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Salient. An Organ of Student Opinion at Victoria College, Wellington N.Z. Vol. 3, No. 6

"Rebecca"

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"Rebecca"

This film is probably unique in that it owes its force very largely to a character who does not appear at any stage and who has been in fact dead for some considerable time the dead Rebecca de Winter either as the paragon of breeding, beauty, and intelligence or as the monster of unallowed evil she finally appears is by way of being a somewhat incredible character. None the less the gradual revelation of the character of the dead woman is very skillfully managed and enables a fascinating and impressive film to be produced out of what does not seem to lie with the producers, who have adhered does not seem to lie with the producers, who have adhered faithfully to the story, nor with the actors, but the characters and many of the situations are, to say the least, not striking in their originality. We have the amiable and beautiful but preternaturally obtuse heroine, a handsome hero nursing a dark, deep and romantic secret, the hero's faithful friend, a wicked housekeeper, and various suitably fatuous members of the [unclear: squirearchy]. It is an amusing family, but it seems to have been handed down to every second rate female English novelist since the mid-eighteenth century, and is becoming a trifle shopworn.

As to the quality of the photography, lighting, and similar matters, I am informed by those who know that it was of a very high order.

Mention should also be made of a supporting feature in which several squadrons of Russian airplanes, about two regiments of infantry, and at least half a dozen tanks flickered across the screen and convinced various members of a gaping audience (a) that that there Russia was the real menace (b) that there might be something in Communism after all (c) that Stalin would show Hitler a thing or two one day he would.

N.W