Rear Window (1954)

Like the Greenwich Village courtyard view from its titular portal, Alfred Hitchcock's classic Rear Window is both confined and multileveled: both its story and visual perspective are dictated by its protagonist's imprisonment in his apartment, convalescing in a wheelchair, from which both he and the audience observe the lives of his neighbors. Cheerful voyeurism, as well as the behavior glimpsed among the various tenants, affords a droll comic atmosphere that gradually darkens when he sees clues to what may be a murder.

Photographer L.B. "Jeff" Jeffries (James Stewart) is, in fact, a voyeur by trade, a professional photographer sidelined by an accident while on assignment. His immersion in the human drama (and comedy) visible from his window is a by-product of boredom, underlined by the disapproval of his girlfriend, Lisa (Grace Kelly), and a wisecracking visiting nurse (Thelma Ritter). Yet when the invalid wife of Lars Thorwald (Raymond Burr) disappears, Jeff enlists the two women to help him to determine whether she's really left town, as Thorwald insists, or been murdered.

Hitchcock scholar Donald Spoto convincingly argues that the crime at the center of this mystery is the MacGuffin--a mere pretext--in a film that's more interested in the implications of Jeff's sentinel perspective. We actually learn more about the lives of the other neighbors (given generic names by Jeff, even as he's drawn into their lives) he, and we, watch undetected than we do the putative murderer and his victim. Jeff's evident fear of intimacy and commitment with the elegant, adoring Lisa provides the other vital thread to the script, one woven not only into the couple's own relationship, but reflected and even commented upon through the various neighbors' lives.

At minimum, Hitchcock's skill at making us accomplices to Jeff's spying, coupled with an ingenious escalation of suspense as the teasingly vague evidence coalesces into ominous proof, deliver a superb thriller spiked with droll humor, right up to its nail-biting, nightmarish climax. At deeper levels, however, Rear Window plumbs issues of moral responsibility and emotional honesty, while offering further proof (were any needed) of the director's brilliance as a visual storyteller. --Sam Sutherland Amazon.com essential video

Heads up! New 2-disc Special Edition due out October 9th, 2008!

A homebound man with a broken leg watches his neighbors and what may be evidence of murder out his apartment's rear window. Considered by many Hitchcock's best film, with a suspense-filled plot, wryly humorous script, and audience favorites James Stewart and Grace Kelly, I think most movie fans, and especially fans of this movie, will find the upcoming DVD set worth the wait.

The new edition will include a new audio commentary, a new featurette on Hitchcock's cinematography, and a new collection of interview excerpts from Hitchcock and François Truffaut, in addition to the main special features from the 2001 Collector's Edition.

The Amazon page to pre-order is here. (I've included more details and a fuller review of the movie there.) July 10, 2008

Hitchcock Perfection

I think that this is one of Hitchcock's most popular and entertaining films. I truly adore Jimmy Stewart, and his work with Hitchcock is just magical (Rope, Vertigo, and the Man Who Knew Too Much). Grace Kelly IS the Hitchcock blonde. Their dysfunctional relationship is believable and well acted. Thelma Ritter stands out, even among these two, to be a transcendent comic character.

The story itself is still so intriguing: a voyeur witnesses a crime, but has trouble convincing others because he is prying on his unsuspecting neighbors. I think reality t.v. proves just how much interest we all have in the lives of others. The timeless storyline is so well acted and cleverly presented; it is difficult NOT to like this film.

The DVD is quality, but it is obvious that the extensive reconstruction work used on Vertigo is not present here. All the extras make it a must have. For Hitchcock fans it is a must. So indulge your voyeuristic curiosities ... Highly recommended. May 22, 2008

Fun and Entertaining Except For the DVD!

This movie is a great one to encapsulate what makes Hitchcock films great. His brand of storytelling is unique and for me very enjoyable. He always shows us the story from the subjective viewpoint of the actor and in this case, Jimmy Stewart, as the temporarily invalid photographer who out of boredom decides to take an interest in his neighbour's activities. In effect, he is watching many television screens aka windows outside his apartment that happen to be screening real-life soap operas.

I disagree that what he does amounts to voyeurism because he doesn't really watch continuously just to get gratuitous pleasure out of it but he really appears to be concerned about his neighbour's well-being. He tries to prevent the lonely one from committing suicide in addition to the main part of the story about his concern for the invalid woman who was killed by her husband. I thought the beautiful irony was that while everyone was critical of Stewart's character spying or peeping at his neighbours and yet his concern for them and his willingness to even put his life on the line to help them contrasts with that of the other neighbours who just didn't give a damn and who are supposed to be doing the right thing. The scene with the dead dog perfectly illustrates this as at one apartment, the party simply resumes as if nothing happened after the distraught owner's emotional outburst. I just loved the dramatic irony of how Stewart's character was really the good neighbour despite his peeping while the others were really bad neighbours minding their own business just like in the parable of the Good Samaritan.

The screenplay was very well written and the witty and comical dialogue especially between Stewart's character and the masseuse was very amusing indeed. The acting wasn't brilliant but was good enough and I enjoyed the theme about the differences between man and woman and how their motivations are driven by different things and yet both are really trying to arrive at the same thing: happiness in a life together. The final scene with Grace Kelly and the magazine was especially telling and amusing for me.

The special features are quite good and I especially like the documentary "Rear Window Ethics: Remembering and Restoring a Hitchcock Classic." The only problem is with the dvd which sound quality wise isn't great and the picture quality despite being restored is quite poor with many imperfections on too many frames. This suggests to me that the original master must be very poorly preserved if this is the best that they could do. Here's hoping that with the advent of Blu-ray they will take the opportunity to have another try at improving both the picture and sound quality. For the latter a Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround restored sound option would be much appreciated.

Not one of Hitchcock's absolute best but still a very good film; recommended but you may want to wait for a better restored version to be made available and to give this dvd version a miss. May 8, 2008

Grace fan

Another great classic! Grace has such style and class. Jimmy Stewart is fantastic. Great rolls for both of them and great chemistry! May 6, 2008

Rear Window

One of Hitch,s best movies, look hard to see Hitch in this film, a great performance of Jimmy Stewart and Grace Kelly, hit all the emotional buttons, hummor, romance, suspence, one you can watch over with Thelma Ritter adding a brillant performance as Stewarts nurse. May 2, 2008

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