity to evade the impact of the culpability for Rebecca’s death in the film version is explained, not only in outlining necessary compliance with the Production Code Administration but discussing the way in which the film dealt with these requirements.

Could Rebecca the film be studied and interpreted without recourse to Patricia White’s Rebecca? I think that it would be difficult. There are insights that White lays out and must be examined, whatever the decision on whether these conform with a viewer’s own interpretation of Rebecca. As well as the overarching value of this part of the text there are also the delightful pieces of information conveyed through notes between the participants in bringing the film to fruition. An indifferent researcher would not have found these or recognised their value in drawing the reader into the story of filming Rebecca. Although the bibliography was not available in this uncorrected proof, the citations demonstrate the use of a range of material that is encouraging to the academic reader.

[J Earl · Rating 5 out of 5]

Rebecca by Patricia White is an excellent addition to the BFI Film Classics series. White manages to synthesize several approaches to the film while maintaining her focus on gender and sexuality issues.

While I never used this film in any courses I taught I did include it on lists of films for students to write on, and most semesters I would get at least one paper. The two times I covered Rebecca in courses I took complemented each other well (one was mostly focused on film technique and auteurship while the other was a film and women course) so this material was part review and a large part fresh perspective and insight. Though admittedly many of the film theorists mentioned were considered new at the time, or at least fairly recent, but that just shows how old I am.

While theorists are mentioned White does not get bogged down with jargon. When she uses a term or a theory she explains it well enough for any casual film lover to understand the point she is making. So in addition to film historians and theorists I would also recommend this book to those who like Rebecca and those who simply like to understand some of the production history and critical response to classic films. This is a well-researched a rigorous account but is not a difficult read nor is it meant only for academics.

Reviewed from a copy made available by the publisher via NetGalley.

[Lady · Rating 4 out of 5]

For fans of the movie Rebecca or the book by Daphne du Maurier or even Alfred Hitchcock. This is the book for you. For all fans of the 1940 film Rebecca this book follows through the film from preproduction all the way upto after the film and the books that were released after the film. It contains lots of black and white pictures. Reading this book brought back so many memories for me. Learning the stories behind it all was so interesting. I haven't read the book but have watched the film. Since finished the book I have decided to listen to the audiobook. I can't to read further books from this series.

[Lauren · Rating 4 out of 5]

Rebecca, Patricia White (BFI Film Classics) 4/5

White steps back through Rebecca, both novel and Oscar winning film. Rich with history and analysis Patricia White helps the reader to discover why the film and book have endured so long and academically she looks at the themes of the story, the underlying erotic power between Rebecca/Danvers and the narrator. The strings of desire that push throughout and in a film adapted by two men how contributions of women were incredibly important.

This was a fascinating in depth read about a story that continues to endure.

[Ricardo · Rating 4 out of 5]

Tal vez un poco excesivamente académico para una colección de los que he leído otros análisis que, si bien tienen un perfil de este tipo, son para un público más amplio. Una puesta al día con todos los estudios feministas y de género en relación al material literario y a la película. Buenas ideas

[Genevieve · Rating 5 out of 5]

Best BFI Film Classic I’ve ever read.

[David Klingenberger · Rating 4 out of 5]

The preciousness of the prose is a huge hurdle, but this is throughly researched and argued.