Rebecca (1997)

A young English girl (Emilia Fox) works as a companion to a wealthy American widow (Faye Dunaway). While they are vacationing in Monte Carlo, she meets the enigmatic widower Max de Winter (Charles Dance) and falls in love with him. They marry but she is ill prepared to become the mistress of the fabled Manderley estate or replace the first Mrs. de Winter, the beautiful Rebecca. Based on the novel by Daphne Du Maurier and directed by Jim O'Brien. Du Maurier's novel has been adapted for film (notably Hitchcock's Oscar winning 1940 film), television, the stage and even an opera. At three hours, this adaptation takes a leisurely pace but not necessarily any more faithful to Du Maurier's source material than the Hitchcock adaptation. The production makes the mistake of having a flashback scene where we actually get to see and hear Rebecca (Lucy Cohu) whereas in the novel and other adaptations, Rebecca is always talked about but never seen. As Max de Winter, Charles Dance is rather surly and unpleasant without the charismatic charm that would compensate for his bad tempered behavior. Fortunately, there's Diana Rigg who gives a terrific performance as Mrs. Danvers. She makes Danvers her own, owing nothing to Judith Anderson's iconic performance in the 1940 film. With Geraldine James, Dennis Lill, Tom Chadbon, Timothy West and Jonathan Cake who overacts terribly!