Daredevil photographer L.B. Jeffries (Stewart), known as Jeff, is living his worst nightmare: after suffering a broken leg, he is stuck in a wheelchair in his apartment. To occupy his time, he spends most of the time looking out the window at the lives of his neighbors. He even comes up with nicknames for some of them: the ballerina is Miss Torso (Georgine Darcy), the struggling composer / musician is the Songwriter (Ross Bagdasarian), and the lonely woman is Miss Lonelyhearts (Judith Evelyn). One night he hears a scream and notices strange behavior from his neighbor across the courtyard, Lars Thorwall (Burr). Mysterious trips in the middle of the night, and the absence of the bedridden Mrs. Thorwall (Irene Winston) lead Jeff to believe Lars murdered his wife.
His nurse, Stella (Ritter), thinks watching the neighbors can only lead to trouble... but soon she is caught up in the story. His girlfriend, well-known fashion model Lisa Fremont (Kelly), dismisses the theory... but then the pieces add up. His detective friend, Tom Doyle (Corey), thinks it's all a product of Jeff's imagination, but is willing to follow up some leads as a favor. Is Jeff assuming too much, or is Lars hiding something?
Wow! I love this film. The set, the story, the planning that went into all of it... how can you not be impressed? All the action takes place from the vantage of Jeff's living room. We see everything he sees, and his reactions. Much later in the film, the camera moves into the courtyard, but overall, we have the same limited perspective as the stars. The crew built the apartments, which were livable, and Jeff's apartment on the same sound stage... with special lights rigged to simulate different times of day. And all that planning and attention to detail pays off.
The cast is great, from the stars to the random small parts, everyone is perfectly cast and has a specific personality. The leads had both worked with Hitchcock before (he was in Rope and she was in Dial M for Murder which was filmed prior to this film), and would work with him again... and they are great. Stewart is the embodiment of the audience: the everyman you can identify with. Grace Kelly is a classic beauty who exudes charm and charisma (I love her).
Everything about this film works. And that is the reason it remains one of Hitchcock's beloved pictures. If you ever get the chance to see this film, get the restored DVD. There is a great documentary that includes interviews with some of the cast, crew, producers, and Hitchcock scholars, and you learn so much about the film and how it was filmed. Definitely a must!!
Rear Window (1954) 112 minutes
Director: Alfred Hitchcock
Starring: James Stewart as L.B. "Jeff" Jeffries
Grace Kelly as Lisa Fremont
Wendell Corey as Detective Lt. Thomas Doyle
Thelma Ritter as Stella
Raymond Burr as Lars Thorwall
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