On M List of Movie Reviews

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My Cousin Rachel (1952)

Rate: 10
Viewed: 3/17

3/17: As both films are based on Daphne du Maurier's novels, I prefer My Cousin Rachel over Rebecca.

Taking place at a lonely sumptuous-looking house against the seascape, the stories are similar, having the same haunting tone in gothic style with different kind of acting: Richard Burton versus Laurence Olivier. One is rough, the other is smooth. One is fiery, the other is melancholic. One is born a movie star, the other is a theater star who's training to be a movie star.

Making his debut in a Hollywood film, Richard Burton steals the show from start to finish. He's brilliant and impossible to overlook. Mad, bad, and dangerous to know, Richard Burton would've made a good Heathcliff. For his effort, he was rewarded with an Oscar nomination, the first of seven. Strangely, it went for Best Supporting Actor. Really? Um, Richard Burton was in almost every scene, having pretty much led the show.

His co-star Olivia de Havilland is perfect: the sort of a woman you wouldn't accuse of anything because of her face. She's able to match Richard Burton scene-for-scene as if it's a swordplay: a hard thrust by Burton and a soft parry by de Havilland over and over. By the way, Vivien Leigh was first offered the role of Rachel Ashley but declined. Who knows how well she might have pulled it off?

The dark, brooding atmosphere is beautifully set up. It's very hard to find films like this. At best, My Cousin Rachel is a gothic picture that follows the same tradition of Wuthering Heights. Even the ending is an open-ended cliffhanger which suggests Philip Ashley didn't believe her cousin as a schemer. But one thing is for sure: whatever you do, stay away from tisane!

All in all, acting is of the first order in My Cousin Rachel.

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