Rebecca is the 1997 British-German two-part miniseries adaptation of the novel of the same name. It is the second miniseries adaptation of the book, following one in 1979, and stars Charles Dance and Emilia Fox in the leading roles. In the UK, it aired on ITV, and in United States, it was broadcast under the Masterpiece label.
Like the novel, the film follows an unnamed heroine (Fox), who, after meeting the wealthy widower Maxim de Winter (Dance) in Monte Carlo, is swept away to his estate, Manderley, and becomes his second wife. However, she is overwhelmed by its grandeur and can't help but shake the feeling that everyone — such as the imperious housekeeper Mrs. Danvers (Diana Rigg) — prefers the previous Mrs. de Winter, Rebecca (Lucy Cohu), to her. Maxim himself is tight-lipped about Rebecca's fate, at least until they appear to find a body...
Tropes:
- Adaptational Alternate Ending: The series goes further than the book's ending of Manderley burning to the ground and shows the de Winters living, seemingly content, in a small hotel.
- Casting Gag: Emilia Fox, who plays the second Mrs. de Winter, is the daughter of Joanna David, who had previously played the role in the 1979 miniseries adaptation.
- Died Laughing: Rebecca was cackling as Maxim choked her to death.
- Redemption Equals Affliction: Downplayed; the morally gray Maxim attempts to save the life of Mrs. Danvers at the cost of slight scarring and a limp.
- Save the Villain: Near the end, Maxim runs upstairs to save his antagonistic housekeeper Mrs. Danvers from the fire that eventually destroys Manderley.
- Sexual Karma: Played with. Maxim and the narrator are shown the morning after finally consummating their marriage, several months into it, blissfully reclining in one another's arms and treating one another with a newfound earthy affection. This is also the morning after the narrator learned that Maxim killed Rebecca- and in this version, it was by strangling her to death in a fit of anger.
