Episode Details

Return to Manderley this week on The Shiver Show, as we present the 1950 Lux Radio Theatre production of Rebecca—the only time Hollywood’s golden couple Vivien Leigh and Sir Laurence Olivier performed on radio together. Recorded before a live audience this broadcast brings Daphne du Maurier’s 1938 gothic masterpiece to life.

Olivier is prickly and brooding as Maxim. Leigh’s unnamed narrator is meek, sweet, and utterly alone in this haunting tale. Strong supporting turns from Betty Blythe as a chilling Mrs Danvers and John Dodson as Jack Favell keep the drama simmering. 

We talk about the real-life drama of Vivien Leigh’s health struggles, and the cracks forming in her marriage to Olivier. Their love—complicated as it was—still glows through this performance. We also explore the little known controversy surrounding the similarities between Rebecca and the earlier Brazilian novel, The Successor, by Carolina Nabuco.

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