Moments of greatness, but...

I have heard there was a certain amount of friction between Hitchcock and Selznick, and cannot argue that projects often suffer when done by committee rather than one strong single visionary, but in this case I am glad Selznick was there and was passionate about it and kept Hitchcock from ruining the story.

I have heard that Hitchcock basically didn't want to do someone else's story, or at least not their way. He completely rewrote the story, and when Selznick saw it, he rejected it, saying that the original story that he (Selznick) liked, bought, and paid good money for, was the story they were going to produce. He felt so strongly about this that the film actually refers to itself as a 'picturization' (if memory serves correctly) of the celebrated novel.

I have never understood the logic of taking a story known and loved by millions, and changing it into a fundamentally different story. The excuse is usually given that it was necessary to butcher the story because film is a different medium. Baloney. Yes, film is a different medium, but this doesn't excuse the kinds of changes typically made, which don't save any time or have anything else to do with adapting to that medium. It is simply pride on the part of the writer, producer, director, or whoever. It is an attitude that says "I can write a better story than this or that renowned novelist", "I can improve this masterpiece", or simply "I want my fingerprints on this story".

I agree that the performances by Olivier and Fontaine seem somewhat stiff. I find the character of Favell, in contrast, to be far more credible and interesting, and brilliantly played by George Sanders. I do not know, but can only surmise that these top-notch professionals gave exactly the performances that the director wanted, otherwise they would have given something different.

That's exactly how I felt. Loved the first half, the quiet and subtle desperation and alienation of the main character, the ominous tone. Then the screenwriter can't figure out how to resolve that particular conflict and voila, a midway shift into bad soap opera that completely invalidates all the drama leading up to it.

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"It was night. I could tell because it was getting dark."

The "fabulous sense of art direction" essentially sold me on the movie as a whole. The cinematography and the sets, as well as the lighting, are as good as any movie I've watched, and the actors are beautiful (except Mrs. Danvers).

I didn't know this was Hitchcock's first American film.