My Cousin Rachel

The versatile de Havilland had been away from pictures for about three years when she was lured back for this Gothic period piece that was adapted from du Maurier's best seller. It had originally been slated for George Cukor to direct, and he wanted Garbo for the role. But she, of course, chose to be alone, and Cukor eventually stepped aside because he and producer-writer Johnson couldn't agree on the script. Koster was tapped to direct de Havilland, and a young Welshman, Burton, who had just galvanized Londoners in his version of "Hamlet," was selected as the male lead. If the picture was not a resounding success (the conclusion was unsatisfying), it did manage to...