Olivia de Havilland and Richard Burton in "My Cousin Rachel"

My Cousin Rachel (1952) is an American gothic mystery directed by Henry Koster and starring Olivia de Havilland and Richard Burton in his American film debut. The cast also includes Audrey Dalton, Ronald Squire, George Dolenz, and John Sutton. The screenplay was written by Nunnally Johnson, who also produced, based on the novel of the same name by Daphne Du Maurier. The cinematography was by Joseph LaShelle and the music was by Franz Waxman.

Philip Ashley (Burton) is raised by his older and wealthy cousin Ambrose Ashley on a large estate on the coast of Cornwall. Ambrose's declining health requires him to move to a warmer climate. He ends up in Florence, Italy, where he marries his cousin Rachel Sangalletti (de Havilland). Philip begins to receive disturbing letters from Ambrose complaining that Rachel and his doctor aren't treating him well.

Philip travels to Florence only to discover that Ambrose died of a brain tumor. A man named Guido Rainaldi informs him of this fact and provides a death certificate to prove it. Rachel left before Philip's arrival and according to Rainaldi, Ambrose left his entire estate to Philip (upon his 25th birthday) and nothing to Rachel. In spite of this, Philip suspects foul play in regard to his cousin's death.

Was Rachel responsible for Ambrose's death? And if so, what were her motives?

Richard Burton and Olivia de Havilland

Henry Koster (1905 - 1988) was a German-born film director. He signed a contract with Universal Pictures in 1936. At the time, he didn't speak English but he convinced the studio to let him make Three Smart Girls (1936), which was Deanna Durbin’s first starring film role. The movie was a huge success and saved Universal from bankruptcy. Koster convinced Universal to sign Abbott and Costello to a film contract. The comedy duo was a box office sensation during the 1940s, making the studio millions. Later in Koster’s career, he directed Harvey (1950), My Cousin Rachel (1952), which was Richard Burton’s American film debut. He directed Burton again the next year in The Robe, which was the first film to be filmed in CinemaScope. Other films include Desiree (1954) with Marlon Brando and Jean Simmons, Flower Drum Song (1960) starring Nancy Kwan, and The Singing Nub (1965) starring Debbie Reynolds.

Olivia de Havilland (1916 – 2020) was a British-American actress and two-time Best Actress Academy Award winner. De Havilland’s career spanned more than five decades. She was one of the leading actresses of the 1940s and was the last major surviving star from Hollywood’s Golden Age. Some of de Havilland’s classic films include The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938), Gone with the Wind (1939), Hold Back the Dawn (1941), To Each His Own (1946), The Snake Pit (1948), and The Heiress (1949).

Richard Burton (1925 - 1984) was a Welsh actor who was a star on both stage and screen. He was nominated seven times for an Academy Award but never won an Oscar. He made his American film debut in My Cousin Rachel (1952) for which he received an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor. He didn't win but his film career took off with the blockbuster Cinemascope classic, The Robe (1953) co-starring Jean Simmons and Victor Mature. Burton's other film roles include Prince of Players (1955), Alexander the Great (1956), and Look Back in Anger (1959). He hit his stride in the 1960s, marrying Elizabeth Taylor in the process after their affair during the making of Cleopatra (1963). Other films include Beckett (1964), The V.I.P.s (1963), and The Sandpiper (1965) both co-starring Taylor. He had a box office hit with the John Huston directed The Night of the Iguana (1964). Burton continued making films up until the time of his death and is remembered as one of the greatest actors of his generation.

Oliva de Havilland, Audrey Dalton, and Richard Burton

My Cousin Rachel trivia

• It was reported that Richard Burton and Olivia de Havilland didn't get along during filming.
• The film was proposed as a comeback for Greta Garbo with George Cukor directing.
• Vivien Leigh was also considered for the role of Rachel.
• The film marked the American film debut of Richard Burton.
• This was de Havilland's first film after her Oscar-winning The Heiress (1949).

Why watch this film

• It's an opportunity to see Burton early in his American film career.
• This was a prestige picture for 20th Century-Fox with de Havilland at the height of her powers.
• The production, partially filmed in Cornwall and on the Fox soundstages is impressive.
• The film was nominated for four Academy Awards including Burton's for Best Supporting Actor.
• It's a gothic mystery romance based on the novel by Daphne Du Maurier like they don't make anymore.

To watch the film on YouTube, click on the link below.

To join the discussion on April 4, 2022, at 6:30 p.m. Central Time, click here. Once you RSVP, you will receive an invitation and Zoom link to the discussion.

Discussion questions

1. Do you think Philip had good reason to be suspicious of Rachel?
2. If Rachel was responsible for Ambrose's death, what were her motives?
3. What did you think of Richard Burton's film debut?
4. Did Olivia de Havilland have the right amount of mystery in her portrayal of Rachel?
5. Were you surprised by the ending?
6. What are your conclusions? Guilty or innocent?

Fritz Lang’s “The Woman in the Window” starring Edward G. Robinson and Joan Bennett

The Woman in the Window (1944) is an American film noir directed by Fritz Lang, produced by Nunnally Johnson, and starring Edward G. Robinson, Joan Bennett, Raymond Massey, and Dan Duryea.

The plot centers on a mild-mannered college professor Richard Wanley (Robinson) who meets Alice Reed, (Bennett) while staring at a painting in an art gallery window. He soon realizes that the woman was the model for the painting. What started out as an innocent night out for a few drinks turns into a night of murder and blackmail.

How will  Professor Wanley and Alice get out of the mess they’ve gotten themselves into?

Joan Bennett and Edward G. Robinson

Fritz Lang (1890 – 1976) was an Austrian-German-American director. Lang is the director of the silent film classic Metropolis (1927). After serving in World War I, Lang worked for a time as an actor in the theater and then worked as a writer at Decla Film in Berlin. Lang’s first talking picture was M (1931) a story about a child murderer. Due to his growing renown, Joseph Goebbels offered him the position of head of the German film studio UFA in 1933. Lang emigrated to Paris and then to the United States in 1936. Lang worked for all the major studios, making twenty-three feature films in the United States. Some of Lang’s films include Scarlet Street (1945), The Big Heat (1953), and While the City Sleeps (1956).

Nunnally Johnson (1897 – 1977) was a journalist, screenwriter, producer, and director. He worked for many years as a writer at 20th Century-Fox before he co-founded International Pictures in 1943 with William Goetz. Johnson was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Screenplay in 1940 for The Grapes of Wrath. Johnson wrote, produced, and directed The Man in the Gray Flannel Suit (1956) and The Three Faces of Eve (1957). As a writer-producer, he is responsible for The Gunfighter (1950), My Cousin Rachel (1952), and How to Marry a Millionaire (1953). Johnson’s last credited screenplay was for The Dirty Dozen (1967).

Milton R. Krasner (1904 – 1988) was an American cinematographer. He is best known for his work at 20th Century-Fox where he filmed such classics as All About Eve (1950) and The Seven Year Itch (1955). Other notable films he photographed include Scarlett Street (1945), The Dark Mirror (1946), The Egg and I (1947), The Farmer’s Daughter (1947), Bus Stop (1956), An Affair to Remember (1957), Bells Are Ringing (1960), Sweet Bird of Youth (1962), How the West Was Won (1962), Love with the Proper Stranger (1963), and The Singing Nun (1966). Krasner won an Academy Award for his work on Three Coins in the Fountain (1954).

Edward G. Robinson (1893 – 1973) was an American actor of the stage and screen. Robinson is a true star from Hollywood’s Golden Age where he starred in the gangster classic Little Caesar (1931), Kid Galahad (1937), Confessions of a Nazi Spy (1939), The Sea Wolf (1941), Double Indemnity (1944), and Key Largo (1948). Robinson was awarded an Honorary Academy Award in 1973 but was never nominated for a competitive Oscar.

Joan Bennett (1910–1990) began her film career during the early sound era. A natural blonde, Bennett dyed her hair as a plot device in the film Trade Winds (1938). As a brunette, Bennett projected a sultry persona that had her compared to the brunette beauty, Hedy Lamarr. During this period she starred in two costume epics. She played Princess Maria Theresa in The Man in the Iron Mask (1939) and Grand Duchess Zona of Lichtenburg in The Son of Monte Cristo (1940). Bennett was one of two finalists for the role of Scarlett O’Hara in Gone with the Wind (1939), along with Paulette Goddard. She had a very successful collaboration with the director Fritz Lang. With Lang, she starred in the classics Man Hunt (1940), The Woman in the Window (1944), and Scarlet Street (1945). Bennett acted on stage and on television where she became a pop culture icon playing Elizabeth Collins Stoddard on the gothic soap opera Dark Shadows (1966-1971).

Dan Duryea (1907 – 1968) was an American film, stage, and television actor. He is best known for his character roles as villains, but he had a long career that included a variety of lead and second lead roles. Duryea graduated from Cornell University in 1928. In his senior year, he was the president of the college drama society. Duryea went to Hollywood in 1940 to Leo Hubbard in The Little Foxes, a role he created on Broadway. He established himself in films noir costarring in classics like Scarlet Street (1945), Criss Cross (1948), and Too Late for Tears (1949).

Below is the link to the movie on YouTube. Please use this link; there are several prints uploaded to the channel, but this one is the best one available.



Join us on Zoom for a discussion of this film on June 30, 2020, 2020, at 6:30 p.m. Central Time. Check below for meeting links.

Stephen Reginald is inviting you to a scheduled Zoom meeting.

Topic: Discussion of "The Woman in the Window"
Time: Jun 30, 2020, 06:30 PM Central Time (US and Canada)

Join Zoom Meeting

https://us04web.zoom.us/j/71665496130?pwd=ZDdveDhIN1ZCcjNSSGRDNTE2SHhBQT09

Meeting ID: 716 6549 6130
Password: 7yG9D2

Questions for discussion:
1. Noir or not? Does this film fit your idea of film noir?
2. Did you notice any noir visual clues?
3. Was Edward G. Robinson credible as a middle-aged college professor?
4. Any significance to the name Wanely? Why do you think professor Wanely decided to read “The Song of Solomon.”
5. Joan Bennett wasn’t your typical film noir “dame.” What sets her apart from some other femme fatales in other films noir? Were you curious about Bennett’s profession?
6. Fritz Lang is considered one of the best directors of film noir. From what you know about Lang, do you agree? What makes his style unique?
7. Did you like the ending? Was it a surprise or expected?

Trivia: Look for Robert Blake at the beginning of the film. He plays Robinson’s young son. Blake wasn't credited in the movie.

Classic Film of the Week: : "Three Came Home"

In 1950, Claudette Colbert starred as Agnes Newton Keith, a prisoner of war in Borneo during World War II. Keith, an American author was married to a British administrator assigned to the island located north of Australia.

Forgotten classic
Little known today, Three Came Home was an important property that was supervised by the legendary Darryl F. Zanuck. The prestigious Twentieth Century Fox production filmed the establishing shots and other scenes for the film, where possible, at their original locations.

Best-selling memoir
Keith’s best-selling memoir focuses on her years in a Japanese prisoner of war camp with her three-year-old son. After the initial Japanese invasion of Borneo, husbands and wives were separated and sent to different camps on the island. The film chronicles the trials and tribulations of the women prisoners and how they coped with hard labor, little food, and poor living conditions.

Tea with the Colonel
The man in charge of the camps is one Colonel Suga, portrayed by Sessue Hayakawa, who develops an interesting and strange relationship with Keith. Keith, born in Oak Park, IL, and educated at Berkley, had written favorably of the Asian people, something that did not go unnoticed by Suga. It turns out that Suga was educated in Washington State and was familiar with American ways and culture. The relationship doesn’t necessarily win Keith any special favors, but it helps humanize Suga’s character, which for the time, was remarkable.

All about Claudette
Colbert, known for her glamorous roles and insistence that she not be photographed on the right side of her face, put vanity aside when she decided to play Keith. For most of the film she’s dirty and in ragged clothing, with no makeup (at least none that we can tell), and she even allows the right side of her face (sometimes called the dark side of the moon by critics) to be photographed! So determined was Colbert to be true to the character that she refused a stand-in for a very physical scene with a Japanese soldier. It was during this scene that she injured her back, forcing her to drop out of the production of All About Eve. Yes, Colbert was set to play Margo Channing; she was writer-director Joseph Mankiewicz’s first choice. Reflecting on this turn of events, Colbert was reported to have “cried for two years.”

Criterion treatment, please
It’s unfortunate that more people don’t know about this film today. It’s in the public domain, so there are many copies of it available on DVD. The film quality is decent and in some versions, above average, but it would really benefit from the “Criterion treatment.” It deserves a critical commentary and film restoration.

Having said all that, Three Came Home is still compelling viewing and a showcase for Colbert’s versatility as an actress of great range and depth.