Review of Rear Window (1954) by Brad S — 26 Jul 2014

"Intelligence. Nothing has caused the human race so much trouble as intelligence." - Stella (Thelma Ritter) in Rear Window.

Before I really knew about the relevance of Alfred Hitchcock, Rear Window was the first Hitchcock movie I ever had the pleasure to witness. Not much more can be said, but nonetheless Rear Window is one of Hitchcock's definitive classics that show off his unceasing directorial talent, timeless performances, impressive sound mixing and ultimately one of cinema's most intriguing mystery thrillers.

L.B. Jeffries (James Stewart) is a magazine photographer who had always lived life on the edge traveling around the world for valuable shots of locales and people, but now as a "dramatically different" change of pace he is stuck in his apartment with a fragile shattered leg and a stiff cast after an attempted photo shoot in the middle of a race track. Jefferies only means of entertainment is his neighbors outside of the window of his apartment. Between visits from his nurse Stella (Thelma Ritter) and his stunning fashionista girlfriend Lisa (Grace Kelly), Jeffries becomes obsessed with the "peeping tom" show in his own backyard, peeking into people's lives, but things really get heated up once he suspects one of his neighbors to be the culprit of a murder.

Rear Window is perhaps the greatest example of Alfred Hitchcock's stellar abilities to channel the language of cinema into some of the best storytelling ever projected on the silver screen. With skillful use of editing, frame within a frame shots, reverse shots, pans, and the ever voyeuristic point of view shots, he creates a constant air of suspense that offers new thrills and details every time this classic is rewatched. Besides the main story of Jeffries himself and the suspected murder, Hitchcock is able to simultaneously tell the audience several sub plot stories happening in the other windows surrounding Jeffries that would take a lesser filmmaker a whole feature length movie to show.

Besides the skillful storytelling and shot composition, Hitchcock and Jimmy Stewart are one of the more formidable actor-director pair ups in the history of cinema. Having worked together previously in 1948's Rope, Stewart does great work as he always did, as the photographer torn between a serious injury, a career, curiosity and a love affair. The two would go on to work together in 1956's The Man Who Knew Too Much and the 1958 Hitchcock classic Vertigo. Along with Stewart, Grace Kelly, Thelma Ritter, Wendell Corey and Raymond Burr also provide believably three-dimensional characters that are genuinely interesting to behold on screen.

Rear Window is simply another unforgettable classic courtesy of the Master of Suspense. One of the greatest films of all-time and perhaps the best mystery, Rear Window is an essential movie for anyone who enjoys film to see over and over again. Perhaps what makes the picture so alluring to come back to is its complete and total honesty. Every window just seems begging to be looked into and observed, each one having a unique story to tell. I personally believe there's no way that someone in Jeffries' situation would be able to keep his eyes turned away from his neighbors'; could you?

Grade: A+.

Reviewed by Ben Pieper on March 13th 2012.