Rebecca

[xsquared]

It's on Netflix on Wednesday.

Love the book and the Hitchcock version so I'm looking forward to this.
It's a shame that Lily James is in the papers for the wrong reasons though.

It was Jeremy Brett.

Oof, this isn't sounding good. She's such a mouse that she doesn't even have a name in her own story.

And as for the sex, it's hinted in the book that she and Maxim barely have it, if at all - she's embarrassed by suggestions that she might be pregnant.

I'll give it a go. After all, nothing can be as bad as the job ITV made of The Scapegoat.

Ooh ! The remakes never seem to have a housekeeper with the necessary air of menace though . Shes what drives it & ramps it up.It's been one of my favourite books & films since forever.

This is probably the first and the last time I'll say this, but the age gap between the lead actors is too small!

Generally, I get annoyed when actors in their 40s or 50s get paired with hot actresses young enough to be their daughers, as is so common in films and TV. But in Rebecca, the age gap is fundamental to the story. The unnamed protagonist is supposed to be a shy, sheltered young woman suddenly living in this intimidating new world with her at least 2 decades older husband. It just doesn't work when De Winter is a Greek god only a few years older than her.

Also, if De Winter and his new wife are about the same age, wouldn't that suggest that the late Rebecca would be too? Again, that doesn't really work.

I'm not a fan of James in anything she's in - for some reason casting directors love her but she's only just about OK as an actress - but she is certainly miscast here. The heroine of 'Rebecca' is kind of a blank slate. We don't even know her name. James is much too animated and 'feisty'. Did we really need this remake?

Will give this one a miss - do love ‘Rebecca’ but the casting for this one seemed all wrong, even before the sleazy pictures from Rome.
Rather disappointed that the new ‘Pursuit of Love’ has LJ in it too, miscast as Linda Radlett. DW is Uncle Matthew too...uugh.
Ah well, back to the old BBC and Hitchcock versions of dearly loved books!

@mrssmiling

Will give this one a miss - do love ‘Rebecca’ but the casting for this one seemed all wrong, even before the sleazy pictures from Rome. Rather disappointed that the new ‘Pursuit of Love’ has LJ in it too, miscast as Linda Radlett. DW is Uncle Matthew too...uugh. Ah well, back to the old BBC and Hitchcock versions of dearly loved books!

She's in bloody everything! The brand new Kiara Knightley, and almost as untalented!

I'm loving it

I don’t understand the casting directors either IcedPurple. Particularly when casting classic books with huge numbers of fans who know the characters and plot really well...including the approximate ages of the characters!

It is dreadful. Manderley seems to have turned into something the size of Blenheim Palace. Maxim would not have been seen dead in a diarrhoea coloured suit. Mrs de Winter 2 would not have worn fashionable clothes. Far too much sex, dramatic tension is completely missing and where did the grandmother come from? Had the director actually read the book?

I started it last night, didn't even bother staying up past my bedtime to finish it (tho I will at some point).

Kirsten Scott Thomas was the highlight, but still not as good as the Hitchcock original. Lily James and whoever was DeWinter were both miscast and lousy (her wardrobe was lovely tho!) Whatsername as Maxim's sister was good, as usual.

The locations and interiors were beautiful (tho I envisaged Rebecca's bedroom as being scarlet rather than icy grey).

I found the actual editing and pacing of the film pretty poor; no tension was ever built up and sustained, and the story didn't really flow.

Hitchcock was really a master at this kind of film, and this one just piles into insignificance by comparison.

I want to hunt out the Fox/Dance/Rigg version tho, that looks promising.

@HilaryThorpe I'm fairly sure the episode with the grandmother is in the book.

@HBGKC Yes you are right, but Beatrice takes the heroine to see her. She is not at Manderley (or in the Hitchcock version?).

I quite liked it. Didn’t mind them sexing it up a bit actually - I thought the bit with Aunt Lydia in Monte Carlo was fab.

I quite enjoyed it, even though it doesn't measure up the book. I thought our heroine was sufficiently mousy and meek. De Winter was a bit too young, but I managed to overcome that.

Danvers was probably the biggest disappointment. Not menacing enough and I didn't feel that the strength of her devotion to Rebecca came through at all.

And didn't Ben have a knowledge of the murder? But kept quiet because Maxim had always been kind to him, and Rebecca always cruel?

I loved the costumes, the beautiful sea and the rather-too-big Manderley.

Oh, and I loved Mrs Van Hopper and Beatrice and faithful Frank.

Agree, I think all the minor roles were very well cast, Mrs Van Hopper was fantastically horrible

But the suspense was not there, and the de Winter couple were miscast - Armie Hammer too young & 'matinee idol' good looking, Lily James too pretty, not mousy enough

I love Kristin Scott Thomas and I think she is perfect for this role but she was let down by the script

Dd is studying the book for A-Level English and has watched the Hitchcock version - she too found this a disappointment in comparison Just not unsettling enough!

Thought it was rubbish for all the reasons pp's have listed. However i am inspired to re-read the book so that's one positive

I have just been reading the Guardian interview with Lily James. They talk about the new production of The Pursuit of Love with Linda Radlett as a "fearless feminist" who "is in pursuit of a husband, by partying all over Europe".
Seriously? As she has two husbands and a lover and spends time with the second husband working in a refugee camp for victims of the Spanish Civil War this seems a bit of a strange description.

The second Mrs de Winter in the book is very young, mousy and shy. When Maxim proposes she misunderstands and thinks he wants to employ her as a secretary or something. There was no romance in Monte Carlo, just a massive crush on her part.

Plus, why is James dressed in the most chic London fashions?

She was a sheltered, mousy girl living on an estate in Cornwall. She would have likely been dressed very conservately. Danvers is also way too smart looking, with her tailored navy suit and red lipstick. The Danvers in the Hitchcock version was terrifying. This one just seems like a stern school mistress.

I still remember the Jeremy Brett version. Mrs Danvers scared me stupid. I've been trying to persuade Dd to watch the new version with me in case I get scared again!

Ann Dowd as Mrs Van Hopper reminded me of Hyacinth Bucket.

The background music was consistently distracted, think they thought it would buof up tension but that was the (poor) scripts job.

Oh dear, HilaryThorpe, don’t think it’s going to be one to watch! ‘Fearless feminist’....hmmm.
Linda doesn’t ‘party all over Europe’ as you rightly query! She spends nine years after her first London season married unhappily yet faithfully to Tony Kroesig. When she divorces Tony to marry Christian and follows him to Spain, ‘it so happened that Linda had never been abroad in her life.’ She spends time in refugee camps in Perpignan as you say....and when she leaves Christian and meets Fabrice at the Gare du Nord she lives a discreet life tucked away in her Paris apartment paid for by him. They dine in mostly (she only ends up going to lunch at the Ritz with Davey and Lord Merlin) and she spends her days shopping and sunbathing. No parties (she says she dislikes dancing and gambling) and she is completely happy with Fabrice before he sends her back to London for safety. This sounds like a dramatisation ‘based on the book’ - no thanks! So many 😮 comments about Lily James’s awful Guardian interview....and she really has been totally miscast as *Linda Radlett. 😧
Ah well, back to the fabulous Deborah Moggach version...😃

Apparently the male lead split with his wife after filming. Sigh 😔

www.google.co.uk/amp/s/www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-8845597/amp/Lily-James-flirtation-married-man-Rebecca-star-Armie-Hammer.html