Cheap Rebecca - Criterion Collection (DVD) (Laurence Olivier, Joan Fontaine) (Alfred Hitchcock) Price

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Customer Reviews of Rebecca - Criterion Collection

Chilling - a fantastic Hitchcock film...
Rebecca was the first Hitchcock film I ever saw, and it inspired me to watch all of his other films. In other words, I really enjoyed watching this movie, and it is one of my favorites. The most remarkable thing about Rebecca, in my opinion, is the atmosphere - chilling, haunting, indeed it is almost gothic. Although Rebecca is in many ways different from most Hitchcock films, it is a perfect illustration of Hitchcock's amazing ability to create almost unbelieveable tension and suspense out of the most commonplace scenes.

Essentially, Rebecca is the story of an innocent, naive young woman (played by Joan Fontaine) who falls in love with a mysterious, eccentric rich man named Maxim DeWinter. After being brought to DeWinter's enormous mansion, Manderley, the young bride begins to fear the former mistress of Manderley, the famous Rebecca, who died years ago. This explanation does not do justice to the incredible suspense in the film, but be certain that Rebecca is a thrilling and haunting movie.

So, all in all, this is a chilling but wonderful movie! Highly recommended - unlike most movies today, Rebecca proves that the atmosphere is the key element and that suspense and fear can be created without blood and gore.

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HAUNTINGLY PERFECT
This review refers to the Anchor Bay DVD release of Rebecca.....

What do you get when you have a great work of literature by Daphne Du Maurier, combined with the cinematic skill of Director Alfred Hitchcock,combined with the extrordinary acting talents of Laurence Olivier, Joan Fontaine, George Sanders and Judith Anderson? You get pure perfection on film. Combined that with the technology to take a movie made 62 years ago and make a transfer to DVD that looks as if it was made yesterday, and you have 2hr and 10 minutes of movie heaven.
The story begins in the South of France where a young, introverted woman(Joan Fontaine) meets wealthy widowerMaxim de Winter(Olivier) His wife,Rebecca, had recently died in a drowning accident and often he seems to be pensive and far off. They fall in love, marry, and go back to his home, an estate called Manderly. She is overwhelmed by the palacial grandeur, the huge staff of servants but mainly by the very prim but chilling head housekeeper Mrs. Danvers(Judith Andersson). The first Mrs. De Winter still seems to have a presence in the household that Mrs. Danvers keeps alive.
To say anymore will be giving away too much of this hauntingly chilling love story/mystery.However I must talk about this DVD.
Although not the more expensive version with all the extras(don't look for any with this one) this one gave us a beautiful picture, and great sound. Everything was bright and clean I saw things I had never seen before, and I have watched this movie dozens of times. The sparkling of the sequins on a woman,s gown,
the way the sun shone and the rain fell. This is a great transfer of a great film(Academy Award best Picture 1940). I personally didn't need all the extras for this one, I just enjoyed the film. There is another version by criterion with lots of goodies if you are interested in that though.
Which ever version you choose-- Enjoy "Rebecca" and the splendor of Manderly--Laurie

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Yummy Classic Movie
I have seen all of Hitchcock's American work. If you are familiar with his movies, you probably agree that, with the exception of "Family Plot", his films are delicious brain food! Rebecca is a beautiful, mysterious and tragic piece. Olivier and Fontaine are at the peak of their talent and beauty. By the way, if you like Joan Fontaine in this film, her performance is equally good in Hitchcock's Suspicion, with Cary Grant. Why aren't most modern actors this good, hmmm? Hey Mr. Soderbergh, please don't remake this one! There's a reason why we call them 'Classic'.