20. This 1940 film, adapted from a novel by Daphne Du Maurier and Alfred Hitchcock's first American production, was the only one of his films to win a Best Picture Academy Award. What is the name of this gothic drama?
From Quiz Off The Shelf - Part 6
Answer:
Rebecca
"Rebecca" was produced by David O. Selznick, directed by Alfred Hitchcock, and starred Laurence Olivier, Joan Fontaine, George Sanders, Judith Anderson and Florence Bates.
Joan Fontaine plays a young woman who works as a paid companion to a rich woman, played by Florence Bates. While holidaying on the French Riviera she meets and falls in love with Maxim De Winter (Olivier). After a whirlwind romance they marry and he takes her back to his ancestral home, Manderley. The housekeeper at Manderley (Judith Anderson) was obsessed with Maxim's late wife, Rebecca, and the new bride is made to feel an inadequate replacement for her. There is also a guilty secret surrounding Rebecca's death.
"Rebecca" was a considerable critical and commercial success and was nominated for eleven Academy Awards. However, it won in only two categories - Best Picture and Best Cinematography.
Although he is recognised as one of the greatest cinematic geniuses of all time, Alfred Hitchcock never won a Best Director Oscar. His films include "The 39 Steps", "The Lady Vanishes", "Shadow Of A Doubt", "Strangers On A Train", "Notorious", "Rear Window" and "Vertigo". In all, during his long career, he directed more than 50 films.