The Silver Screen Oasis

What do you mean by that, Theresa?

Daphne DuMaurier used the word "dreamt" in her famous first line for "REBECCA." Can a famous author be wrong about the usage of that word?

She didn't dream?

CineMaven wrote:Daphne DuMaurier used the word "dreamt" in her famous first line for "REBECCA." Can a famous author be wrong about the usage of that word?

I'm not getting it you mean she used the past tense incorrectly?

No. "Dreamt" is correct. So is "dreamed". RR posted that he thought the latter is incorrect, but it is standard usage.

[u]Robert[/u] [u]Regan[/u] wrote:She didn't dream?

She might've dreamed she dreamt. Or she dreamt she dreamed. Listen, don't take me down any rabbit holes or primrose paths on this Board. I've got a web-series to get out.

To sleep perchance to dream.

ChiO wrote:No. "Dreamt" is correct. So is "dreamed". RR posted that he thought the latter is incorrect, but it is standard usage.

Thanks Owen. I looked at the previous posts and now I got it

I'm beginning to think I dreamt this whole conversation!

And I dreamed I saw the bombers
Riding shotgun in the sky,
And they were turning into butterflies
Above our nation.

Joni Mitchell wouldn't mangle the English language, even though she's a Canadian, eh?

Theresa, so be it!

ChiO, I did not intend to imply that I have anything against "dreamed" or "dreamt". Incidentally, though the amazingly talented and spectacularly beautiful Joni Mitchell was born in Canada, I think she has essentially been a Californian for many years. A rose by any other name... She is still one of the sexiest women on the face of the earth.

And, by the way, I dreamed last night I saw Joe Hill alive as he could be. Furthermore, I dreamt I dwelt in marble halls. What a night!

I'm no grammarian...and I'm basically pulling your leg.

Kidding guys. Kidding.

I saw this movie about a year ago and I gotta say I have some mixed feelings concerning the ending. Basically, Milland thought that Rogers was 12 years old throughout most of the film.
To him, she was a child. So when he finds out that she's actually an adult, he goes off to marry her? Shouldn't it take a long time for his mind to adjust to the new reality? If someone told me that my friend's sister actually is 18 (she's 10), it would still be very difficult for me to date her. Was he attracted to her while he thought that she was a kid? What does that say about him? Or maybe he sensed that she was lying very quickly?

I know it's just a light hearted comedy, so maybe I'm reading too much into this?

There are some people who have a problem with this movie because of that, Nick. I'm not one of them. I try not to overthink these things. I love the movie so much, it doesn't bother me at all, because we've seen them become close throughout the movie innocently. They have a connection that he and Pamela never had, or if they did, it was manufactured by Pamela's scheming. And I think it's shown quite nicely that he is confused by his feelings throughout the movie. I think on some level he connected with her as an adult but couldn't figure out why. It's basically the same model as many of Shakespeare's comedies - where the leading man feels a connection to a girl dressed as a boy.

Heaven help us if all comedies were supposed to be realistic.

Well put, Wendy. And as someone says at the end of a later Billy Wilder movie, "Nobody's perfect!"

Ha ha ha! Shut up and deal.