Rebecca Olivier Joan Fontaine

U.S. 1940

Well, it's not a Hitchcock picture," Alfred Hitchcock once told François Truffaut when asked about Rebecca, his first American film and the first in a series made for producer David O. Selznick (Gone With The Wind, A Star Is Born). Though Hitchcock explained that Rebecca's source material (Daphne Du Maurier's best-selling book) kept it outside the sphere of a typical Hitchcock movie, he could also have been referring to any number of factors. Most of them would have been tied to Selznick, whose insistence on being closely involved with the book and producing a faithful adaptation forced Hitchcock to deliver a film that broke the mold of his British thrillers. An excellent new two-disc DVD version unpacks Rebecca's tumultuous production history through an incisive commentary, a set of Selznick's legendary and unsparing memos, exit polls from a test screening, and other material. Though the final cut of the film often supports Hitchcock's statement, the compromise seems to have kick-started the director's development, forcing him to rely less on tricks perfected in his past work, and to immerse himself in the piece's tortured psychology.

Excerpt of Keith Phipps review at the Onion AV located HERE

Posters

Theatrical Release Date: April 12, 1940

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DVD Comparison:

Anchor Bay - Region 0 - NTSC vs. Criterion - Region 1 - NTSC vs. MGM - Region 1 - NTSC

(Anchor Bay R0 - NTSC - RIGHT vs. Criterion R1 - NTSC - LEFT)

DVD Box Covers
Distribution	Anchor Bay Entertainment Region 0 - NTSC	Criterion Collection Spine # 135 Region 1 - NTSC	MGM Region 1 - NTSC
	MGM's Rebecca is part of the Alfred Hitchcock Premiere Collection (which contains Lifeboat / Spellbound / Notorious / The Paradine Case / Sabotage / Young and Innocent / Rebecca / and The Lodger).
Runtime	2:10:16	2:10:52	2:10:20
Video	1.33:1 Original Aspect Ratio Average Bitrate: 4.28 mb/s NTSC 704x480 29.97 f/s	1.33:1 Original Aspect Ratio Average Bitrate: 7.84 NTSC 704x480 29.97 f/s	1.33:1 Original Aspect Ratio Average Bitrate: 4.86 NTSC 704x480 29.97 f/s
	NOTE: The Vertical axis represents the bits transferred per second. The Horizontal is the time in minutes.
Bitrate: Anchor Bay
Bitrate: Criterion
Bitrate: MGM
Audio	English (Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono)	English (Dolby Digital Mono)	English (Dolby Digital mono)
Subtitles	None	English, and none	English, Spanish, French and none
Features	Release Information: Studio: Anchor Bay Entertainment Aspect Ratio: Full Screen (Standard) - 1.33:1 Edition Details: • 4.5" x 7' original theatrical poster replica DVD Release Date: September 7, 1999 Keep Case Chapters 19	Release Information: Studio: Criterion Aspect Ratio: Full Screen (Standard) - 1.33:1 Edition Details: • Commentary by film scholar Leonard J. Leff, author of Hitchcock and Selznick: The Rich and Strange Collaboration of Alfred Hitchcock and David O. Selznick in Hollywood • Isolated music and effects track • Rare screen, hair, makeup, and costume tests including Vivien Leigh, Anne Baxter, Loretta Young, Margaret Sullavan, and Joan Fontaine • Footage from the 1940 Annual Academy Awards ceremony, at which Rebecca won Best Picture and Best Cinematography Oscars • Hundreds of behind-the-scenes photos chronicling the film's production from location scouting, set photos, and wardrobe continuity to ads, posters, lobby cards, and promotional memorabilia • Illustrated essay on Daphne du Maurier, author of the book on which Rebecca is based • Hitchcock on Rebecca: excerpts from the director's conversations with filmmaker Francois Truffaut • Phone interviews with star Joan Fontaine and Dame Judith Anderson from 1986 • Hitchcock's casting notes • Reissue trailer • Production correspondence and casting notes • 1939 test screening questionnaire • Complete broadcast of the 1938 Campbell Playhouse radio adaptation, starring Orson Welles and the Mercury Theatre players, including an interview with Daphne du Maurier • 1941 Lux Radio Theatre broadcast starring Ronald Colman & Ida Lupino, including and an interview with David O. Selznick • 1950 Lux Radio Theatre broadcast starring Laurence Olivier & Vivian Leigh • Liner notes by Robin Wood, author of the groundbreaking book Hitchcock's Film and Hitchcock's Film Revisited in a 22-page booklet DVD Release Date: November 20, 2001 Keep Case Chapters 27	Release Information: Studio: MGM Aspect Ratio: Full Screen (Standard) - 1.33:1 Edition Details: • Commentary with critic Richard Schickel • Isolated music and effects track • Rare screen, hair, makeup, and costume tests including Margaret Sullavan, Laurence Olivier and Joan Fontaine (9:11) • The Making of Rebecca featurette (28:05) • The Gothic World of Daphne du Maurier featurette (19:01) • 3 X 1 hour Radio Plays • Hitchcock on Rebecca: excerpts from the director's conversations with filmmaker Francois Truffaut (9:19) and Peter Bogdanovich (4:26) • Trailer • Stills Gallery (Posters, Portraits, Behind the Scenes) DVD Release Date: October 14th, 2008 Keep Case Chapters 28

Comments:

NOTE: Defective MGM Hitchcock Premiere Collection
Reports are coming in by the droves about the MGM Hitchcock Premiere Collection. We do not yet own the entire set and have only covered Notorious and Rebecca which played without issue on my Malata - but we understand many individual's players are having problems with all, or selective transfers from the set. These represent faults such as the disc wobbling in the tray, unsubstantiated noise in playback, freezing and chapter skips. MGM must recall this set immediately. If you own the set please verify if you too have these problems and report them to the outlet you purchased them or MGM directly. If we find an email to use we will post it here.

ADDITION: MGM - Region 1 - NTSC - October 08': The image on this new MGM DVD, described as 'remastered' and 'restored', may be marginally superior to the Criterion. It has a tendency to look a bit thin at times and I suspect some black level boosting. While it may look minutely sharper - it also appears to have a few more artifacts. I seriously doubt though that anyone would make issue - adamantly preferring one transfer over the other. Without the credit sequence differences it may be hard to tell them apart on most systems. This is probably as close as we will get to perfection on SD-DVD for Rebecca. I do think that the MGM could have looked better, with improved compression, if it hadn't stacked the dual-layered disc with so many extras but instead put them on a second DVD (see the low bitrate of the MGM above). Either/or - the MGM image looks fine to me - still some noise in blackness and a few artifacts visible around brighter edges. I still greatly look forward to this classic in 1080p resolution.

The mono audio sounds fine and I could make no differentiation with the Criterion. The MGM offers a couple more subtitles options.

Supplements prove the biggest reason to pick this new MGM DVD up. There is a new commentary by Richard Schickel. He is reasonably informative and professional. He lets the narrative run in many spots but overall I think it is worth listening to although not a lot of new details seem imparted. Some featurettes cross-over from the Criterion (isolated music track, screen tests, Hitch conversation with Francois Truffaut etc.) but pieces are added (or subtracted) a bit too. The Criterion seems to include a few more screen tests and the MGM adds a 5 minute conversation with Peter Bogdanovich. I enjoyed the 30 minute 'making of...' with some new material and interviews. I wasn't keen on the 3 hours worth of radio plays - one by Orson Welles - but other might enjoy stepping back in time by listening to these.

I'll be comparing more from the Hitchcock Premiere Collection - as for now I'm still on the fence about the upgrade. The good news about this MGM is that it is improved in certain areas with new supplemental material. They didn't appear to screw the Rebecca release up (which was always a suspicion). If you are keen on extras it may be worth the double dip. If you don't own the Criterion - price should dictate your decision and the Criterion is way out-of-print fetching ridiculous prices.

Gary W. Tooze

****

ON THE ANCHOR BAY vs. THE CRITERION: Of the three Hitch-Anchor Bay/Criterion DVD comparisons (Rebecca, Notorious and Spellbound), I think 'Rebecca' is the least obvious in the disparity in image quality, but perhaps the most in Extras. Anchor Bay did not do a bad job on transferring the image to DVD when they did it back in 1999. Upon close inspection the Criterion though is on top. Peeking film grain, cleaner and sharper picture quality are the obvious signs that Criterion has the best image of this film on DVD in Region 1. Include in that the pitch-perfect contrast and the immense extras (although this reviewer will negatively comment on the large percentage of text based screens on the Criterion). Although I didn't notice a "hiss" on the Anchor Bay 2.0 sound, it was definitely not as clear as the Criterion. Being a huge fan of this film I, of course, prefer the Criterion edition, but if you weigh into account dollar value and you just want to see this film not obsess over it, you might consider the Anchor Bay (if you can still buy it). Even being a big fan of "Rebecca" I found the Criterion Extras excessive... but before I look a gift-horse in the mouth, I am grateful to Criterion for their efforts. It is the best DVD edition of this film.

Gary W. Tooze

DVD Menus

e="Arial" size="2">MGM - Region 1- NTSC

(Anchor Bay R0 - NTSC - RIGHT vs. Criterion R1 - NTSC - LEFT)

Screen Captures

1) Anchor Bay Region 0 - NTSC - TOP

2) Criterion Region 1 - NTSC - MIDDLE