Rear Window, 1954.
Directed by Alfred Hitchcock.
Starring James Stewart, Grace Kelly, Thelma Ritter and Raymond Burr.
SYNOPSIS:
Confined to his apartment after suffering a broken leg, a voyeuristic magazine photographer comes to suspect that his neighbour may have murdered his wife.
The first of four consecutive collaborations between Alfred Hitchcock and screenwriter John Michael Hayes (the others being To Catch a Thief, The Trouble with Harry and the remake of The Man Who Knew Too Much) and his second with leading man James Stewart (after 1948’s Rope), Rear Window is said by many to be the crowning achievement in the legendary British director’s illustrious body of work. At #22, it is the highest-ranking Hitchcock film in the IMDb Top 250, and is arguably his most technically accomplished picture, with Hitchcock employing all of skills to deliver a masterful, voyeuristic murder mystery brimming with his trademark suspense.
After suffering a broken leg while covering a motor race, magazine photographer L.B. ‘Jeff’ Jefferies finds himself cooped up in his Greenwich Village apartment as he recovers from his injuries. Wheelchair-bound, and with no other means of entertaining himself, Jeff takes to looking out of his apartment window and observing the lives of his neighbours through the lens of his camera. Although he’s initially drawn towards the likes of the blonde dancer ‘Miss Torso’ and the depressed spinster ‘Miss Lonelyhearts’, Jeff’s gaze eventually falls upon a couple, the Thorwalds, and he soon comes to suspect that the husband, Lars Thorwald (Raymond Burr), has murdered his wife and disposed of the body. Convincing himself of Thorwald’s guilt, Jeff becomes increasingly obsessed and enlists the aid of his high society girlfriend Lisa (Grace Kelly) and visiting nurse Stella (Thelma Ritter) to help him uncover the truth.
Unlike the majority of Hitchcock’s films – which subscribe to the ‘bomb theory’, creating suspense by informing the audience of the dangers facing our characters – Rear Window adopts a different tact and indeed, it isn’t until the latter stages of the film that we discover whether or not a murder has actually been committed. Instead, Hitchcock opts to explore his own fascination with voyeurism through Jeff, delving into his psyche and examining both his personality and his relationship with Lisa (with whom he’s reluctant to fully commit) through the lives of the various neighbours – all of whom we see solely from protagonist’s point-of-view. Indeed, for the vast majority of the film, Hitchcock keeps his camera firmly rooted in the one apartment, opting against providing any close-ups of the supporting characters or venturing beyond the windows of their apartments. We see the neighbours solely as Jeff sees them, and we become just as much a voyeur. It’s a bold and effective technique; in effect, we become the character, and by the time the murder mystery kicks in, Jeff’s obsession with proving Thorwald’s guilt has become our obsession too.
Although Hitchcock is clearly the architect when it comes to Rear Window, his direction is matched by superb performances from his cast. Thelma Ritter and a pre-Perry Mason Raymond Burr offer solid support in their respective roles, with Ritter in particular coming close to stealing each of her scenes, while Grace Kelly is perfectly cast as Lisa, the ‘perfect girlfriend’ whose sophistication masks an adventurous streak that soon comes to the fore as she becomes engrossed by Jeff’s suspicions. However, the film hinges on the performance of James Stewart and with his fantastic, multidimensional turn as the wheelchair-bound Jeff, Stewart demonstrates why he’s not only the best of Hitchcock’s leading men (apologies to any Cary Grant fans), but one of the greatest movie stars ever to grace the screen.
Despite being close to sixty years old, Rear Window holds up remarkably well and remains an utterly captivating slice of cinema that serves as a shining example of Alfred Hitchcock’s mastery over his craft.
Flickering Myth Rating: Film ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ / Movie ★ ★ ★ ★ ★
Gary Collinson is a writer and lecturer from the North East of England. He is the editor-in-chief of FlickeringMyth.com and the author of Holy Franchise, Batman! Bringing the Caped Crusader to the Screen.
Originally published June 5, 2012. Updated April 12, 2018.
