All the reviews here have already said how superb this adaption is. I want to add that I found this version on YouTube and I also bought a presumably bootleg for 12 bucks from a company I found doing an online search. I frankly don't recall seeing this version on Mystery. I did see the re-make with Charles Dance and I recently re-watched it by getting the DVD at my local library.
Many years ago I picked up a paperback of Rebecca at the beach where the town library leaves books you can read while at the beach- they are usually well-worn paperbacks of classics. I opened Rebecca and inside in loopy girlish hand was written: "If you want to be completely bored read this book- this is the worst book I've ever read". I'd already see the Hitchcock version and the PBS remake so that scribble didn't discourage me. However I only had time to read spots- I didn't read the entire book. I was reading mainly because viewing the Hitchcock and the later PBS I could never understand WHY Maxim was even attracted to "Her" (for lack of a first name) and what would "Her" even want with a stiff, mean, rude, distant old man like Max. It just didn't make sense to me- the whole pretext of the story. Neither version ever said or showed the reasons WHY these two got together! WELL....recently while I was doing some research on Jeremy Brett (one of my favorite actors that I can't get enough of)- I came across this version of Rebecca. I simply can't understand how I missed this when it was shown on PBS in 1979 because this was a program I would not have missed and would always want to see again and again (along with another Brit import on Mystery! "Motherlove" with Diana Rigg- delicious!) I suppose I could read my dusty journals for the NYC air dates and see what was I doing! But anyway.....my point is. Here's the only Rebecca that demonstrates the attraction between Max and "I". So when I bought the DVD and watched their attraction unfold I was FINALLY satisfied.
Now let me tell you about the DVD I bought. This is NOT "DVD quality". It's a DVD clearly copied from a VHS recording on the slowest speed. It has many dropouts, is VERY fuzzy and the DVD "skips". To the owners of this production: PLEASE release this on DVD. But....no matter how fuzzy and poor quality there is no mistaking the high production values and the painfully exquisite Manderly...those outback scenes are SO breathtaking! the rhododendron like trees, the crashing sea under the cliffs, birds eye views of the entire property, et all. I mean to die for! I'D kill, too to preserve this piece of heaven. The performance of Jeremy Brett so subtle, so painful. A lesser actor would certainly chew the scenery. And "I" an actress who IS and acts "plain". Not some too-pretty actress trying to be "plain". Though she looks very lovely in the dark wig in the Carolyn costume. When I saw the memorable PBS Sherlock Holmes series I knew I'd seen Jeremy Brett somewhere -I don't mean as Freddy! (His best known until Sherlock.) He's my "type" and I never forget these guys after I see them once. I just don't know how I forgot about him if I did see this production on Mystery! when it first aired. To summarize: Don't bother watching the Hitchcock Rebecca or the other PBS series Rebecca- they aren't worth watching after seeing this gem.
Many years ago I picked up a paperback of Rebecca at the beach where the town library leaves books you can read while at the beach- they are usually well-worn paperbacks of classics. I opened Rebecca and inside in loopy girlish hand was written: "If you want to be completely bored read this book- this is the worst book I've ever read". I'd already see the Hitchcock version and the PBS remake so that scribble didn't discourage me. However I only had time to read spots- I didn't read the entire book. I was reading mainly because viewing the Hitchcock and the later PBS I could never understand WHY Maxim was even attracted to "Her" (for lack of a first name) and what would "Her" even want with a stiff, mean, rude, distant old man like Max. It just didn't make sense to me- the whole pretext of the story. Neither version ever said or showed the reasons WHY these two got together! WELL....recently while I was doing some research on Jeremy Brett (one of my favorite actors that I can't get enough of)- I came across this version of Rebecca. I simply can't understand how I missed this when it was shown on PBS in 1979 because this was a program I would not have missed and would always want to see again and again (along with another Brit import on Mystery! "Motherlove" with Diana Rigg- delicious!) I suppose I could read my dusty journals for the NYC air dates and see what was I doing! But anyway.....my point is. Here's the only Rebecca that demonstrates the attraction between Max and "I". So when I bought the DVD and watched their attraction unfold I was FINALLY satisfied.
Now let me tell you about the DVD I bought. This is NOT "DVD quality". It's a DVD clearly copied from a VHS recording on the slowest speed. It has many dropouts, is VERY fuzzy and the DVD "skips". To the owners of this production: PLEASE release this on DVD. But....no matter how fuzzy and poor quality there is no mistaking the high production values and the painfully exquisite Manderly...those outback scenes are SO breathtaking! the rhododendron like trees, the crashing sea under the cliffs, birds eye views of the entire property, et all. I mean to die for! I'D kill, too to preserve this piece of heaven. The performance of Jeremy Brett so subtle, so painful. A lesser actor would certainly chew the scenery. And "I" an actress who IS and acts "plain". Not some too-pretty actress trying to be "plain". Though she looks very lovely in the dark wig in the Carolyn costume. When I saw the memorable PBS Sherlock Holmes series I knew I'd seen Jeremy Brett somewhere -I don't mean as Freddy! (His best known until Sherlock.) He's my "type" and I never forget these guys after I see them once. I just don't know how I forgot about him if I did see this production on Mystery! when it first aired. To summarize: Don't bother watching the Hitchcock Rebecca or the other PBS series Rebecca- they aren't worth watching after seeing this gem.