Which Alfred Hitchcock film won the Academy Award for Best Picture? Rebecca won the award. Released in 1940, it was Hitchcock’s first American film and his first project under contract with producer David O. Selznick. The gothic psychological thriller stars Laurence Olivier as Maxim de Winter and Joan Fontaine as his unnamed second wife.
Rebecca was based on Daphne du Maurier’s 1938 novel. The title character, Maxim’s first wife, is already dead when the film begins and never appears onscreen, yet her reputation dominates Manderley and shapes the behavior of nearly everyone there. Judith Anderson’s performance as the intimidating housekeeper Mrs. Danvers became one of the film’s defining elements.
At the 13th Academy Awards, Rebecca received 11 nominations and won two prizes: Best Picture and Best Cinematography. The Best Picture award went to Selznick International Pictures, with Selznick recognized as producer under the award rules of the period. Hitchcock himself was nominated for Best Director but did not win. Another common mix-up is thinking Psycho or Vertigo won Best Picture; neither did, and Rebecca remains Hitchcock’s only Best Picture winner.