What’s the connection between the de Havilland aircraft & the film Rebecca?
Geoffrey de Havilland
Movie trivia:
Here’s little piece of trivia with which to bore your friends.
There is a strong connection between the aircraft company that made, amongst other things, the World War Two Mosquito bomber and the fabulous Alfred Hitchcock movie, Rebecca.
Rebecca, one of the best films ever, starred Joan Fontaine in the leading female role.
She played the second Mrs de Winter, the first – Rebecca – having died in a tragic boat accident.(Or did she?)
The connection between the film and the aircraft company starts to reveal itself when you realise that Joan Fontaine had a sister who was also a star in the golden Hollywood Era.
Probably her most famous role was in Gone with the Wind, although my favourite part she played was that of Catherine in The Heiress.
If you’re fond of old movies you might be getting the connection now.
The actress in question – Joan Fontaine’s sister was Olivia de Havilland. Although the name is perfect and sounds like an invented-for-Hollywood stage name, it was their family name. And Geoffrey de Havilland, pictured above, was their cousin. He started the de Havilland Aircraft Company 🙂
If you haven’t seen Rebecca then I thoroughly recommend it. On the DVD cover that you see on the right,there’s Joan Fontaine as the new Mrs de Winter being menaced (there’s no better word) by the super-creepy Mrs Danvers, played by Judith Anderson.
Mrs Danvers,played by the wonderful Judith Anderson, must be one of the creepiest characters in films. The movie is a true suspense story – as you’d expect from Hitchcock – but it’s a psychological thriller, rather than a scary film.
See her in action below:
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