Rebecca

I enjoyed this version very much, the actors in the main roles were very good. I especially liked the young Emilia Fox as the new Mrs DeWinter. She started out as the shy young girl and became the strong young wife fighting for her love. Charles Dance was very well cast as Maxim, not as stuffy as Olivier. I found Diana Rigg a bit over the top, but the supporting cast were very good, especially Faye Dunaway. The locations and overall look of the show was very pleasing to the eye. I liked this longer , more adult version as it covered the whole story and was very true to the novel. But, like Jane Eyre and Pride and Prejudice I will always now and again go back and watch the original black and white versions.

I thoroughly enjoyed this 1997 version of "Rebecca", which recently aired uncut on PBS. Charles Dance played Max DeWinter brilliantly. The character he portrays is a gentleman who seems above the fray but can explode with raw emotion on a moment's notice. Something is clearly eating away at him. Emilia Fox, the young woman he falls in love with and marries, is perfect - a bit shy but surprisingly mature. The background photography is superb in both locations: Monte Carlo, where they meet, and on the coast of Cornwall, the site of Max's magnificent estate. We are introduced to Mrs. Danvers, played by Diana Rigg, who makes the new Mrs. DeWinter as uncomfortable as she could possibly be. I didn't care much for the reinvention of Mrs. Danvers' character in this movie. She cannot let go of the memory of Maxim's first wife but in this movie, her preference has added motivation. Geraldine James, an excellent actor, is Max's sister. I remember her in The Jewel in the Crown, a Masterpiece Theatre show from the 1980's. (More recently she appeared in the Downton Abbey movie as Queen Mary.) Faye Dunaway, a Hollywood leading lady, has a role as the gossip-prone Mrs. Van Hopper, who employed Rebecca as a companion and has delusions of winning over Max. The character of the former Mrs. DeWinter and the movie mystery eventually converge and the pace picks up. We encounter some additional characters as the movie takes some interesting twists and turns that will entertain the viewer, even if you've seen previous versions of Daphne duMaurier's novel. All in all, a highly entertaining and beautiful movie.

I thought this was marvellous, and that Charles Dance as Maxim, Emilia Fox as The Second Mrs De Winter, and Diana Rigg as Mrs Danvers, were note perfect - but that's before I saw the 1970s version with Jeremy Brett, Fox's mother Joanna David, and Anna Massey.

However, this 1990s version runs a close second. It isn't as involving to watch, and Dance has a certain dryness that perhaps does not work all through the piece - but the cast do well (including Faye Dunaway as Fox's chaperone). Set pieces are excellent, there's beautiful scenery, and a tight script, and all this is good.

You rarely see watchable literacy adaptations of this quality, and this version of 'Rebecca' does not really disappoint. It's just that it has already been done better before - and it is a shame that the 1997 version is the only one now widely available for viewing.

Watch it by all means - but try to seek out other versions as well.

First of all, I enjoyed the old classic version of the 1940s REBECCA with Laurence Olivier and Joan Fontaine and I have seen it over 100 times in my lifetime. However, I find myself very captivated by this 1997 version by Masterpiece Theatre and with its great actors, the assemble cast, the music score, the filming location and the more detailed storyline, which is simply superb and very well done. I believe the 1997 version is the best version of Rebecca, second to the book. Further, I have seen ALL the versions of Rebecca and have read the book by Daphne Du Maurier and can actually comment in good faith that this is simply the best adaptation with more details about the characters that you don't see in the 1940s version.

With this superb 1997 adaptation, you are able to see a more deeper version of both Max and the second Mrs. DeWinter's characters played by Charles Dance and Emilia Fox. You see that they are in love in this version whereas in the Hitchcock version, it's not so obvious. You also get a better sense of Mrs. Danvers' character who you almost feel sorry for in this adaptation. Additionally, you'll see a few glimpses of what the beautiful Rebecca might look like.

I believe this 1997 version of Rebecca stands alone as a great love story and great mystery that will keep you captivated.

The second Mrs. DeWinter has no first name, and she was never given one for the film. Caroline DeWinter was the ancestor that the second Mrs. DeWinter dressed as for the costume ball. If this was not mentioned in the film, it should have been. It is mentioned in Alfred Hitchcock's masterful version of the book, by Dame Judith Anderson. Now, in context of the film, it was definitely closer to the book than Hitchcock's version (which you can blame David O. Selznick for the changes in the plot), and there is some very good acting, but it still seems like what it is, and that is a television film. Christopher Gunning provided a very emotional score though, with a heart wrenching theme for cello and orchestra.