Rear Window

Rear Window (1954)

Runtime: 112 minutes

Directed by: Alfred Hitchcock (of course)

Starring: James Stewart, Grace Kelly, Thelma Ritter, Raymond Burr, Ross Bagdasarian (yes, the guy behind Alvin & The Chipmunks)

From: Paramount

Here is something that is related to the last review I posted. When I went to school at ISU in Normal, Illinois, there’s a tremendous videostore located downtown known as The Movie Fan, which has a very liberal and eclectic collection of movies (that’s where I first saw the original Pelham movie, as a matter of fact). I saw a good amount of them but I wish I would have seen much more, or started going there much sooner. Among the large collection of films was a pretty extensive series of Hitchcock movies, and now I wish I would have delved into that much deeper than I did. In fact, I had to see this movie, rated as Hitch’s best by many, on the big screen at Universal Studios in Orlando. That was awhile ago but I remember this pretty well, and this is a must-see, especially if you’re into mysteries.

The basic plot has been modified many times since then, from episodes of The Simpsons to the recent movie Disturbia. A photographer (Stewart) gets injured at an auto race, so he’s confined to a wheelchair and he’s stuck in his apartment. He gets visited by his nurse (Ritter) and his girlfriend (Kelly). He gets bored so he starts spying on his neighbors. He thinks that he sees one of his neighbors (Burr) murder someone. But, in his position he can’t do too much to try and solve it, and he can’t exactly go to the cops with the circumstantial evidence. How can he solve the problem? Did Burr even commit any crime?


This page provides a detailed review/synopsis of the movie, but you can just read the opening to get a spoiler-free introduction to why the movie’s so highly regarded. Besides the mystery of whether or not his neighbor committed any murder, there’s the story of whether or not Stewart is going to marry his girl, and if it’s a good idea for him to marry or not. Also, there’s the whole voyeuristic angle to it and how what he sees from his apartment may not actually be what’s going on.

This is pretty great; besides the quality of the film, the way that it was put together... very suspenseful, especially the final half hour or so. It was filmed only on one giant set and much of the action is in one apartment building. Almost all of the shots outside of the apartment are from Stewart's point of view. That sounds rather claustrophobic and confining. Well, that is part of the plot, but it's all cinematic and engrossing due to the always great directing job by Hitchcock and the performances of the quality actors; they make it work and it's a classic piece of cinema. I am so glad I got to see it on the big screen, but even on the small screen, it's stupendous and a must-see. I dare not spoil any more of the film if you haven't seen it yet; otherwise I'd heap a lot of praise on it, but I think I've said enough to convince you to check this out.

I'll be back tomorrow night with something a little different.