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 with the same
haunting tone in gothic style but different kinds of acting from Richard Burton and 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 woman you won'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, thanks to Richard Burton and Olivia de Havilland, the acting is of the first order in
My Cousin Rachel.