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Joan Fontaine is far too beautiful for this role.

posted 13 years ago by Bunnymonsterz
29 replies | jump to latest

Joan Fontaine is beautiful, and every time I watch this movie it irks me that no one acknowledges this. And I know that's silly, since she's *supposed* to be plain and mousy. But all this talk of the beautiful Rebecca and I just want to shout to the screen, "Idiots, look at the woman standing right in front of you!"

But while they had a hard time making Fontaine look plain, I think she did a fantastic job of making the 2nd Mrs. DeWinter timid, awkward and painfully self-aware.

...rolling downhill like a snowball headed for hell...

[–] crlnrgbrght5 11 years ago

Vivien Leigh tested for this believe it or not.

[–] kenny-164 11 years ago

Ah, comparing Vivien Leigh to Joan Fontaine. One of my favorite subjects! (May seem strange! But let me explain.)

First of all both Vivien and Joan are in my top ten all time favorite actresses. And yes, Vivien tested for this part, and obviously Joan got it instead. Not all who read this may know that at the time Vivien was Larry Olivier's lover and future wife (they were both still in their previous marriages). Vivien was coming off her Oscar for Gone With the Wind, which was like Rebecca a Selznick production. And Larry very much wanted Vivien to get the role.

But if you look at the screen tests and compare them, both easily available on Youtube, I think it is obvious why Joan got the part. She was totally believable in the screen test as the second Mrs. de Winter. They had no choice but to give her the role. Even with Larry beign unhappy and Vivien's success before.

The screen test for Leigh is fascinating. You know she knows this part is quite different from that of Scarlett O'Hara, and I think Leigh showed diversity enough in her later roles, including Anthony and Cleopatra, That Lady Hamilton, Anna Karenina and others. But she could not really get that kind of shy and adorable persona that was needed for the second Mrs. de Winter. Self effacement was not her thing!

Also interesting I think is how different it seems if one moves from a comparison of the two women in static terms, as in viewing pictures, and then in films, when they move. I give Vivien Leigh a slight edge in beauty in the static sense. But when they move? Joan Fontaine has this incredible kind of expressiveness and manner. I think it is unique, meaning a unique combination of expressiveness, beauty, and general talent. She is not afraid to play down her beauty, even as she was still a young and getting established star (see Jane Eyre, for a great example).

I suppose voice is not usually taken into consideration when one considers beauty, with the emphasis clearly on the visual. But despite that Joan Fontaine's voice is incredible, and adds so much to her attractiveness and talent. Listen to her voiceover at the beginning of Rebecca and how it differs from that in the first scenes in which she appears. Incredible.

Well, I could go on and on about Joan Fontaine. She did not have the longest and most consistent career, and I think timing with the rise of television probably hurt her in that regard. But she continued to remain beautiful as she grew older, and is still alive today. What a great actress and great beauty.

[–] crlnrgbrght5 11 years ago

A Friend of Olivier and Leigh says, She wanted this role to be near "Larry". But, was obviously not right for the part, "To strong", says He.

[–] marhefka 11 years ago

Kenny,

Please do go on a little about Joan Fontaine. I'm also a big fan. I really don't understand why she got "only" three Oscar nominations. I think she should have received several others.

Here is my ranking of Joan's top five films.

1. Rebecca. Of course, who would pick some other film?
2. Letter From An Unknown Woman. No Oscar nomination for Joan?
3. Suspicion. Joan won her only Oscar.
4. September Affair. Virtually unknown. Only 368 people voted on IMDB. Yet, it is one of my favorites. The plot is great. Chemistry between her and Joseph Cotton is excellent. The music is also just great. They begin to fall in love while Walter Huston is singing "The September Song." Using Rachmaninoff's theme in his 2nd Piano Concerto certainly didn't hurt.
5. The Constant Nymph. Nominated for Best Actress.

I realize that some great roles by Joan are not in my top five. Jane Eyre, Ivy, The Affairs of Susan, etc.

[–] kenny-164 11 years ago

Just another note about Vivien Leigh and her attempt to land this role - one must remember that Vivien was primarily a stage actress, while Joan Fontaine was much more a film actress. Vivien's film roles were all great in my opinion, but can be characterized as played rather broadly. Even a relatively intimate performance such as Streecar Named Desire was originally a play on Broadway. Other great but lesser known roles such as her renditions of Cleopatra and Lady Hamilton, and of course Scarlett O'Hara, called for a broadly played performance.

That is not the kind of role that was the second Mrs. de Winter, or Lina in Suspicion. and as great as Vivien was, i can't see her playing a young teenager when she was approximately thirty anywhere near as well as Joan Fontaine did in Letter from an Uknown Woman.

marhefka,

I do not know September Affair. In fact I have only in the last year or so become familiar with her work, but have since become a huge fan. Whenever I get a chance to see one I hvae not seen, i take it up. For example the rarely acknowledged This Above All, a WWII film set in England, was on TCM a few months ago, and I can't bring myself to erase it from my DVR! she was absolutely gorgeous in that film, and what a great performance too.

Jane Eyre wsa the first film I saw her in, about this time last year. But Rebecca and Suspicion are her best known performances, I think, although imo she does stand out in a great crowd in The Women.

What I love about her is how her movements and manners give expression to her beauty. I frankly think no one has that combination like she does. There is also a tangible intelligence to her that I find attractive as well. From what I can gather of her in real life, she combines a genuine niceness without having a shred of naivete. She must be quite a character and great fun, in other words. Kind of like another of my favorites from a later period, that being Diana Rigg. Having said that, I don't know how many others would think to make that comparison.

I don't see any actress around today who is like her, either. And I am trying to be fair. Perhaps Kate Winslett is near her league in terms of acting chops, but Ms. Winslett simply does not have the beauty, glamour and exquisite manners that Joan has. WHo else?

Some of my other favorite actresses all time share with her a combination of intelligence and beauty. Being a huge Bergman fan I love Bibi Andersson and Liv Ullmann, and also I love Antonioni's muse Monica Vitti. But none of them I am sorry to say quite reached Joan Fontaine's standard, although I must say Monica was about as stylish as they have ever come.

Other than Diana Rigg, Vivien Leigh comes closest, I suppose, and arguably as I have said elsewhere is the more beautiful in static terms. but that comparison between screen tests for Rebecca is as good a way to explain why I give Joan the edge as any other way could be. Because on top of all else I have mentioned about her, Joan was simply and overwhelmingly adorable there.

What do you think?

[–] marhefka 11 years ago

kenny,

I'm not as articulate as you; so, I can only say that I agree. Her movements, her mannerisms, etc. Actually, I'm surprised she got only three Academy Award nominations during her life. No nomination for Letter From an Unknown Woman, none for The Affairs of Susan, and others.

I think September Affair is a forgotten classic. I read about the plot on IMDB and wanted to watch it. Recently I have been able to get a streamed copy and have uploaded it to youtube.

For some strange reason, it's not that easy to find on youtube. If you search on September Affair, you will receive page after page of hits. I stopped looking after the 8th page. It may be there somewhere, I don't know. But, if you key in "September Affair" you will find it at the bottom of page 1. Furthermore, if you key in the name plus my name, it will pop up as the first entry:

September Affair Donald Marhefka

I hope you get a chance to watch it. I'd like to hear your reaction.

[–] kenny-164 11 years ago

marhefka,

I will try and do that. Thanks.

[–] liscarkat (19418) 4 years ago

Yes, and so is Lily James. But it's a movie tradition. Suspend your disbelief and go with the flow.

[–] sonans (1674) 4 years ago

I read the book, don't remember it say the heroine is plain looking.

[–] TheArgentinian (7251) 4 years ago

she looked mighty fine. Some shots from behind showed her nice figure.

[–] Druff (1845) 4 years ago

I agree that Joan Fontaine was very beautiful, but she didn't have a sexy bombshell look going for her. She was definitely more of a girl-next-door type. Relatively speaking. I assume Rebecca was absolutely devastating and merely looking at her would make your chest hurt. Wise move to never actually reveal what she looked like.

[–] Otter (24464) 4 years ago

I can live with the second Mrs. DeWinter being a lovely girl, who has no idea she's lovely.

I mean, he's not only a man, he's a man who's accustomed to the best of everything, and who'd probably never notice a genuinely plain girl even if she was very kind and sweet. So yes, after his first disastrous marriage he's willing to settle, the first wife had all the good looks, background, and social status he thought he was entitled to, and that did indeed teach him that picking a wife according to what's expected for one's station isn't going to result in a happy marriage. So now he's willing to settle for someone who has no breeding or status or social graces... but at least she's got looks! And unlike Rebecca, she doesn't have a clue how to use her beauty, he just gets to appreciate that side of the marriage with no downside that he can see.