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18 out of 19 people found the following review useful: Best Adaptation of Du Maurier's Masterpiece--why isn't this on DVD?, 16 September 2005 Author: mlktrout from Florida
I saw the very last part of this 4-part miniseries 12 years ago on PBS. It was so fascinating I rushed out and bought the book. (And read it until the covers fell off, and because of it years later won a "Who was Rebecca?" essay contest and a trip to England.) For the next two years I besieged PBS with requests to re-run it, in 1996 they finally did. I savored each moment of it, and taped it of course. I still have the tapes, but wish it was on DVD.Jeremy Brett -- later to become forever identified as Sherlock Holmes -- was the perfect Maxim de Winter. After hearing his story of Rebecca, you could finally understand why he married the Second Mrs. de Winter, shy, tongue-tied, and klutzy. She possessed the innocence he desperately needed. Anna Massey was a very creepy, scary Mrs. Danvers. In real-life, Jeremy Brett and Anna Massey were briefly married in their youth. It throws a new slant on the Danvers-de Winter relationship, doesn't it? And Joanna David goes from a girl afraid of her shadow to a woman who can take whatever is dished out to her by the end of the series. Excellent performances.I've seen the Hitchcock version -- Maxim was too much a caricature of rude aristocracy, and because of the Hayes Commission certain elements of the story were drastically changed, with ill effect. I've also seen the recent Charles Dance version, interestingly the girl playing the second Mrs. de Winter in that one is the daughter of Joanna David, and she isn't bad, but Dance is nobody'd notion of Maxim, and for completely gratuitous reasons they changed the story. Du Maurier's work is perfection itself and nobody should ever change it. The Brett-David-Massey version comes closest to the book, is beautifully photographed and hauntingly scored, with Debussy's "Reverie" and other classical and impressionist music played throughout. This is the one that needs to be on DVD...preferably a "collector's edition," with lots of special features.
13 out of 13 people found the following review useful: Superb, 31 October 1999 Author: Tinlizzy from USA
This film contains three superb performances, and it really is a shame that it is not available on video.Anna Massey, Jeremy Brett, and Joanna David are a wonderful team of actors who bring a great deal of depth to their roles. David has the most difficult job; her character is so self effacing we never even know her name. She is meek without seeming stupid, and perfectly captures the body language of a very young girl.Anna Massey is a terrifying Mrs. Danvers and is never more sinister than when she is smiling. She did 'everything' for her late mistress, and we get the impression that she was in fact in love with the title character. Massey's original take on this character has influenced all subsequent portrayals. She also resembles an Edward Gorey drawing in her bleak black costume.Jeremy Brett is all burning eyes and barely-suppressed rage as Max. The character gradually progresses from a vaguely sinister, sardonic figure to a hunted man who finally appreciates his second wife's devotion. This is a fine portrayal by a wonderful actor and it is an excellent complement to his similarly superb portrayal of Sherlock Holmes.This film has the usual high production values of a British adaptation, and has the sense to use the music of Claude Debussy on the soundtrack instead of some dated 'horror music' that often mars Seventies films.All supporting cast members are excellent. My criticism is that the show is a trifle long; the Manderley ball and the visit to Max's grandmother do not really need to be portrayed at this length. The ending is, if anything, even more ambiguous than the ending of the novel It would be a wonderful thing to have this title back in print.
12 out of 13 people found the following review useful: The best one ever done!, 11 July 2005 Author: sstaker
This Rebecca unfolds the same way Du Maurier wrote her novel. In fact when Gene Shalit hosted this showing on Mystery he told how Ms. Du Maurier had commented it was the truest telling of her book. Yet that isn't what compels the viewer; it's Jeremy Brett as Maxim, Joanna David as the second Mrs. DeWinter, poor dear who has no first name, and Anna Massey as Mrs. Danvers. Julian Holloway is wonderful as Favell. The entire cast is flawless. The sets are as you would picture Manderly. Truly you go back to Manderly again...Really, I'd love to see this once more, then over and over again. Please whomever has the power to bring this to DVD, do it. New fans will flock to this best version of Rebecca.
9 out of 9 people found the following review useful: Don't miss any chance to see this., 25 April 2001 Author: gilian west
Intense atmosphere, visual beauty, mystery and emotion.Haunting, Debussy-derived music.Breath-taking evocation of the dazzling scenery around Monte Carlo, and then of the paradisal estate on the Cornish coast, Manderley - for which Maxim has sold his soul. (The estate - house, gardens, azaleas, beach, boathouse, butler and maids - is so convincing that you have to believe the story is real too.)Poignant imagery of flowers: exotic, red blooms associated with Rebecca, and wild flowers with the new Mrs de Winter.And always the threat that the sea will give up its dead.Unsurpassable performances from the three principals: Jeremy Brett, Joanna David and Anna Massey. All three characters far more deeply analysed than in the Hitchcock movie, and Mrs Danvers no less sympathetic than the others.Hitchcock changed the manner of Rebecca's death, but this version faces up to what really happens in the book.
10 out of 11 people found the following review useful: Never have so few done so much with so little., 26 October 1999 Author: Tinlizzy from USA
I wish this show was available on video. It perfectly catches the spirit--and leisurely pace--of the novel, which might not to be to the taste of the MTV-cut-watching public, but I think it still has great acting and excellent direction to recommend it.All the principals are excellent. They have to be, since nothing happens for so long the interaction between the characters is the main 'action' in the film, and it's all rather compactly staged despite some spectacular locations. The production does not date--thankfully, no one tried to 'update' the women's fashions and the music, a major pitfall in shows from this time, is all based on Debussy.Anna Massey is a terrifying and sadistic Mrs. Danvers, Joanna David is perfectly cast as the clueless heroine (she's pitiful without seeming stupid, no mean feat), and Jeremy Brett is brilliant in showing the past hurts of an essentially selfish and cruel hero, entirely with his facial expressions.
7 out of 7 people found the following review useful: Excellent Adaptation of a Great Story, 23 February 1999 Author: lisado
A superior production. Stands up well, even compared to the classic Hitchcock film taken from the same work. More faithful to the original story than the film, most particularly in the wonderful, unglamorous portrayal of the second Mrs. DeWinter by Joanna David. Jeremy Brett's Maxim is brittle and at times nasty, as this character should be, but he also conveys the complex, wounded interior that has produced this outer man. Anna Massey is perfectly frightening as the imperious Mrs. Danvers, subtly but constantly threatening. The set design is gorgeous. Definitely recommended for fans of the book.
8 out of 9 people found the following review useful: The best dramatization of Rebecca ever, 12 March 2002 Author: Roberta Sautter from Castro Valley, CA
This is the best dramatization of Rebecca that has been filmed so far. Jeremy Brett is perfect a Maxim DeWinter. The mini-series format also allows for a complete telling of the story with all its nuances. I wish it would be released on DVD.
5 out of 5 people found the following review useful: Terrific adaptation of Du Maurier's book, 11 October 2006 Author: Pivoine from France
I've read the book at least six times and always reread it with great pleasure. It is so well written, really. This TV movie was an excellent adaptation, the best compared to a more recent one with Charles Dance as Max De Winter (Charles Dance.... give me a break! This guy has the charisma of an oyster shell!) and even compared to Hitchcock's movie with Laurence Olivier and Joan Fontaine.Anna Massey is a terrifying Mrs Danvers, skinny and cold with perfect tight lips. Joanna David plays the ingénue with much wit and charm. Jeremy Brett is the perfect British gentleman, charismatic and mysterious, hiding a terrible secret. As for Rebecca, the first dead wife, she is a real character in this version, the central character even despite the fact that we never see her on screen. Only hear about her but in such a way that it I've been looking to buy this version in VHS (or DVD now) but BBC has not yet released it. It's a real shame.
4 out of 4 people found the following review useful: BRILLIANT, 8 October 2004 Author: pippa-6 from Shrewsbury, England
I remember seeing this on the TV when it first came out as a teenager and have never forgotten it. However as I have got older I remember it as a film and not a series, either way it was brilliant and Joanna David was the perfect casting as the young Mrs De Winter and Anna Massey is perfect as the housekeeper - Mrs Danvers - I remember her being very scary! The house it was filmed at was amazing and really set the scene for this fantastic programme. I only wish it was available on video or DVD as I would love to see it again. Throughly recommend it to anyone.
4 out of 4 people found the following review useful: Best version of Rebecca..unfortunately unavailable on video, 13 April 2003 Author: paraskoj from Worcester, MA
I remember watching this in serial form on public television with my wife and then 10 year old son. We were mesmerized by it. While the Hitchcock version is terrific, we all wish we could obtain a video of this TV version. Diana Riggs' version was a disappointment...perhaps because we kept comparing it with the Hitchcock version and with our memory of this version.
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