Daphne du Maurier Now" (1973). Of the films, du Maurier often complained that the only ones she liked were Hitchcock's "Rebecca" and Nicolas Roeg's "Don't Look Now". Hitchcock's treatment of "Jamaica Inn" was disavowed by both director and author, due to a complete re-write of the ending to accommodate the ego of its star, Charles Laughton. Du Maurier also felt that Olivia de Havilland was wrongly cast as the anti-heroine of "My Cousin Rachel". "Frenchman's Creek" fared better in a lavish Technicolor version released in 1944. Du Maurier later regretted her choice of Alec Guinness as the lead in the film of "The
Daphne du Maurier novel "Mary Anne" (1954) is a fictionalised account of her great-great-grandmother, Mary Anne Clarke née Thompson (1776–1852), who, from 1803–08, was mistress of Frederick Augustus, Duke of York and Albany (1763–1827). He was the "Grand Old Duke of York" of the nursery rhyme, a son of King George III, and brother of King George IV and King William IV. The central character of her last novel, "Rule Britannia", is an aging actress, thought to be based on Gladys Cooper (to whom it is dedicated). Du Maurier's short stories are darker: "The Birds", "Don't Look Now", "The Apple Tree", and "The