Comparison of Rebecca and Foreign Correspondent
Essay title: Comparison of Rebecca and Foreign Correspondent
The academy award winning movie Rebecca is presented as a flashback. This gothic romance movie stars Joan Fontaine and Laurence Olivier. Fontaine stars as the nameless female protagonist. She is left nameless to give the feeling that she was a “no one” and had no identity, as though she was lost in a gigantic world. She is portrayed as very child like and clumsy. A perfect example of her imperfections is when she breaks the cupid statue in the late Rebecca’s office and tries to stash it away in a drawer. This act parallels her trying to hide her flaws. Surprisingly, her gracelessness is what attracts Laurence Olivier’s character Maximillian De Winter to her. He falls in love with her innocence on a trip to Monte Carlo with Mrs. Van Hooper.
In one scene, Van Hooper informs the girl that they will be leaving for America at once. The audience is left in suspense. What will the girl do? Leave for America and never see Maximillian De Winter again? When she gets out of Van Hooper’s sight she runs up to Max’s room. He proposes to her in a very casual manner, as if he was asking her on a date. It makes the audience wonder if he really loves her or just does not want to be alone. That thought is confirmed when Van Hooper enters the room in high spirits then puts the girl down for agreeing to marry Max. A character starting a monologue in merriness and ending with discontent is a very common theme in Hitchcock movies.
The new married couple arrives at the magnificent then introduced to Mrs. Danvers, the maid. She has a great love of Rebecca and is constantly reminding the new Mrs. De Winter of that. She makes her feel as though she could never compare. The estate is very ghost like and filled with images of Rebecca. Even though Mrs. Danvers was obsessed with Rebecca she was unaware of her having cancer. Mrs. Danvers found it hard to believe that women of such high status like Rebecca could die of natural causes. She finds a way to blame the death on Max.
One of the biggest misinterpretations of the many in the film is that the new Mrs. De Winter thinks that Max is still grieving over Rebecca. This is confirmed when he gets furious at the fact that Mrs. De Winter dressed like Rebecca at the costume ball. The fact of the matter is that Max hated Rebecca and was happy she was gone.
The film ends with Mrs. Danvers still unable to deal with the death and the reality of the new couples happiness, decides to burn down Manderly. The fire is symbolic to the spirit of Rebecca dying. The final image the audience sees is a pillowcase embroidered with an R, going up in flames.
Foreign Correspondent is a totally different film when compared to Rebecca. The film is a spy thriller about an American foreign correspondent, Johnny Jones played by actor Joel McCrea, sent to Europe just before the start of World War II. He becomes caught up in sneaky activities of a peace organization operating as a spy ring. The plot thickens when Jones falls for the leader of the peace organizations daughter.
In one scene, on a rainy day he witnesses the fake assassination of a statesman right before his very own eyes. The assassin is disguised as a photographer whose gun is hidden by a camera. As Jones pursues him, he must navigate through a collection of black umbrellas.