Rebecca (1940) Poster

(1940)

Judith Anderson: Mrs. Danvers

Photos 

Quotes 

  • [the new Mrs. de Winter wants to dispose of Rebecca's letters] 

    The Second Mrs. de Winter : I want you to get rid of all these things.

    Mrs. Danvers : But these are Mrs. de Winter's things.

    The Second Mrs. de Winter : *I* am Mrs. de Winter now!

  • Mrs. Danvers : [as the second Mrs. de Winter runs into the room]  I watched you go down just as I watched her a year ago. Even in the same dress you couldn't compare.

    The Second Mrs. de Winter : You knew it! You knew that she wore it, and yet you deliberately suggested I wear it. Why do you hate me? What have I done to you that you should ever hate me so?

    Mrs. Danvers : You tried to take her place. You let him marry you. I've seen his face - his eyes. They're the same as those first weeks after she died. I used to listen to him, walking up and down, up and down, all night long, night after night, thinking of her, suffering torture because he lost her!

    The Second Mrs. de Winter : [turning away in shame and shock]  I don't want to know, I don't want to know!

    Mrs. Danvers : [moving towards her]  You thought you could be Mrs. de Winter, live in her house, walk in her steps, take the things that were hers! But she's too strong for you. You can't fight her - no one ever got the better of her. Never, never. She was beaten in the end, but it wasn't a man, it wasn't a woman. It was the sea!

    The Second Mrs. de Winter : [collapsing in tears on the bed]  Oh, stop it! Stop it! Oh, stop it!

    Mrs. Danvers : [opening the shutters]  You're overwrought, madam. I've opened a window for you. A little air will do you good.

    [as the second Mrs. de Winter gets up and walks toward the window] 

    Mrs. Danvers : Why don't you go? Why don't you leave Manderley? He doesn't need you... he's got his memories. He doesn't love you, he wants to be alone again with her. You've nothing to stay for. You've nothing to live for really, have you?

    [softly, almost hypnotically] 

    Mrs. Danvers : Look down there. It's easy, isn't it? Why don't you? Why don't you? Go on. Go on. Don't be afraid...

  • Mrs. Danvers : [brings out a negligee from under the bedcovers]  Did you ever see anything so delicate?

    [motions the second Mrs. de Winter over] 

    Mrs. Danvers : Look, you can see my hand through it!

  • Mrs. Danvers : [just as the second Mrs. de Winter reaches for the door]  You wouldn't think she'd been gone so long, would you? Sometimes, when I walk along the corridor, I fancy I hear her just behind me. That quick light step, I couldn't mistake it anywhere. It's not only in this room, it's in all the rooms in the house. I can almost hear it now.

    [turns to the petrified second Mrs. de Winter] 

    Mrs. Danvers : Do you think the dead come back and watch the living?

    The Second Mrs. de Winter : [sobbing]  N-no, I don't believe it.

    Mrs. Danvers : Sometimes, I wonder if she doesn't come back here to Manderley, to watch you and Mr. de Winter together. You look tired. Why don't you stay here a while and rest, and listen to the sea? It's so soothing. Listen to it.

    [turning away towards the window as the second Mrs. de Winter slips out the door] 

    Mrs. Danvers : Listen. Listen to the sea.

  • Mrs. Danvers : Oh, you've moved her brush, haven't you?

    [moves it slightly] 

    Mrs. Danvers : There, that's better. Just as she always laid it down. "Come on, Danny, hair drill," she would say.

    [picks up the brush and goes through the motions of combing the second Mrs. De Winter's hair, without actually touching it] 

    Mrs. Danvers : And I'd stand behind her like this and brush away for twenty minutes at a time.

    [lays down the brush and looks at the portrait of Maxim] 

    Mrs. Danvers : Then she would say, "Good night, Danny," and step into her bed.

  • [urging Mrs. de Winter to jump out the window and end her misery] 

    Mrs. Danvers : Go ahead. Jump. He never loved you, so why go on living? Jump and it will all be over...

  • Mrs. Danvers : She knew everyone that mattered. Everyone loved her.

  • Mrs. Danvers : [to Mrs. de Winter]  I watched you go down, just as I watched her a year ago. Even in the same dress, you couldn't compare.

See also

Release Dates | Official Sites | Company Credits | Filming & Production | Technical Specs


Recently Viewed