There are a few awesome somethings that you should know about this movie. The first of which is in the headline. So, there’s that. Second – this is the only Alfred Hitchcock movie that ever won Best Picture. Bogus, right!? Not The Birds, not North By Northwest. It took an actor named Laurence Olivier and a novel written by Daphne du Maurier for this film to be made and nab the trophy in 1940. But a win is a win, even if it was followed by…err…nothing. Count it, Freddy ol’ boy!

In Rebecca, the lead female character (she is simply referred to as The Second Mrs. de Winter) marries Maxim de Winter, an aristocratic widower who lives in a mansion and is loaded and wants a second wife, I guess. He actually saves Mrs. de Winter #2 from having to follow around this old, miserable woman who has hired her as a “companion.” Yes, I also thought immediately of the beloved, gone-too-soon Firefly. Then I thought, “What a sweet deal, man.” I wish someone would hire me to hang out with them. (I’m tons of fun, have pretty OK taste in music and film, and am snarky, with just the right dash of douchebaggery attached. Good times guaranteed or your money back! Inquire within!)

So Maxim de Winter proposes to his lady-to-be…from another room. While calling her a Little Fool. The proposal of a lifetime! Set your standards high, ladies! And the two get married…but somehow they can’t escape the memory of his former wife, Rebecca, who died in a boating accident. Someway, somehow, her name continues to creep up on them until…well, you can watch the film and see for yourself. It’s TLW-recommended if you dig the No Color thang.

You’ve got to love old, black and white films though. The scene construction is so strange: so many five second scenes that don’t really serve a point. Random drives in the car, random dinner scenes that don’t offer any constructive dialogue…weird, man. However, for an older film, Hitchcock really nailed the pacing of this oldie-but-goodie. My attention never strayed or faltered, and putting another Hitchcock film in the memory banks never hurts anyone.

KUDOS are due: I was joined by Zoe from over at SexyTofu for the viewing of this moviefilm. Whenever I can con rope somebody into the Film Quest, I need to capitalize! The Epic Film Quest is a long journey, and it’s always better to have someone along for the ride, even if only for a 2-hour chunk of it. Shout-out!

After Rebecca, I then watched National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation. Nothing but the classics in this household.