Astonishingly good adaptation of du Maurier's novel, which may have been a knock off of Jane Eyre but is executed with complete conviction and the perfect combination of American pace and English touches. It's a tribute to David O Selznick, who produced this at his peak - perfect selection of director, cast, writer, cinematographer, etc. It all works beautifully.
Joan Fontaine anchors the piece as the girl - the perfect Cinderella before a transformation, shy and uncertain - she was never this good in anything again. (She is less compelling when she "grows up" but that is the point.) Laurence Olivier is brilliant as the doomed Maxim - it's not hard to see why Selznick wanted Ronald Colman, but for my mind Olivier is better than Colman would have been; younger, with a darker tone.
Outstanding support cast, including Nigel Bruce, Gladys Cooper and especially George Sanders and Judith Anderson. The piece is less good in the last quarter as Fontaine and Anderson retreat to the background and it becomes about Olivier and the trial - despite Sanders' sterling work and a nice turn from Leo G Gordon at the end, the deux ex machina of the cancer feels like a massive cheat. But a great example of Hollywood in its Golden Age.
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