When the weather starts getting colder, pumpkin spice lattes have made their long-awaited return to Starbucks and there is a notable increase of cable-knit around, you know it’s fall.  To me, this fall-feeling makes me crave a quiet Sunday afternoon curled up with Wuthering Heights or Jane Eyre.  Bronte novels have a unique quality to them.  They are dark and mysterious, often involving a cavernous mansion and an epic scene of wandering the treacherous Yorkshire moors.  In many ways, this healthy dose of drama provokes the popular claim that the Bronte sisters are masters of the gothic novel.  When I first saw Alfred Hitchcock’s “Rebecca”, I was immediately struck by its similarity to Jane Eyre.  Like Charlotte Bronte’s famous novel, “Rebecca” is a psychological thriller set in a grand old house owned a taciturn aristocrat whose love-interest threatens to expose the skeletons in his closet.

Set at the turn-of-the-century, Joan Fontaine’s character (who remains nameless throughout the film) finds love in Monte Carlo and abandons her life as an aristocratic widow’s companion to elope with Maxim de Winter, a ludicrously wealthy member of England’s elite.  She settles into his home in Cornwall, Manderley, which is set precariously near to the foaming shores of the English Channel.  But before she can get too comfortable, the staff at Manderley are a constant reminder of the previous Mrs. de Winter, Rebecca, who died in a tragic accident months before.  Rebecca’s old ladies maid, Mrs. Danvers, is particularly cold to Maxim’s new wife, concocting schemes to embarrass her and reminding her of Rebecca’s impeccable personality and radiant beauty. However, Mrs. Danvers’ games with the new Mrs. de Winter turn out to be more than tricks, instead, an obsession.  Additionally, nearly everything in the house is monogrammed with a haunting RdW. Consequently,  Mrs. de Winter becomes overwhelmed with jealousy and worries that her plainness will drive her new husband away.  However, she soon discovers that Rebecca was not all what she seemed.

This was Alfred Hitchcock’s first film he created for Hollywood. Although it is adapted from a Daphne du Maurier novel, Hitchcock took some liberties with the making of the film. He truly focused on plot development, crafting intricacies with characters which produce thematic consequences.   Overall, Hitchcock produced a dramatic and surrealistic film that is perfect for a chilly afternoon.