Rebecca (1940 film)

Rebecca
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Alfred Hitchcock
Screenplay by	Robert E. Sherwood Joan Harrison
Adaptation by	Philip MacDonald Michael Hogan
Based on	Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier
Produced by	David O. Selznick
Starring	Laurence Olivier Joan Fontaine Judith Anderson George Sanders Reginald Denny Gladys Cooper C. Aubrey Smith
Cinematography	George Barnes
Edited by	Hal C. Kern James E. Newcom
Music by	Franz Waxman
Production company	Selznick International Pictures
Distributed by	United Artists
Release dates	March 21, 1940 (1940-03-21) (Miami) April 12, 1940 (1940-04-12) (United States)
Running time	130 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$1.29 million[1]
Box office	$6 million[1]

Rebecca is a 1940 American romantic psychological thriller film directed by Alfred Hitchcock. It was Hitchcock's first American project, and his first film under contract with producer David O. Selznick. The screenplay by Robert E. Sherwood and Joan Harrison, and adaptation by Philip MacDonald and Michael Hogan, were based on the 1938 novel of the same name by Daphne du Maurier.

The film stars Laurence Olivier as the brooding, aristocratic widower Maxim de Winter and Joan Fontaine as the young, never-named woman who becomes his second wife, with Judith Anderson, George Sanders and Gladys Cooper in supporting roles. The film is a gothic tale shot in black-and-white. Maxim de Winter's first wife Rebecca, who died before the events of the film, is never seen. Her reputation and recollections of her, however, are a constant presence in the lives of Maxim, his new wife and the housekeeper, Mrs. Danvers.

Rebecca was theatrically released on April 12, 1940, to critical and commercial success. It received eleven nominations at the 13th Academy Awards, more than any other film that year. It won two awards; Best Picture, and Best Cinematography, becoming the only film directed by Hitchcock to win the former award. In 2018, the film was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant".