Rebecca

Plots: A self-conscious woman juggles adjusting to her new role as an aristocrat’s wife and avoiding being intimidated by his first wife’s spectral presence. A shy lady’s companion, staying in Monte Carlo with her stuffy employer, meets the wealthy Maxim de Winter (Sir Laurence Olivier). She and Max fall in love, marry, and return to Manderley, his large country estate in Cornwall. Max is still troubled by the death of his first wife, Rebecca, in a boating accident the year before. The second Mrs. de Winter (Joan Fontaine) clashes with the housekeeper, Mrs. Danvers (Dame Judith Anderson), and discovers that Rebecca still has a strange hold on everyone at Manderley. On vacation in Monte Carlo, wealthy widower Maxim de Winter (Sir Laurence Olivier) meets a young woman who is working as a lady’s companion to Mrs. Van Hopper (Florence Bates). They spend a good deal of time together and it leads to love and marriage. The second Mrs. de Winter (Joan Fontaine) is somewhat overwhelmed however when, after their honeymoon, they return to his vast estate, Manderley. She not only has to deal with a huge house and numerous servants, but also with the dour and domineering housekeeper, Mrs. Danvers (Dame Judith Anderson). She soon feels inferior and a disappointment to everyone, particularly her husband Max and Mrs. Danvers – who still adores her dead mistress. Not all is as it seems however, particularly after a striking discovery is made in the sea near Manderley.