Alfred Hitchcock was one of the first motion picture directors to receive as much notoriety and popularity as the stars he directed, and even decades after his passing, he still remains one of the most celebrated names in the industry. His biggest contribution was spear-heading the Mystery and Thriller genera, which was already taking shape in the early 40’s, but it was Hitchcock who really breathed life into the genera, and molded it into its common perception today. Because of this, I feel the definitive Alfred Hitchcock picture is 1954’s “Rear Window”, which stands strong today as both a favored picture in cinema, and one of the great classic staples of the crime and mystery genera. While I wouldn’t call “Rear Window” my absolute favorite of his movies, I still feel it best highlights the strengths of his craft, as well as his signature style that characterizes his pictures.
Based on a short story by Cornell Woolrich titled “It had to be Murder”, this film takes the formula of suspected murder, and interweaves it with some of Hitchcock’s own original elements, giving it a distinct voice and personality. Jimmy Stewart plays a professional photographer named Jeff, who just broke his leg, and is now stuck in his apartment building until he fully recovers. He's so bored that he spends his time starring out his apartments rear window, which overlooks the local courtyard, and he observes the life styles of all his neighbors. It starts off as an innocent case of voyeurism, but it soon takes a dark turn when he begins to suspect one of his neighbors named Thorwald, may have murdered his own wife. He tries to warn the officials, but they think he’s just hallucinating due to cabin fever. Now, it’s up to him to solve this mystery, with the aid of his visiting nurse played by Thelma Ritter, as well as his beautiful girl friend Lisa, played by Grace Kelly, and together, they might be able to expose the killer.
One of the key elements to a great mystery is never revealing too much, nor directly explaining things to the audience. This is where Hitchcock’s direction really shines, as he lets things play out before us, and it’s a great showcase of visual story telling. There really aren’t any big twists or turns in the narrative, but it’s through Hitchcock’s unique presentation that it remains such an engaging, and still original experience, which hasn’t really been replicated.
The camera never once leaves the apartment, we never cut-away to anything outside Jeff’s line of vision, and it puts us directly in the eyes of our main character. This is how you take an admittedly predictable set-up, and make it compelling mystery, as you feel like you’re in his shoes, spying on the neighbor, and coming to the same deductions as he does. The shot composition, editing, and cinematography is all brilliantly assembled. Also, despite being restricted to one spot, the view from Jeff’s balcony still acts like a figurative gateway into a larger world outside, and we see so much activity on display, to the point where the courtyard becomes a character in of itself. Despite only getting these little glimpses of the neighbors, each one feels like a fleshed-out character, with their own intriguing stories to tell, and it’s easy to see why our lead Jeff is so fixated on watching them. As usual, we see Alfred Hitchcock himself making his traditional cameo as a guy in the window of an apartment, and he seems to be winding a clock.
The cast naturally is top-tier, and manages to keep the film engaging during the non-suspenseful segments of the film. Jimmy Stewart, who was a regular in Hitchcock’s movies, delivers what might just be my favorite performance of his. Once again, he’s very natural, and full of nervus energy, but he’s also charismatic as hell, and holds your attention with ease, despite being stuck in a wheelchair for the whole picture.
His relationship with the girl friend Lisa is also one of the bright spots of the film. The two are at odds with one another, as he’s into excitement and adventure, while she’s into the world of fashion and glamor. Despite their differences, they’re still drawn to one another, and are able to subtle things, all while trying to solve this murder mystery. As stated above, Grace Kelly is a knock-out on screen, but there’s more to her then just a pretty face. She delivers equal charisma as Jimmy Stewart, and also doubles as Jeffs legs, daring to do the excitement that he can’t while in his condition. It’s brilliant writing, and the two have excellent chemistry on screen. Lastly, I can’t glance over Thelma Ritter, who provides a lot of levity and amusement as the visiting nurse. For any other actor, this could have been a rather thankless role, but she really shines in the part, and makes for another engaging screen presence.
The killer himself is only observed throughout the film, and we don’t really meet him until the end of the picture. Regardless, actor Raymond Burr, famous for playing “Perry Mason”, as well as staring in the 1956 cut of “Godzilla: King of the Monsters”, still manages to leave a disturbing impression. I like that he isn’t this one-note mad-man, in fact, when we finally meet him, he acts rather civil, which suggests his killing was out of blind rage and emotion. It makes him feel more real, and it always had me second guessing seemingly ordinary people. No joke, when I first saw this movie as a teen, it really opened my eyes to the idea of … just what goes on behind closed doors, windows, and are these everyday looking people in my neighborhood always what they appear to be on the surface. In 2007, there was a little movie called “Disturbia”, which followed a similar formula of a murderer next door, and while it was mostly a fine film, the villain to me just felt too much like a stalk-cliché, and just didn’t feel as grounded … and by extent as suspenseful … as in “Rear Window”.
Much to my surprise, this film didn’t win any trophies at the Academy Awards, although it was at least nominated for four Oscars, including Best Writing, Best Cinematography, Best Sound Design, and naturally Alfred Hitchcock was nominated for Best Director. In the end, I feel “Rear Window” has aged masterfully, still offers a lot of genuine suspense, great performances, and without question is one of Alfred Hitchcock’s finest films. While I generally prefer both “Psycho” and “North by North West” as my two favorites of Hitchcock’s, I still view “Rear Window” as the movie that best defines his trademark vision, style, and dark sense of romantic hummer. If your curious about the talent, and aren’t sure where to begin with his catalog of 50 plus movies … I’d say this is the movie to start with. I genuinely hope modern movie goers don’t pass it up, because it’s still exciting, suspenseful, and stands as a staple of how to make a great mystery thriller.
Thanks for reading my review of the 1954 Mystery & Suspense classic “Rear Window” … and continue to enjoy the movies you Love!
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