But this adaptation's peculiarities are not only in the quality of the image. Because of the differences in the plot, the new film is closer to reality, more believable. Characters got plenty of emotions and chances to express them. The plot has acquired more detective features and along with this, the main character has also become more active.
The ending of the new film quite corresponds to the content of the novel. The story of Rebecca's death, killed by Max before she was thrown into the sea, was changed in Hitchcock's film due to the Hays Code. Formally known as the Motion Pictures Production Code, the Hays Code was a set of moral principles observed in Hollywood between the 30s and the 60s. These principles, among many other rules, prohibited directors from showing interracial or same-sex romances.
Under this Code, the murder of a woman by her husband could not be shown in any positive light and the script required Max to be either killed or sent to prison for homicide (to convince the audience that the crime did not go unpunished). To get around this, in Hitchcock's film, the circumstances of Rebecca's death were changed so that Max hadn't killed his first wife – she left for a trip in the boathouse during their argument and died after hitting her head. Fearing that he would be blamed, Max covered up her death by sinking the boat, but in fact he was innocent of her murder.
However, at another point, the content of the new film departs from both the novel and the 1940 film. Max succumbs to Mr Favell's blackmail and writes him a cheque for £ 10,000, which is then used against him in court as a proof of his guilt. In the original story, Max calls him a liar and summons the coroner himself, inviting him to listen to what Mr Favell says and see a note from Rebecca.
In the next controversial scene, there are differences again. In the new film, the heroine sneaks into the doctor's office to view Rebecca's medical record before the coroner and the others as she fears that Rebecca was pregnant, which Mr. Favell is trying to prove. In the book, she comes along with everyone else. In Hitchcock's film, she is not even present at this scene.