Behind the Book. Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier: The 1940 Film and Facsimile Autographed Edition. Last night I dreamt I went to Manderley again

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1 1 Melina Hughes Archeology of the Book 1 June, 2016 Behind the Book Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier: The 1940 Film and Facsimile Autographed Edition Last night I dreamt I went to Manderley again INTRODUCTION Originally published by Victor Gollancz in 1938, Rebecca by Daphne Du Maurier tells the story of the unnamed second Mrs. De Winter, who in her new home of the Manderly estate is inexorably drawn into the life, and mysterious death of the first Mrs. De Winters the beautiful and enigmatic Rebecca. The book has never gone out of print and remains an international success to this day. It has been translated into 35 languages and there are 1,195 editions of Rebecca worldwide. In 1940 the novel was adapted into a film by David O. Selznick and Alfred Hitchcock; Rebecca has become one of the most widely read novels of all time. Contributing to its enormous popularity was the Hitchcock film based upon the book (Kelly 66). The film was nominated for eleven Academy Awards, winning Best Cinematography, Black and White, and Best Picture. THE BOOK In 1940, Garden City Publishing (An off-shoot of Doubleday) released an autographed facsimile edition of the novel which featured sixteen photographs from the film and du Maurier s signature. The back cover copy of the book reads:

2 2 A great motion picture of a great story. As this SPECIAL EDITION goes to press more than 400,000 copies of REBECCA have been sold. It is estimated that well over a million persons have read this brilliant novel and know its strange fascination. Now David O. Selznick presents a truly distinguished motion-picture version, starring Laurence Olivier and Joan Fontaine and directed by the world-famous Alfred Hitchcock. The principal setting is the great Cornwall estate of Manderley, a famous English country house. Rebecca de Winter, it s glamorous mistress, has been dead for eight months when the story opens. But through the eyes of Maxim de Winter s young second wife, the reader comes to know Rebecca, and to sense that strange and foreboding air of mystery that permeates the atmosphere of the rooms and grounds to which her presence still seems to cling. To suggest the force and fascination of the story in brief is impossible. It is in the telling of it, that the reader cannot fail to experience the sense of impending disaster, the compelling undercurrent of an exquisite love story, and the ever-attendant dramatic suspense culminating in one of the most superb moments of melodrama in modern literature. Here is a tale that richly deserves the acclaim it has received on two continents a book that seems certain of survival as one of the real classics of our own day. A few things are of note in the description. The first paragraph calls attention to the previous success of the novel and then parallels that success with the motion-picture, giving the film a greater sense of prestige. While this prestige is in fact merited, this edition was likely released before the film had won its two Academy Awards, this can be assumed because there is

This 1940 autographed facsimile edition of Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier (Browning) was published by Garden City Publishing Co. and was printed at the Country Life Press in Garden City, NY, USA.

3 3 no mention of the awards on the back copy. The other moment to note is the capitalization of the words THIS SPECIAL EDITION. This serves to reinforce the collectability of this edition as well as to emphasize that this is the special edition to own. This 1940 autographed facsimile edition of Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier (Browning) was published by Garden City Publishing Co. and was printed at the Country Life Press in Garden City, NY, USA. The paperback book measures 8 x 5 ¼ x 1 ¼. The cover is red and depicts the estate of Manderly, Mr. de Winter (Laurence Olivier), the second Mrs. de Winter (Joan Fontaine), and an illustrated figure of the first Mrs. De Winter, Rebecca. The interior of the book contains 16 dramatic scenes from the motion picture 16 black and white film stills dispersed throughout its 457 pages. While the text of the novel is printed on what appears to be a standard paper, the film stills are printed on semi-glossy photographic paper. The images vary slightly in size but are all captioned with a line with the page number for which it can be found. Chapter heads are labeled simply in roman numerals (i.e. Chapter IV ). The header of each page reads: REBECCA with the page number in the upper left hand corner on left-side pages and the upper right hand corner on the right-side pages. There are no page numbers printed on the pages featuring photographs.

What follows is a simple title page, then the publishing and copyright information on a very sparse page, and then the novel begins.

4 4 There are no footer elements in the interior book design. The book includes no forward or preface, endnotes, index, or table of contents. The first page within the book simply reads REBECCA with Daphne du Maurier s signature below. The second page holds a list of du Maurier s other books. What follows is a simple title page, then the publishing and copyright information on a very sparse page, and then the novel begins. The final page in the book contains an advertisement for Three other thrilling novels by Daphne du Maurier and features a brief description and the price. Overall the lack of additional paratextual elements is surprising due to the book being marketed as a special collector s edition. The press-run of this edition is unknown, but the lack of extras contained and the average production quality of the book suggest that it is less of a collectors item and more of a movie-tie-in marketed more towards fans of the motion picture.

5 5 DAPHNE DU MAURIER Daphne du Maurier was born in 1907 in Hampstead, England to a creative and successful family. Her grandfather, George du Maurier was an artist and writer; her father, Gerald du Maurier was an actor and manager; and her mother, Muriel Beaumont, was an actress. She was the second of three sisters. Du Maurier published her first novel, The Loving Spirit, in The year after she married Fredrick Browning with whom she had three children. Du Maurier has been described as both Rebecca - brave, strong, loving the outdoors, walking, riding, sailing and so on, and also the second Mrs. de Winter - shy, unsure of herself, hiding herself away ( About Daphne ). Often, Du Maurier was described as a romantic novelist, however This is completely misleading as she wrote dark, often gothic and edgy novels and short stories, with unexpected twists or suspenseful endings ( About Daphne ). The turn of the century saw a great increase in interest in historical romances, many of which drew on gothic models (Inge 161). However, the gothic romance, in any event, was for all practical purposes, a dead form until Daphne du Maurier revitalized it in 1938 Rebecca is the first major gothic romance in the twentieth century and perhaps the finest written to this day (Kelly 54). In her life she published 13 novels, numerous short stories and short story collections, and three plays. Her novels, Jamaica Inn, Frenchman s Creek, Hungry Hill, My Cousin Rachel, and Rebecca, and her short stories The Birds and Don t Look Now were all made into movies. She passed away in 1989 but her legacy and her books still live on today.

6 THE FILM ADAPTATION In the late 1930s and early 1940s, a number of gothic or romantic films were made in Hollywood, Rebecca fit nicely into both of these genres. (Mussell14).

6 6 THE FILM ADAPTATION In the late 1930s and early 1940s, a number of gothic or romantic films were made in Hollywood, Rebecca fit nicely into both of these genres. (Mussell14). In 1939, Rebecca was acquired by Selznick International Picture Corporation (SIP) for $50,000 (Cook 142). Before being brought on as the film s director, Hitchcock had been a fan of du Maurier s novel [Rebecca] and had the opportunity to purchase its film rights but failed due to the high price (McDevitt 118). It is that high price point of the film rights reflected the immense popularity of the novel, even having only been in print for a year. Indeed, the popularity of Rebecca surpassed anything Daphne or Victor Gonllancz could have imagined (Cook 142). While SIP was not one of the big five Hollywood film companies, as an independent it produced a handful of big budget, prestige pictures every year. Looking back, more than one third of films released in the Classical Hollywood era were produced from previously published novels, After all, literature is not adapted and produced by artists or Hollywood moguls in isolation, but rather as part of an extended process and in consideration of certain economic, social, and artistic factors. A corporation's reading of a text, much like an individual's, involves its own past, present, and future in interpretation and retelling In this sense, studios are not

7 7 only producers but also readers (Edwards 32-33). With this in mind, the international run-away bestseller Rebecca presented an obvious choice for film adaptation, with its continued success and already built-in audience. After Gone with the Wind, the next romance best-seller was Daphne du Maurier s Rebecca and SIP had successfully produced the epic Gone with the Wind the previous year (Inge 255). Additionally, having monitored the book s success, it was easy for SIP to assess the film s target audience. While that audience was primarily female, there is no question, also, that both of these books [referring to Gone with the Wind and Rebecca] (and both of these films) appeal to a male as well as female audience (Mussell 14). As it turned out, despite its appeal to both sexes, the audience turn-out was predominantly female, which was still a powerful demographic with the leisure time and discretionary income to visit the cinema to see the novel transcribed to the screen. Later findings by the Audience Research Index service revealed that women composed 71 percent of the audience for Rebecca (Edwards 35). With the novel Rebecca being so immensely popular, David Selznick and Alfred Hitchcock s took the approach to remain as faithful to the book as possible. Selznick, the producer, brought on Hitchcock as the film s director. By this time Hitchcock had directed a number of films and shorts in England before he produced Jamaica Inn (1939) adapted from the novel of the same name (1936) by Daphne du Maurier. By the time he moved to Hollywood with his family in 1939, Hitchcock had already gained notoriety as a director who delivered suspense, twist endings, and dark subject matter ( Alfred Hitchcock

8 8 Biography ). In terms of their faithfulness to the novel, Selznick was quoted saying: The only omissions from a successful work that are justified are omissions necessitated by length, censorship, or other practical considerations. Readers of a dearly loved book will forgive omissions if there is an obvious reason for them; but very properly, they will not forgive substitutions I insisted upon it (Qtd. in Edwards 34). Selznick had a theory that people who had read the novel would have been upset if it had been changed on the screen (McDevitt 118). For Hitchcock, Rebecca is a dark film, heavy with foreboding. It s the first Hitchcock film to have the kind of intangible weight that so defines later thrillers (McDevitt 121). In his faithfulness to the novel, Hitchcock direction led to an almost stifling amount of detail, in fact, the adaptation is so close to the original, even to the detail that the narrator and protagonist has no name. Hitchcock uses voice-over narration in this film to keep the point of view with the heroine, so that the audience does not know until late in the film, as in the book, what the true story of the past had been. (McDevitt 118; Mussell 59). One major change from the book to the film that had to be made was the treatment of the enigmatic Rebecca s death. In the novel, it is revealed that Maxim de Winter murdered his first wife and is not punished for it. However, the Motion Picture Production Code (also known as the Hays Office) did not allow depictions of crimes without punishment. The Hays Office insisted that her death be attributed to an accident which bypassed the moral concerns and helped in building the appeal of the character (Kelly 66; Edwards 43). FILM TIE-INS The shift from murder to accidental death paints Rebecca in a kinder light in the film. Originally Mr. de Winter murders his wife because she has become cruel and heartless. An

9 accidental death bypasses her faults and casts her in a more sympathetic light, which falls in line with the image of Rebecca developed in the marketing campaign (Edwards 43).

9 9 accidental death bypasses her faults and casts her in a more sympathetic light, which falls in line with the image of Rebecca developed in the marketing campaign (Edwards 43). SIP s marketing strategy focused on a number of tie-in products because the popularity of the book lent itself to an easy marketing of the film itself. While the film strived to appeal to both sexes, the marketing strategy was clearly focused on the female demographic. Because SIP, as an independent film company, needed to create name recognition for and attach values to the studio and its films, the company devoted more creative and economic energy to marketing and commercial tie-ups (now dubbed "tie-ins") than any other Hollywood studio and Rebecca was the film adaptation upon which SIP s innovative and resourceful style of publicity would take hold (Edwards 37). Their commercial tie-ups included an expensive furniture line by W & J Sloane, wallpaper patterns, a line of paint colors, the Rebecca Luxury Wardrobe produce, sold and distributed by Kiviette-Gowns, and a Rebecca Makeup Kit (Edwards 37-38). In the novel, Rebecca s presence permeates Manderly through memories and her possessions that were left behind. But with the cosmetic and wardrobe lines, SIP used this detail of the novel-that is, her vague but palpable presence-to project thousands of would-be Rebeccas into commercial

10 10 culture (Edwards 38). This campaign served to expand the scope and meanings of the text (novel and film), thus protecting the commercial promise of the film adaptation (Edwards 38). With strong ties between commercialism and the film, it is not surprising that SIP promoted reprints of Rebecca; a $1.39 version included a two-color wrapper band featuring studio stills of the film's stars; and a $.69 mass-market paperback pushed sales to over one million copies and led Selznick to later muse, even I had under-estimated the audience awaiting Rebecca (Edwards 37). While there were various derivations of the movie from the book, the text of these reprinted editions of Rebecca are unchanged from the original. The advertisement of both a mass market paperback edition and the $1.39 facsimile edition casts the latter as a more collectable item rather than simply the text of a novel. Although the reprinted books were not a large part of SIP s marketing push, their success astonished Selznick and reinforced the importance the text in its physical form as a companion to the film. CONTINUED LEGACY The success of Rebecca, both the film and movie made du Maurier one of the most famous and sought-after writers of her day and guaranteed her a long and happy career with Hollywood producers and directors such as her continued relationship with Alfred Hitchcock. (Kelly 69). While it was rumored that du Maurier was not a fan of Hitchcock s adaptation of Jamaica Inn, she did appreciate his work on both Rebecca and The Birds. Due to Du Maurier s success as a writer and Rebecca s success as a film, Hitchcock, a great fan of du Maurier s work, adapted her short story The Birds into the 1963 horror film. The film is loosely based on du Maurier s 1952 short story of the same name, published originally in her collection The Apple Tree. After the film s release and subsequent success, The Apple Tree was reprinted as The Birds and Other

11 11 Stories. It is obvious that the appeal of du Maurier s novel and Hitchcock s film has proved long lasting. Rebecca is readily available today and the film is frequently shown (Kelly 70). As for the facsimile edition specifically, an April 1940 press release by SIP claims that, aside from his implicit service in bringing literary masterpieces to movie audiences, David O. Selznick has been a direct influence on the sale of books. Each time, his picturization of a novel has given an enormous boost to sales in bookstores all over the country because the company s influence on Rebecca widened the presence and discursive meanings of the novel. An intense, innovative marketing barrage and film adaptation placed the novel's author, characters, and narrative in new contexts that inevitably expanded the meanings and cultural associations of Rebecca (Edwards 46). The facsimile edition of Rebecca featuring still from Selznick and Hitchcock s film reflect the power of a film to widen the audience for a book, not only by making it visible in the public eye, but through producing a new edition featuring authentic film stills to attract the preexisting fans of the book to invest in a collectors copy. However, the legacy of the book as a collector s item is dubious. The copy purchased for this paper is in decent condition and cost only $7.00, including shipping. Copies available for sale on the internet range from $7:00-$25.00 depending on condition (through Amazon Marketplace, Ebay, and AbeBooks). For the most part, the facsimile edition seems to have faded into the past, despite the immense success of the novel and the film.

12 12 Works Cited "About Daphne Du Maurier." Daphne Du Maurier, Famous Author of Rebecca, Jamaica Inn and Frenchman's Creek. Web. 26 May "Alfred Hitchcock Biography." The Official Website of Alfred Hitchcock. Web. 30 May Cook, Judith. Daphne: A Portrait of Daphne Du Maurier. London: Bantam, Print. Edwards, Kyle Dawson. "Brand-Name Literature: Film Adaptation and Seiznick International Pictures' "Rebecca" (1940)." Cinema Journal 45.3 (2006): Web. Inge, M. Thomas. Handbook of American Popular Literature. New York: Greenwood, Print. Kelly, Richard Michael. Daphne Du Maurier. Boston: Twayne, Print. McDevitt, Jim, and Eric San Juan. A Year of Hitchcock: 52 Weeks with the Master of Suspense. Lanham, MD: Scarecrow, Print. Mussell, Kay. Women's Gothic and Romantic Fiction: A Reference Guide. Westport, CT: Greenwood, Print.

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