Rebecca (1940)

Maxim is acquitted of murdering Rebecca when he, Colonel Julyan, Jack Favell and Frank Crawley track down the doctor Rebecca had secretly seen, in London, prior to her death. The doctor told them that Rebecca had terminal cancer that would have killed her in a few months, and she would have been on morphia not long after he'd seen her and given her the bad news. He remembered that when he told her she'd be dead in a few months, she said, "Oh, no, Doctor, not that long," so her death was assumed to be suicide. Mrs. Danvers, in a fit of despair, after Jack phoned her and gave her the bad news, sets fire to Manderlay. Mrs Danvers had said that Rebecca told her everything, but this cancer she kept to herself. Mrs de Winter says to Maxim, as they watch Manderlay fall to the fire, "Mrs Danvers, she's gone mad. She said she'd rather destroy Manderlay than see us happy here."

Celeste Harmer