[Phillip] Morning.

[Daphne] Morning Phillip, ghastly weather again.

[Phillip] It certainly is.

[Daphne] Thanks.

[door opens] [Daphne sighs] She's dead.

[gulls cawing] [Daphne] My love, what have you done to me?

What have you done to the girl who never wanted to grow up, the shy girl with a boy's heart?

Daphne Du Maurier, who wrote her books and had young men, and later a husband and children and life was lovely, sometimes rather sad.

[typewriter clacking] [Tod] Oh, Kits, slow down now.

[Kits chattering animatedly] Mommy, mommy, the war's over!

I know it is, darling, now go back to Tod.

[Daphne] Tommy didn't come home until the following year, the 19th of July, it was our wedding anniversary, which seemed to me the best of omens.

I stood there waiting for the door of the plane to open and I was gripped by a great wave of emotion.

I suddenly knew it was all going to be alright.

Everything was going to be alright.

[newsreel announcer] Daphne Du Maurier, Britain’s leading romantic novelist is thrilled to have romance back in her life, now that her husband is home from the war.

She's married to Lieutenant General Sir Frederick Browning, and they have three charming children, Tessa, away at boarding school, Flavia, and Kits.

Not that her novels and film scripts leave her much time for family life.

Rebecca, Miss Du Maurier's best selling novel still flies out of bookshops every week.

Ideas, when they come, must be jotted down at once or they'll slip away again.

The sinister fascination of the character, Rebecca, has brought Miss du Maurier a legion of fans.

Here's one you might recognize, yes, you guessed it, the Duke of Edinburgh, dropping in for lunch.

But Daphne's biggest fan, her husband of course.

No there's nothing sinister about the life of this happy wife, and by the way she's a keen archer too.

-[yelling] -[Tommy makes airplane noises] [Flavia] Their coming back!

Air raid, air raid.

Air raid, air raid, air raid.

Evacuate the stations!

Incoming bombs!

[Tommy] Darling.

I hope it's not all a queer anti climax for you.

[Daphne] Of course not.

[Kits making airplane noises] For Christ sake, don't touch my things!

Get back to bed!

What the hell do you think you're doing, boy?

Get back to bed!

Christ.

I’m not cut out for this.

We'll soon be jamming along again.

[Tommy] Yes.

These last years, not being properly together, it'll take some time to get back to our old roots.

[Daphne] The great homecoming fell flat as a pancake.

I waited, and waited for some kind of sign.

Nothing.

It was a hell of a blow.

[knocks on door] [Daphne] The outlook was dreary.

It was dreadful to think that side of marriage was finished forever.

It was frightfully bad for my morale.

Feeling such a dull, gray-haired, nearly 40, wife.

That's absurd Did I say that out loud?

If it wasn't for you I’d be a nervous wreck, probably neurotic.

The last five years, hell of it, it was thoughts of you buoyed a man up.

Oh.

Darling.

Let's go upstairs.

-Now?

-Why not?

But Tod.

Damn Tod.

It was odd for a man you know, coming home and being put in that damn cold second bedroom.

Oh, I...

I thought your mind would be so full of war.

Well, not just war.

I haven't been able to sleep.

Darling, neither have I.

My dreams are often of Daddy.

You miss him?

-I don't know, I... -Kiss me.

I am sorry, darling.

I was so determined to make an effort and not seem different at all and give you a great welcome.

[telephone rings] -Oh.

-Leave it, blasted thing.

[Tod] Hello, Menabilly.

No I must, I... [Tod] Can I ask who's calling?

Who is it, Tod?

It's Rebecca.

-Oh don't be ridiculous.

-Long distance call.

Hello.

Hello, Rebecca here.

Nelson.

It's my American publisher.

Tell me Miss du Maurier, you know that silly woman, that awful mouse, the second Mr. Winter, why did you never give her a name?

Oh, Nelson, stop that at once, if only you knew how sick I was of Rebecca.

Always Rebecca, Rebecca, Rebecca.

I’ll never be rid of Rebecca.

Well she's not finished with you yet.

How does a trip to the States grab ya?

What can you mean?

Well, there's a dame here wants to sue you.

She says you stole the idea of Rebecca from her book.

What nonsense.

I'm telling you, Daphne, they want you in court.

You're gonna have to pack your bags.

But Tommy's back.

I can't Nelson, really.

[jazz band music] [horn blows] [chattering animatedly] [Daphne] I expect the whole boat is teeming with Witherspoons.

[knock at door] Sh!

-We're not receiving.

-[woman] Hello, anybody there?

-Hello?

-Say, is the author of Rebecca here?

Shh!

I heard that, I don't bite you know, at least not until cornered.

Besides the Yankee hordes are half civilized these days.

You must be Daphne, I’m Nelson's wife, Ellen.

Ellen Doubleday.

How do you do?

Nelson arranged for us to be on the same ship, wasn't it swell of him, one of our most important writers.

I had to welcome you aboard.

Andrew, don't just stand there, they'll go right there.

Nelson tells me you've never been to the States before.

We must put you up in a style to which you're accustomed to make you feel right at home.

This will go there won't it?

Do you have rats in your house?

-Rats?

-[Flavia] We're accustomed to the style of rats.

[Ellen] In Cornwall?

Well it's not Manderly.

Ah, Rebecca kept such a beautiful house, didn't she?

-Children go open your presents.

-Yay!

Cigarette?

We're gonna be great friends, I can tell.

[Daphne] But I thought more than that.

You were quite glorious and I avoided you like the plague for the rest of the trip.

[newsreel announcer] Daphne du Maurier, celebrated author of Rebecca, arrived in New York today, to defend herself against charges of plagiarism.

But the welcome isn't all unfriendly.

Miss du Maurier will be tasting Stateside luxury while she's here, staying on Long Island as guest of the renowned society hostess Ellen Doubleday.

♪ For the lips that I used to call mine ♪ ♪ Oh, those sweet lips that I used to call mine ♪ ♪ I wonder if she... ♪ [Kits] Now what, mommy?

I don't know, darling.

Where's Mrs. Simpson?

[laughs] Do you mean Mrs. Doubleday?

-I'm hungry.

-Me too.

Perhaps there'll be a biscuit.

Ah, you've got your sea legs, I’m sure, you're still moving now... [continues indistinctly] [Daphne] Then you came back, bringing ease and comfort in your wake.

-Good morning, Miss du Maurier.

-Good morning.

Sure is a fine day.

[Daphne] Oh, orange juice.

Oh, I’d forgotten.

Yes, ma'am.

You mustn’t give one thought to that lousy court case, it's a stinker, I know.

But no one will believe you stole from that second rate book, swell writer like you.

And you must stay here for as long as you like Nelson and I are your biggest fans.

Oh no, not fans.

Hm.

I often get letters, you know, full of gush from fans.

Sometimes I think how funny it would be if one went and turned up at someone's house, who was a fan, you know, and said, "Look, here I am.

You wrote me such a lovely letter, I thought perhaps you'd like it if I came to stay."

[both laughing] Or imagine if you had stayed the night somewhere, with people that you hardly know at all, and then just as you were going, just as the suitcase was in the car, you'd say, "Well, actually, I’d rather like to stay on is that alright?"

And get out again.

Um, that rather happened to me once.

Yes, the, the mademoiselle at my French finishing school.

Quite alarming, really.

She came to stay with us in London, and then just as she was leaving, it turned out she wanted my father to put her on the stage.

Oh quite alarming.

Really.

Mm.

Well, I loved her awfully, in fact.

Yes, I was cross at first, because I wasn't her-- her favorite.

Then she lured me in, coiled me in her net.

She had a kind of... fatal attraction.

It gave one the most extraordinary thrill.

Say, that butter is melting.

Better suck your fingers.

How did you get the idea for Rebecca?

[Daphne] Everything I write comes from inside me.

[Ellen] But you're not Rebecca, say.

[Daphne] Oh, but I always have a peg, you see.

[Ellen] A peg?

A peg is a real person who, well, sometimes the only way to deal with a peg is to make them into character in a book.

Or sometimes it works the other way.

A character can get pegged onto a real person.

After the book's written?

Yes.

[chuckles] It's all very muddling.

Oh, gee, peg me won't you, either way?

-Got to be jolly careful with pegs you know.

-Really?

[Daphne] They can be quite bottomless.

[Ellen] Does it make you mad, what they say about Rebecca?

-[Daphne] Mad?

-I mean the critics, calling you the pot boiler.

I don't know when I’ve read a book as strange.

It’s a grim story, isn't it?

Unpleasant even.

It's fearless, my dear.

This is unfair!

Killers!

Oh, yes, oh no, no.

Okay, I’m getting my, I’m getting my guns, okay, come on!

You know I wanted to write about that dreadful thing of power in the marriage, the battle it can be, not about love.

[grunting playfully] [laughing] Yeah!

It's about jealousy.

The whole bloody business between men and women.

[children whooping] -Shall we go in?

-Mm.

Now I’m a widow, I think I deserve an enormous dry martini.

So the American Consul in London says to her, "How many novels have you read in your lifetime?"

You think I’m kidding?

This man doesn't know who he's talking to.

Miss Daphne du Maurier, who wrote Rebecca, this woman lives for the novel.

How many has she read?

Fifty, a hundred, two thousand, the man's an imbecile, a cretin, and then he says to her, "State on which dates you read them."

[laughter] "See you in court," that's what I said, "See you in court."

And you know what we're gonna do?

We’re gonna take that little miss litigious Edwina Elle Macdonald, and we're gonna bury her.

But you know what the trouble is?

She ain't gonna mind cause she's dead already.

[laughter] You think I’m kidding?

No!

She died after she brought the suit... [man] Would Miss Daphne du Maurier please take the stand.

Place your right hand on the Bible.

Do you promise to tell the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth, so help you God?

I do.

Miss du Maurier would you explain to the court how you came to write the story?

What, Miss du Maurier is the moral message of the novel?

Miss du Maurier I believe you regularly read... Tell us how all this make-believe... Are you familiar with the concept of fair usage of common... Miss du Maurier, what is the inspiration you draw on... Miss Du Maurier... Was it lousy?

Ghastly, hell.

Come and have a drink.

Oh...

It's so utterly degrading.

It’s obscene.

I have to answer questions.

-They've no right.

-But you've nothing to hide.

Don’t they understand that these things are private?

-They're personal.

-Oh, darling.

I feel... so humiliated.

You looked lovelier every day, it just defeated me.

This is Grand Illusion by Edgar Wallace.

Have you read this book?

Yes, I have.

And this edition, this is the first British edition.

Yes, it was probably that edition.

Then you will have seen the advertisement here in the back for Blind Windows, the book you stole the story of Rebecca from.

No, I don't remember seeing that advertisement.

[whispering] Where is he?

He'll hang in the morning.

Yippee, pugh, pugh, pugh!

[Nelson] Ah!

[both chattering] -Oh, mommy, mommy!

-Darlings, what are you doing out of bed?

We watched television.

We saw a rodeo.

We've been bucking and rearing all over the place.

Really?

-Where's Ellen?

-We haven’t seen her.

But the doctor came in.

For Nelson.

He had an injection in his bottom!

We spied through the crack of the door.

Flav you mustn't spy on people, and you mustn't make up silly stories, unless you're being paid to do so.

[Nelson] No, I’m-- -It's been going on all day.

-Shh!

[Nelson] You tell him... No, no I won't stop, no, no, this is very important Ellen... ♪ Tonight ♪ ♪ I see a message in your eyes ♪ ♪ And there I find the world of my dreams ♪ [Daphne] You were so elegant and poised.

So sophisticated.

So perfect, and yet... -Bedtime darling.

-Mommy says it's bedtime does she?

You've had enough.

No, what does Mommy know about it now?

What does mommy know about pain in the ass?

♪ With a reasonable lovely melody ♪ ♪ I'm holding heaven in my arms ♪ ♪ Tonight ♪ ♪ By magic that our hearts entwine ♪ ♪ And now I feel the touch of your hand ♪ ♪ That tells me tonight ♪ ♪ You're mine ♪ Maxim de Winter's a dreadful creature isn't he?

He murders Rebecca, treats his second wife not better than a... better than a dog.

Oh yes, it was more hatred than love.

And yet she begs to be with him, why?

-Ellen... -Why does she beg him?

-Why does...?

-Is Rebecca based on your marriage?

-Not exactly.

-What then?

I don't know.

A writer doesn’t always know.

I put it to you that you're a liar Miss du Maurier.

You read Blind Windows and you thought, "Hey, now, there's a story I can make something of, there's a... [Daphne] How very perceptive it was of him.

My life had been one long lie for as far back as I could remember.

[Nelson] ...no... break away, you taught me everything... [confused shouting and banging] Oh, Ellen.

Nelson has neuritis.

-Oh.

-He isn't well.

-No.

-Don't tell anyone.

Miss du Maurier, I put it to you that there are 46 parallelisms between Rebecca and Blind Windows, 46!

And I put it to you that that book is about murder, pure and simple, and Rebecca isn't about murder at all.

It's about the things we cover up, the lengths we go to, it's about the fact that there is nothing worse, nothing so degrading and shaming as a marriage that has failed.

I wasn't just fighting a foolish case of plagiarism anymore.

I was fighting all the rottenness that's in every one of us.

[newsreel announcer] Daphne du Maurier left court a winner today.

All present declared she acquitted herself magnificently in the witness box.

In his summing up, Judge Swan said, "I am convinced there was no copying."

He dismissed the complaint with costs awarded to the defendant.

[jazz playing] Mr. Coward!

Mr. Noël Coward, welcome to Barberrys.

Heavenly Barberrys.

Have a drink!

Come on in!

Come on in.

[giggling] Mommy, you look like a queen.

Children.

You look so beautiful.

Why can't I just wear velvet trousers and a boyish belt?

♪ I wonder who's kissing her now ♪ To tell you the truth I’m not that keen on Hollywood.

I’d rather have a nice cup of cocoa.

I'd rather have cocoa than almost anything.

Not keen on parties?

[chuckles] The effort of talking, I don't know how people stand it.

My dear girl, I knew your father, you know, the legendary man of the theater.

Look.

Gertie!

Daphne, do you know Gertie?

She's one of us.

Daphne du Maurier, Gertrude Lawrence.

Ah.

The Rebecca of Barberry.

[Daphne] I was a boy of 18 all over again.

Nervous hands and a beating heart, incurably romantic, and wanting to throw a cloak before his lady's feet.

I wanted to ride out and fight dragons for you.

Daphne!

Daphne.

May I call you Daphne?

Well look at you all grown up.

Ah, your father used to talk about you so much you know, how he loved his little Daph.

Oh, us girls had our work cut out for us, competing with you, a 12-year-old child.

[laughs] He thought you were so like him, he really did, he always used to say so.

And now that I look at you I think well, yes you are.

Of course he was in love with himself, what man isn't?

No doubt he wanted a son, men do don't they, oh they're fools.

Would you excuse me for a moment please.

Darling she's much shorter than I've remembered.

Yeah, but she's very talented, very talented.

[indistinct chatter] [man] Thank you for a wonderful evening.

Oh, thank you so much for coming.

Goodnight Max, goodnight Jo.

[Ellen] I love the stillness of a room after a party's over.

Chairs are moved, cushions disarranged, everything is there to show that people enjoyed themselves.

And one's so happy it's over.

Tell me what's bothering you.

Something is.

I have an animal instinct for trouble you know.

It seems to me that... I’ve been the source of some kind of... consternation.

I have ever since I walked into your cabin that day.

Consternation?

What a marvelous word for it.

I want to give you this.

My father gave it me.

-This is really... -Precious.

Yes.

I'll wear it always.

You know I’ve...

I've enjoyed our conversations, they've been important to me.

And I’ve always believed that everyone has a right to love, just as their passion dictates, without any kind of censure.

But I can't love you in that way.

I know that you don't hope for anything more than friendship because you'll understand that I can't give it.

[Daphne] Love is love, how can there be different ways, and by God and by Christ, if anyone should call it that unattractive name that begins with L I’ll tear their guts out.

You direct my life more completely than an atom bomb ever could.

The old familiar roots were queer and wrong.

[children singing] ♪ You know darned well ♪ ♪ We have nothing to put on a clean white suit for ♪ ♪ What we need is what there ain't no substitute for ♪ ♪ There is nothing like a dame ♪ ♪ Nothing in the world ♪ ♪ There is nothing you can name that is anything like a dame ♪ ♪ We feel restless, we feel blue ♪ ♪ We feel lonely, and in brief ♪ ♪ We feel every kind of feeling but the feeling of relief ♪ ♪ We feel hungry as the wolf felt ♪ ♪ When he met Red Riding Hood ♪ ♪ What don't we feel?

♪ ♪ We don't feel good ♪ ♪ Lots of things in life are beautiful, but... ♪ [Daphne] I even began to think of having another baby, before it was too late.

♪ Nothing whatsoever in any way shape or form like any other ♪ ♪ There is nothing like a dame ♪ ♪ Nothing in the world ♪ ♪ There is nothing you can name that is anything like a dame ♪ Ducky I want to discuss something very serious.

Yes me too.

I can't tell you how I feel.

Darling, let me finish, let me spill the bloody beans, I’ve been bottling them up so long.

I've got the most hellish overdraft, I simply can't pay my bills.

Bills?

You're appalled?

No, no I’m not appalled, it's alright, I’ll pay the bills, I’ll pay some money into your account.

-The blasted thing is... -Can we talk about it in the morning?

We'll deal with the whole thing in the morning.

I’m frightfully tired.

Night, night, ducky.

Night, night [Daphne] Its people like me who've bitched up the old relationship between men and women.

I mean really women shouldn't have careers, they should be wives and mothers.

In a fever of composition, I started to write a play.

It was about you, darling.

But you mustn't worry, no one will ever know.

I disguised you as a very proper mother.

[Cherry] But mother's thoroughly domestic and old fashioned, I always tell her she ought to have lived a hundred years ago.

[Evan] You fill me with more and more dread.

I won't know what to say to her at all.

I've got a wonderful surprise for you.

Well, then tell me at once.

I’ve got the most frightful jitters about this whole thing.

Wait and see.

For Christ's sake, stop touching my things.

How do you do?

I'm mother.

-We're immensely lucky to get... -But you said Peggy Ashcroft.

-Peggy changed her mind.

-But Gertrude Lawrence?

I’m taking three sleeping tablets a night as it is, I mean Gertrude Lawrence?

She's a Broadway star.

She's too old.

-Surely not.

-Clinging to youthfulness.

What on earth do you mean?

She couldn't be more wrong.

She's, she's silly, she's... -She's a good actress.

-She's a dyed haired tart.

Very kind of you to give me a lift.

-We'll stop off at the Ritz.

-I rather hate the Ritz.

Nonsense, no one hates the Ritz.

[Dickie] So after dinner Gertie says to me, "I'm worried about George, I'm worried that he's going to kick the bucket before he casts me in the next play, you know he's almost 69!"

I said, "Go upstairs with him and he'll live till he's 99.

[laughter] Dick, stop.

-I love that little joke, oh you're a darling husband.

-Thank you.

-Darling.

-Thank you.

So, she's seen, you know.

Oh.

There Oh, now listen to this, it’s absolutely marvelous.

Women are like geography, from 16 to 22 they're like Africa, part virgin, part explored.

From 22 to 35, they're like Asia, hot and mysterious.

From 35 to 45, they're like the USA, all high-toned and technical.

From 45 to 55, they're like Europe, quite devastated but interesting in places.

And from 60 upwards, oh, like Australia.

Everyone knows about it but nobody wants to go there.

[laughter] Isn't that marvelous!

Thank you, darling.

-Gertie's been telling me about your play.

-Oh?

I understand Gertie's playing a mother figure, and the theme is forbidden passion.

Well, yes, it's, um, it's about a young man who has a passion for his mother-in-law.

Oh, I see.

Hmm.

How is Ellen Doubleday?

Do you know?

Oh, Evan don't be such a child, you and I can't love each other that way.

There's only one way to love and that's to give everything, mind body and heart.

Well you can have all three of mine, for what it's worth.

[Gertrude] We're speaking a different language.

[Evan] Are we?

How?

[Gertrude] I was brought up to respect morals and standards and I respect them still.

Whatever I feel in my heart, they must come first.

Why did you do that, now you've spoiled everything.

[Daphne] She kissed the boy all wrong, the two of them in a sort of clinch, as if they'd have each other's pants off.

You're being very ridiculous, you know.

You're behaving like a sulky schoolboy who needs his bottom spanked.

The kiss was wrong.

It's not all about bed, you know.

Isn't it?

No, it's not.

Do you know what you need?

How shall I put this?

You need a good... time.

You need to have some fun.

♪ That certain night, the night we met ♪ ♪ There was magic abroad in the air ♪ ♪ There were angels dining at the Ritz ♪ ♪ And a nightingale sang ♪ ♪ In Berkeley Square ♪ Do you know, I think George makes the best cocktails in London, I really do.

-Oh well if you insist.

-It's delicious.

♪ B ut I'm perfectly willing to swear ♪ ♪ That when you turned and smiled at me ♪ ♪ A nightingale sang ♪ ♪ In Berkeley Square ♪ ♪ The moon that lingered over London Town ♪ ♪ Poor puzzled moon, he wore a frown ♪ -♪ How could he know we two were so in love ♪ -[horns blare] Oh fuck off, we're in a hit!

[Daphne laughs] [Evan] For Christ's sake, stop touching my things.

How do you do?

I'm mother.

How do you do?

[Gertrude] Do I kiss you?

[Evan] I don't know.

It's absurd.

I don't know how to behave.

I’ve never had a son-in-law before.

Perhaps I’m the first of many.

[Gertrude] Where's Cherry?

[actors continue indistinctly] ♪ And like an echo far away ♪ ♪ A nightingale sang in Berkeley Square ♪ ♪ I know 'cause I was there ♪ ♪ That night in Berkeley Square ♪ May I ask you something?

What does your husband think of the play?

Oh, Tommy's not sniffy about made up things.

Lieutenant-General Sir Frederick Browning.

My first sight of Tommy was when he sailed into Fowey harbor one day.

He was so fine and confident, at the helm of his boat.

It was love at first sight.

The real thing.

It's such a queer stroke of fate, picked by someone with ideals and principles, to show me the difference between right and wrong.

I always said it would take five brandy and sodas, sloe gin, and a handkerchief of ether to get me to the altar rail.

But in the end, I proposed to him.

My mother was a very basic type of woman, you know.

I expect I inherited the thing of wanting to be married from her.

Poor Tommy.

If you think, because of the play, that I’ve had an affair with a younger man, you're wrong.

Oh, pipe down dear I know you're not mother.

I know you're the boy.

♪ La mer qu'on voit danser ♪ ♪ Le long des golfes claires ♪ -In you go.

♪ A des reflets d'argent, la mer ♪ ♪ Des reflets changeants sous la pluie ♪ Yes, yes, yes, no, yes, ugh no, yes, yes, yes.

♪ Avec des anges si purs, la mer ♪ ♪ Bergère d'azur infinie ♪ [Daphne] I hate that.

[Gertrude] Do you always behave like this?

Off, take it off, I don't want to see it ever again.

♪ Ces grands roseaux mouillés ♪ [Daphne] It's a bit tight.

♪ Voyez ces oiseaux blancs ♪ ♪ Et ces maisons rouillées ♪ No, I’ve changed my mind, not that one, the pink.

Oh no, not the pink.

[newsreel announcer] Yes, after the years of blackout, the lights are on again in London.

And here’s Miss Daphne du Maurier, arriving for the premier of her new play, September Time.

And look, there's Noël Coward.

Mr. Coward remembers Miss du Maurier's famous father, the great actor-manager Gerald du Maurier.

"He’s with us in spirit tonight," he says.

[audience applauding] [indistinct chatter] Where is she?

You and Gertie have become such friends.

Yes.

Of course when I first discovered Gertie, she was acting in one of your father's productions.

Yes.

One of his better choices of mistress.

Mistress?

Didn't you know?

Oh there you are, I've got something for you.

I was at the stage door, the fans, you know, one must.

What is it?

What have you got for me?

A kiss.

Let's go to your room.

There's a certain type of woman who should be enjoyed on a divan rather than a double bed.

That's what daddy said.

And he was right.

What did you say you had for me?

[Ellen] Nelson critical, talks of you, pray for us, Ellen.

Shh.

Not long now.

[Daphne] Australia, everyone’s heard about it but no one wants to go there.

[Daphne and Ellen laugh] It's the geography, do you see?

At least we're still high tone and technical, you and me.

The oxygen of laughter, thank you for bringing it.

Oh, well.

That joke was courtesy of La Lawrence.

She's a silly bitch, really.

Still I think I think I broke down a few of her defenses, not that she has many.

Her acting was a revelation though.

You sound quite smitten.

Gertie's like Europe you know, quite devastated.

My father always used to say there was a difference between the women men marry and the women they don't.

Well now I see it truly and squarely, there's all the bloody difference.

You can't respect her.

You're the kind they marry.

Gertrude’s the kind men don't.

Darling.

He's gone.

You know you're the only person I feel I can say anything to, I don't have to edit myself for you.

I don't feel sad about Nelson, you see.

Just... destroyed.

You strained every muscle to make his last few months happy.

I know you did.

You’ve just got... battle fatigue.

[sighs] I've been brewing... a marvelous plan.

Change of scene.

It was then, when we were alone together, that I realized I’d suffered from a strange kind of loneliness.

Not the loneliness which comes from having loved and lost, but rather the loneliness of a love one has never known.

-Shall we go up?

-Mm.

Where have you been?

I had a digestive on the terrace with that nice Canadian couple.

With those absolute Witherspoons?

Daphne, don't get sore, they amuse me in a funny sort of way.

It’s their first trip to Europe, they spent the whole time talking about the fact that they couldn't smoke on the ship.

-The cigarettes were in bond.

-[scoffs] Shame on you Daphne, you should be more... You should try loving someone who's been in bond ever since you met them.

Darling.

Maybe if I change my hormones I’d feel differently.

-Oh, there's no need to blub.

-I feel so guilty.

Guilty?

Guilty?

I'm not another of your acolytes to be indulged you know.

Christ!

Who do you think I am?

Do you think I have no pride?

Think about it I. I’m like the river Arno, with-- with it's falls all pent up, and it can't get out to sea and, what am I meant to do, flee to a monastery?

Or a madhouse?

Perhaps I’ll go down the Ponto Vecchio and pick up a prostitute.

Yes I have thought about it.

Thought about it.

I’d have to shoot myself afterwards with the revulsion.

I came here to laugh with you, but it seems you're always angry.

Angry, if I want to go shopping.

Angry if I want to have dinner in a decent restaurant instead of a honky bar.

Angry if I so much as talk to another person.

What’s happened to you?

As a matter of fact I’m shaking with silent laughter most of the time.

Where are you going?

Home, where you should be.

[Daphne] I resolved to be nice to my husband when I got home Mommy!

I resolved to walk straight up to him at the airport and give him a big kiss.

But Kits was wearing his first pair of long trousers.

Are those for me?

[car horn in distance] Daphne!

[car horn and engine] [squeak of brakes] Now what's all this.

I’m doing Charley’s Aunt, I’m in Plymouth for a week and you haven't been to see me, simply not possible.

-Hello, dear.

-Hello.

Darling.

-You should have called.

-What and have you fob me off, not likely.

You're looking dreadfully pale.

We must put some color in those cheeks.

Now.

You're going to show me the house.

And then afterwards, in case you hadn't guessed it, you're giving me cocktails and a slap up lunch.

Are you brewing?

All doom in that department I’m afraid.

I see.

I meant what I said about putting some color in those cheeks you know.

Oh.

My tour finishes in a month.

Thanks, ducky.

[Gertrude] I've been reading Rebecca again.

[Daphne] Always Rebecca.

Anything else I do gets stinking reviews.

[Gertrude] Well of course you'll never be forgiven for writing a best seller.

You're a wonderful writer and you must never forget it.

[Daphne] And you're an awful Witherspoon.

Daphne, Daphne!

Are you very unhappy, darling?

I've been blundering and hopeless.

I suppose you wanted everything to have a fairytale ending.

I know what you're like, you're a romantic.

You cast everyone as heroes and princesses and then you're disappointed when they're real.

But I’m not, I am not a romantic.

There is no such thing as romantic love, that is a fact.

Romantic love's just a name of something illicit.

Some bloody business with unhappiness for all.

-[honks horn] -Toodle pip, darlings.

[applause] [humming] [both laughing] [Daphne] Gertie was back, and I was drawn to her like an alcoholic who must get the bottle or bust.

For Gertie there was no right and wrong where love was concerned, no standards to be maintained.

We were like two silly schoolgirls.

♪ While I was there ♪ ♪ I felt romance everywhere ♪ [gasping] ♪ And I could hear the lovely voices in the night ♪ ♪ Everyone was gay ♪ ♪ This was the start of the holiday ♪ ♪ It was fiesta down in Mexico ♪ ♪ And so I start to... ♪ Come here, oh, god... ♪ I knew that frenesi meant please love me ♪ ♪ And I could say frenesi ♪ ♪ A gallant caballero caught my eye ♪ ♪ I stood enchanted as he wondered by ♪ ♪ And never knowing that it came from me ♪ ♪ I gently sighed frenesi ♪ ♪ He stopped and raised his eyes to mine ♪ ♪ My lips just pleaded to be kissed ♪ ♪ His eyes were soft as candles shined ♪ ♪ So how was I to resist?

♪ [Daphne] I was like someone sleeping, who woke suddenly and found the world.

[Gertrude] Toast and marmalade.

Marmalade, thank you.

Of course ever since the mademoiselle I told you about, you know, the one at finishing school, I've known.

I've known I had Venetian tendencies.

-Venetian?

-Du Maurier code for the L people.

You mustn’t despise the L people you know.

Alright, but I’m not one of them.

No don't look at me like that.

[phone rings] -Hello?

-Gertrude, it's me.

-What?

-Doris.

Oh, hello, Doris.

[whispering] It's my secretary.

-She wants to speak to you.

-Oh, goodness is she insisting?

Yes.

-Oh all right put her on.

-Here she is.

- [Ellen] Gertie?

-Darling!

We're giving a party for Noël's new play, on the 20th.

Ooh, a party for Noël's new play.

Oh how dull.

[chuckles] You know how I loathe a party, especially one in honor of my best friend.

You'll come then?

-But listen, you'll never guess who's here with me.

-Who?

[whispering] Ellen.

-Daphne!

- No.

Yes, I promise you.

I brought her on a rest cure.

I found her at Menabilly with the most awful glooms.

-Would you like to have a word?

- [Ellen] How lovely!

She's right here.

-Hello?

-Darling it's Ellen.

Have you been having a lovely holiday?

Oh, yes, endless basking in the sun.

Listen I’m giving a party for Noël on the 20th.

Oh, yes, that sounds lovely, but I’m not sure.

Oh, but you must come, I won't take no for an answer, I’ve missed you so much.

-Really?

-It's been far too long since we've seen each other.

-Yes, it has been.

-So you'll come?

I really can't bear thinking you're in America and no plans to visit me.

-Alright.

-That's settled then, till the 20th.

-Till then.

Goodbye.

-Goodbye darling.

[replaces the receiver] Well, fancy that.

I had a childish feeling of wanting to give Ellen things.

All the time.

Like a child thrusting a bunch of daisies into its mother’s hand.

Christ, the psycho boys would have fun with you.

You don't mind me talking about Ellen, do you?

I don't want to cry pity about my childhood.

Never, never did I have a glimmer of understanding from Mommy.

Not one touch of her hand.

I can't remember once being held by her.

Feeling her arms around me.

Your father thought you were swell.

I can vouch for that.

Yes, yes he thought I was.

But he was with my mother and his women.

With you.

And then you played Ellen.

Alright, Dr. Daphstein, don't get your knickers in a twist.

Gertie, are you alright?

Such a headache.

Oh, Gertie.

It's awfully simple, really.

I just, -I just like being with you.

-Humph.

Do you know what, I like being with you too.

Don't let’s fuck around, life's too short.

[jazz playing] Darling.

Oh, you make a spectacular widow.

Of course, oh, nice ice, real of course, worth a packet.

-So have you been frolicking in the sun you two?

-Brewing hard.

-Really?

-Really?

Yes.

Gertie's knocked the block right out of me.

Exactly what the doctor ordered.

I feel the first faint stirrings of a new book, really I do.

Come, come.

-Darling.

-Mm.

-You seem different.

-Do I?

You are different.

Yes, perhaps I’ve changed.

Out of mourning.

Say let's drink these upstairs, I’m longing for one of our talks.

Daphne.

I thought about you a great deal after Florence.

It ended badly I know, but you shake me up Daphne, the way a friend should.

You're the only one who knows about Nelson, the truth, what I’d been through, he died of drink you know, nothing fancy, just old fashioned liquor.

It’s that simple.

I've been reading Rebecca again and thinking about marriage and the demons there can be, but once you know, once you really know, when you've been in the flames like we have then, then it doesn't have to be that way.

Oh, there’s so much I’ve got to tell you.

You must stay, stay for ages, you'll have your old room.

-You're wearing the brooch.

-Of course, I always do.

What about Gertie?

Dearest Gertie, I want to hear all about Gertie, you know I couldn't believe... Tell her that you'd love to have her to stay, but you simply can’t.

The house is going to be full, and you're having to put me up on a sofa as it is.

Daphne, shame on you and your dramas, there's no need really, come.

She simply can't, do you see.

The house is fit to burst.

I'll probably be making do with the sofa.

But you've always said you rather liked me on a divan.

-No room at the Inn?

-Pardon me?

The house is full to the rafters Ellen.

Don't lie Daphne, you stink at it.

Daphne tells me that she's staying but there's no room for La Lawrence.

Daphne's mistaken, there's a great deal of room, I’d like you to stay.

I do hope you will.

Gertie!

Gertie!

Daphne.

Dickie?

-What are you doing here?

-Looking for my wife.

Oh, my god.

My baby, are you okay?

Are you okay?

-Yeah.

-Are you alright?

-Take me home Dickie.

-Okay, you're not hurt?

-No, take me home.

-Okay yeah, I’ll drive us home.

-Okay.

-I'll be right back.

She’s alright, just a blackout.

I didn't think she was drunk.

She's not drunk you fool.

Hasn't she told you?

She's not been well.

What kind of unwell?

-I'm going to take her home.

-But she's been so happy.

Where's Ellen?

[indistinct chatter] [laughter] Oh, Daphne, this is Jack Farrer.

Jack, Daphne du Maurier.

So, the lady is for burning after all.

Daphne wrote Rebecca, of course, and she's been in Florida brewing up another one of her stories, equally scary I hope.

Yes.

It's about a widow, rather sinister, you never really know whether she's an angel or a devil.

Oh, dear.

She dies in the end.

Daphne!

I know, I know you always said you couldn't love me that way, but how can there be different ways where love is concerned?

You think there's a right and a wrong that must be recognized?

It’s alright to keep me hanging on, it's alright to long for our talks.

But true happiness must be denied us.

Standards must be maintained.

Who are you talking about Daphne?

Are you talking about me?

You're talking about yourself.

You're the one who cares about standards, I’m not denying myself.

I don't want it.

I don't want love with you.

You may go to Venice with whomever you please.

[typing] [Daphne] I suppose it's funny to think that if there'd been no rift between us I would never have left Barberrys that night.

I would never have come home, I would never have written my new novel.

It's the most emotionally felt book I’ve ever written.

Morning, Phillip.

Good morning.

[Daphne] Ghastly weather again.

[Phillip] It certainly is.

[Daphne] Thanks.

Daphne, darling Gertie passed away last night, Dickie.

She's dead.

Who's dead?

Who's dead?!

[Daphne] You who know me better than anyone, Ellen, will understand my grief, because in a strange way it's all mixed up with you, not your fault darling.

But when you walked into the cabin, that day on the boat, I was transported back 20 years in time to when I was a boy of 18.

Yes, a boy, not a girl, a boy I locked up in a box.

I tried to push that boy back into his box.

God knows I tried to write you out of my system.

It's funny to think that if there had never been the play I would never have seen Gertie, in fantasy, being what I wanted you to be.

I would never have gone to Florida with her.

No regrets.

She was so alive, so entrancing and yet real, do you see?

It was never sordid.

The odd thing is that once you have loved a person physically, it makes the strangest bond.

There was so much warmth there, so much generosity of giving.

Sometimes, when I’m alone, I shall open up that box again, and let the phantom who is neither boy nor girl, but disembodied spirit, dance in the evening, when there's no one to see.

Ellen, I offer you these words as I used to want to bring you flowers.

I offer you this letter as testimony of my love, for Gertrude.

[newsreel announcer] A new book is topping the best seller lists.

A dazzling yet disturbing romance that has captured the nation’s imagination.

Who's it by?

You'll have heard of her.

Daphne du Maurier.

♪ La mer Des reflets changeants ♪ ♪ Sous la pluie ♪ ♪ La mer au ciel d'été ♪ ♪ Confond ses blancs moutons ♪ ♪ Avec les anges si pur, la mer ♪ ♪ Bergère d'azur infinie ♪