The Theatre: New Play in Manhattan, Jan. 29, 1945

Rebecca (adapted from her novel by Daphne du Maurier; produced by Victor Payne-Jennings) reversed U.S. theatrical custom in two ways: the novel was made into a play after it had been made into a movie, and went to Broadway after it had toured the country. Unfortunately, its reverses do not stop there. On the stage, the well-known tale of the haunting influence of Maxim de Winter’s dead first wife on himself (Bramwell Fletcher), his new bride (Diana Barrymore), his grim housekeeper (Florence Reed) and his great oppressive house casts only a faint and fitful spell. The long, dusky, atmospheric tunnel through which, as book and movie, Rebecca advanced upon its melodramatic climax is here only a dry uphill path. And the melodrama itself, chained to one set, bilked of half its turns & twists, lacks half its old excitement.