Daphne Du Maurier and Alfred Hitchcock

Daphne du Maurier is one of the greatest authors of the 20th century. Her novel Rebecca, originally published in 1938 and remains popular to this day and is considered to be her best work. Alfred Hitchcock is considered to be the best director of all time. Psycho, his most famous movie, continues to exhilarate horror fans around the world. People often know of the two individually, but do not realize that the two were paired up three times.

Alfred Hitchcock loved dark, suspenseful, mysterious, and macabre stories. He featured them in as many venues as possible, whether through a movie adaptation, his TV series Alfred Hitchcock Presents, or in his magazine and book collections of stories. Daphne du Maurier was a sort of female Stephen King in the mid-twentieth century. Her creepy stories intrigued Hitchcock, and he made three of them into movies.

Jamaica Inn

Jamaica Inn was a novel published by du Maurier in 1936. It is the story of orphaned Mary Yellan, who has been sent by her grandmother to go live with her Aunt Patience at the Jamaica Inn. The Inn has a reputation for being filled with suspicious people. Mary refuses to believe such gossip at first, but the longer she stays there, the more suspicious she becomes of the comings and goings of these people. It turns out the people are pirates, sinking ships for fortune. Mary desperately wants to get away, but this does not bode well with their plans.

Jamaica Inn was shot completely in black and white, and is one of his few movies where Hitchcock does not make one of his famous cameo appearances. It is also the last movie he made prior to coming to Hollywood. The movie stars Maureen O'Hara as Mary, which was one of her first major movie roles. Charles Laughton plays her eccentric uncle.

Rebecca

After making Jamaica Inn, Hitchcock came across the Atlantic to test his wings in Hollywood. He was hired by producer David O. Selznick for a seven year contract. His first project ended up being Rebecca, based on the Daphne du Maurier novel.

Rebecca is the story of the young Mrs. de Winter, second wife of Maxim de Winter. When the new bride is brought home, she is icily greeted by the housekeeper, Mrs. Danvers, who has an unnatural devotion to the first Mrs. de Winter, Rebecca. Mrs. Danvers takes advantage of The Second Mrs. de Winter's naivety and anxiousness, torturing her with stories of how Rebecca did everything. The Second Mrs. de Winter feels compelled to make herself just like Rebecca, and the dead woman's memory takes over Manderley. It turns out, there are many secrets involving Rebecca, that have been buried over time.

This movie is also filmed in black and white, in order to amplify the despair felt by the characters. It stars Joan Fontaine as the young Second Mrs. de Winter, Judith Anderson as the sinister Mrs. Danvers, her second major movie role, and Laurence Olivier, fresh from Wuthering Heights, as Mr. Maxim de Winter.

Just as the novel was the first major success for author du Maurier, the film adaptation was a triumph for its director Hitchcock. It was his first movie to receive an Academy Award nomination. It was also the only to win, receiving Best Picture for 1940. Hitchcock never won an Academy Award for directing.

The Birds

The Birds was another one of Hitchcock's biggest hits. Few realize that the story was based on a short story penned by Daphne du Maurier. When Mitch Brenner comes into a pet shop and plays a joke on Melanie Daniels, she is coyly determined to get her revenge. She drives an hour north of her San Francisco home to Bodega Bay, to deliver her own practical joke. She brings two love birds for Mitch's younger sister. Ironically enough, she is attacked by a sea gull when crossing the bay in a boat. Soon after, Mitch's mother discovers her neighbor, dead, apparently from a bird attack. Before much longer, flocks of birds begin to attack the town, for no known reason.

The movie and the short story only hold a general similarity. Characters are different in the story, and the reason for the birds' attack follows the rise and fall of the tide. However, it was a strong inspiration for the film.

The film stars Tippi Hedren in the lead role as Melanie Daniels. This was her first major film, as she was discovered by Hitchcock, himself, in a TV commercial. Rod Taylor plays Mitch Brenner, Veronica Cartwright plays his sister, Cathy, and Jessica Tandy plays his mother, Lydia. Suzanne Pleshette plays family friend Annie Hayworth.

The combination of the two masters contributed to great success for them both. Curl up on a dark night with either du Maurier's stories or Hitchcock's films, and be sure to be delighted.

Resources:

Alfred Hitchcock on IMDB http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000033/

Alfred Hitchcock Official Website http://www.alfred-hitchcock.com/index.html

The Birds on IMDB http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0056869/

Daphne du Maurier website http://www.dumaurier.org/index.html

Jamaica Inn on IMDB http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0031505/

Rebecca on IMDB http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0032976/