20 Things You Somehow Missed In Alfred Hitchcock Movies
4. Rebecca Parallels Citizen Kane - Rebecca
Citizen Kane is often proclaimed as the greatest film in cinematic history, and it still continues to inspire filmmakers to this day. However, director Orson Welles may have been greatly influenced by Hitchcock’s Rebecca, released one year prior to Citizen Kane.
A mansion features prominently in both stories. Both titular characters are dead and their lives are explored through various viewpoints of others. The respective title characters of both films have adulterous relationships. The dress sense is similar between Rebecca’s Mrs. Danver and Mary Kane in Citizen Kane. Rebecca ends with a burning pillow with a giant “R” printed on it, whilst Citizen Kane ends with the burning “Rosebud” sled. And both films use deep focus photography.
Also, whether coincidental or not, Orson Welles ended up naming one of his daughters Rebecca.