Rebecca (1940)

This chapter examines the battles fought by David O. Selznick with the censors over their demands during the making of Rebecca and Hitchcock’s mollifying efforts in acceding to those demands. Selznick purchased the rights to Daphne du Maurier’s best seller Rebecca against the advice of the Code officials, who felt that the story of a man who murders his wife and gets off scot-free could not receive Code approval. Hitchcock suggested that the man’s wife die by accident, leaving the rest of the plot elements intact. Hitchcock’s suggestion got the film past the censors while raising the level of implausibility fairly high, but not high enough to keep the film from winning a Best Picture Oscar.