Claim: Laurence Olivier performed alongside an actress.

Rebecca is a 1940 American psychological thriller-mystery film directed by Alfred Hitchcock . It was Hitchcock 's first American project , and his first film produced under contract with David O. Selznick . The film 's screenplay was a version by Joan Harrison and Robert E. Sherwood based on Philip MacDonald and Michael Hogan 's adaptation of Daphne du Maurier 's 1938 novel Rebecca . The film was produced by Selznick and stars Laurence Olivier as the brooding aristocratic widower Maxim de Winter and Joan Fontaine as the young woman who becomes his second wife , with Judith Anderson and George Sanders .   The film is shot in black-and-white , and is a gothic tale . Maxim de Winter 's first wife Rebecca , who died before the story starts , is never seen . Her reputation and others ' recollections about her , however , are a constant presence in the lives of Maxim , his new young second wife , and the housekeeper Danvers .   Rebecca won two Academy Awards , Outstanding Production and Cinematography , out of a total 11 nominations . Olivier , Fontaine and Anderson were all Oscar nominated for their respective roles . However , since 1936 -LRB- when awards for actors in supporting roles were first introduced -RRB- , Rebecca is the only film that , despite winning Best Picture , received no Academy Award for acting , directing or writing . Rebecca was the opening film at the 1st Berlin International Film Festival in 1951 .