Rear Window (1954)

Director:

Alfred Hitchcock

Writers:

John Michael Hayes (screenplay)
Cornell Woolrich (short story "It Had to Be Murder")

Release Date:

14 January 1955 (Japan)

Genre:

Crime | Mystery | Romance | Thriller

Tagline:

Through his rear window and the eye of his powerful camera he watched a great city tell on itself, expose its cheating ways...and Murder!

Plot:

A wheelchair bound photographer spies on his neighbours from his apartment window and becomes convinced one of them has committed murder.

Plot Keywords:

Apartment | Neighbor | Nurse | Window | Salesman

Awards:

Nominated for 4 Oscars. Another 4 wins & 5 nominations

US TV Schedule:

Tue. Dec. 1

2:15 AM

TCM

Cast

James Stewart	...	L. B. 'Jeff' Jefferies
Grace Kelly	...	Lisa Carol Fremont
Wendell Corey	...	Det. Lt. Thomas J. Doyle
Thelma Ritter	...	Stella
Raymond Burr	...	Lars Thorwald
Judith Evelyn	...	Miss Lonelyhearts
Ross Bagdasarian	...	Songwriter
Georgine Darcy	...	Miss Torso
Sara Berner	...	Wife living above Thorwalds
Frank Cady	...	Husband living above Thorwalds
Jesslyn Fax	...	Sculpting neighbor with hearing aid
Rand Harper	...	Newlywed man
Irene Winston	...	Mrs. Anna Thorwald
Havis Davenport	...	Newlywed woman
Marla English	...	Girl at songwriter's party
Kathryn Grant	...	Girl at songwriter's party (as Kathryn Grandstaff)
Alan Lee	...	Newlyweds' landlord
Anthony Warde	...	Detective
Benny Bartlett	...	Man with Miss Torso
Fred Graham	...	Detective
Harry Landers	...	Man with Miss Lonelyheart
Dick Simmons	...	Man with Miss Torso
Iphigenie Castiglioni	...	Woman with bird
Ralph Smiley	...	Carl, waiter from 21
Eddie Parker	...	Detective (as Edwin Parker)
Len Hendry	...	Policeman
Mike Mahoney	...	Policeman
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Jerry Antes	...	Dancer with Miss Torso (uncredited)
Barbara Bailey	...	Choreographer with Miss Torso (uncredited)
Nick Borgani	...	Minor Role (uncredited)
Sue Casey	...	Sunbather (uncredited)
James Cornell	...	Minor Role (uncredited)
Don Dunning	...	Detective (uncredited)
Bess Flowers	...	Songwriter's party guest with poodle (uncredited)
Art Gilmore	...	Radio announcer (voice) (uncredited)
Alfred Hitchcock	...	Man winding clock in songwriter's apartment (uncredited)
Jonni Paris	...	Sunbather (uncredited)
Jack Stoney	...	Ice Man (uncredited)

Directed by
Alfred Hitchcock

Writing credits
John Michael Hayes		(screenplay)
Cornell Woolrich		(short story "It Had to Be Murder")

Produced by
James C. Katz	....	producer (1998 restoration)
Alfred Hitchcock	....	producer (uncredited)

Original Music by
Franz Waxman

Cinematography by
Robert Burks		(director of photography)

Film Editing by
George Tomasini

Art Direction by
J. McMillan Johnson		(as Joseph MacMillan Johnson)
Hal Pereira

Set Decoration by
Sam Comer
Ray Moyer

Makeup Department
Wally Westmore	....	makeup supervisor

Production Management
C.O. Erickson	....	unit production manager (uncredited)

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Herbert Coleman	....	assistant director

Art Department
Dorothea Holt	....	illustrator (uncredited)
Gene Lauritzen	....	construction coordinator (uncredited)

Sound Department
John Cope	....	sound recordist
Harry Lindgren	....	sound recordist
Harry E. Snodgrass	....	sound editor (1998 restoration)
Richard LeGrand Jr.	....	supervising sound editor (1998 restoration) (uncredited)
Loren L. Ryder	....	sound recording mixer (uncredited)
Samuel Webb	....	assistant sound editor: 1998 restoration (uncredited)

Special Effects by
John P. Fulton	....	special photographic effects

Visual Effects by
Scott Dougherty	....	digital restoration producer: Cinesite (uncredited)
Jerry Pooler	....	digital restoration supervisor (uncredited)
Irmin Roberts	....	special visual effects (uncredited)
Tiffany Smith	....	digital restoration coordinator: Cinesite (uncredited)

Stunts
Fred Graham	....	stunt detective (uncredited)
Ted Mapes	....	stunts (uncredited)
Eddie Parker	....	stunt detective (uncredited)

Camera and Electrical Department
William Schurr	....	camera operator (uncredited)
Leonard J. South	....	assistant camera (uncredited)

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Edith Head	....	costumes

Editorial Department
Steve Johnson	....	colorist
Jeff Smithwick	....	color timer: Technicolor (1998 restoration) (uncredited)

Other crew
Robert A. Harris	....	1998 reconstruction and restoration
Bob Landry	....	technical advisor
Richard Mueller	....	technicolor color consultant

Production Companies

• Paramount Pictures
• Patron Inc.

Distributors

• Paramount Pictures (1954) (USA) (theatrical)
• Les Films Paramount (1955) (France) (theatrical)
• Paramount Pictures International (1955) (Japan) (theatrical)
• Paramount (1955) (West Germany) (theatrical)
• Paramount Pictures (1962) (USA) (theatrical) (re-release)
• National Broadcasting Company (NBC) (1966) (USA) (TV) (original airing)
• Universal Pictures (1983-2000) (USA) (theatrical) (re-release)
• Cinema International Corporation (C.I.C.) (1984) (Japan) (theatrical)
• MCA Home Video (1984) (USA) (VHS)
• Universal Pictures (1999) (Germany) (VHS)
• USA Films (2000) (USA) (theatrical) (re-release)
• Universal Pictures (2001) (Germany) (DVD)
• Victor Entertainment (2001) (Japan) (DVD)
• Universal Pictures (2002) (Japan) (DVD)
• Universal Pictures Benelux (2007) (Netherlands) (DVD)
• Seven Films (2008) (Greece) (theatrical) (reissue)
• CIC Vídeo (Brazil) (VHS)
• MCA Home Video (video)
• MCA/Universal Home Video (USA) (VHS)
• MCA/Universal Home Video (USA) (laserdisc)
• Universal Home Entertainment (USA) (DVD)
• Universal Home Video (Brazil) (DVD)

Also Known As:

Alfred Hitchcock's Rear Window (USA) (complete title)

Runtime:

112 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor) (negative) | Color (Technicolor) (prints)

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Recording)

Certification:

USA:PG (re-rating) (1983) (cerfiticate no. 27069) | Canada:A (Nova Scotia) (1983) | Canada:G (Quebec) (1983) | Canada:PG (Manitoba/Ontario) | USA:Approved (PCA #16938) | Portugal:M/12 | Spain:T | Iceland:L | Germany:12 | West Germany:16 (f) | Brazil:12 | Sweden:11 (re-rating) (1984) | Sweden:15 (original rating) (1955) | New Zealand:PG | Italy:T | Argentina:13 | Australia:PG | Chile:14 | Finland:K-8 | France:U (2000 re-release) | Netherlands:AL | Norway:16 | South Korea:15 | UK:PG | Peru:14 | Singapore:PG

Filming Locations:

Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

Paramount Pictures

Trivia:

2007: The American Film Institute ranked this as the #48 Greatest Movie of All Time.

Goofs:

Continuity: At the end of Jeff's first massage, Stella places the bottle with the green liquid on the side table without replacing the cap. As Stella is packing to leave, the bottle is capped as she places it in her bag.

Quotes:

[first lines]
Voice on radio: Men, are you over 40? When you wake up in the morning, do you feel tired and rundown? Do you have that listless feeling...
[the camera pans around the courtyard; cut to later in the day]
Jeff: [answering phone] Jefferies.
Gunnison: Congratulations, Jeff!
Jeff: For what?
Gunnison: For getting rid of that cast!
Jeff: Who said I was getting rid of it?
Gunnison: This is Wednesday; seven weeks from the day you broke your leg. Yes or no?
Jeff: Gunnison, how did you ever get to be such a big editor with such a small memory?
[...]

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Confidences trop intimes (2004)

Soundtrack:

Mona Lisa

Another Hitchcock masterpiece

Alfred Hitchcock is considered by most to be the master of suspense. I believe he was also a master of understanding human nature. He intuitively understood that human beings are voyeurs by nature, not in the perverted sense, but in the curious sense. We are a species that slows down to look at accident scenes and steals furtive glances at lovers in the park who are oblivious to everything but each other. A major appeal of cinema and television is that they offer us an opportunity for guilt free voyeurism. When we watch a film, aren't we in essence looking through a window and watching people who behave as if they don't realize we are there?

Hitchcock realized this and took voyeurism to the next level, allowing us to watch a voyeur as he watched others. While `Rear Window' as a whole is probably not quite at a level with `Vertigo' (which was far more suspenseful and mysterious with a powerful musical score) as a cinematic accomplishment, it is more seductive because it strikes closer to our human obsessions. Hitchcock's mastery is most evident in his subtle use of reaction scenes by the various characters. We watch an event that Jeff (James Stewart) is watching and then Hitchcock immediately cuts to his reaction. This is done repeatedly in various layers even with the other tenants as they interact with one another. For instance, in the scene with Miss Lonelyheart (Judith Evelyn), we see her throw out the man who made a pass at her and then we see her reaction after she slams the door, followed by the reaction of Jeff and Lisa (Grace Kelly). In another scene, Detective Doyle (Wendell Corey) sees Lisa's nightclothes and presumes she will be staying the night. Hitchcock shows the suitcase, then Doyle's reaction, and then he goes to Jeff who points his finger at him and says `Be Careful, Tom'. This elegant scene takes a few seconds and speaks volumes with little dialogue. Such technique gets the viewer fully involved, because if we were there this is exactly what we would be doing, watching the unfolding events and then seeing how others around us responded. In essence, it puts us in the room with them.

Hitchcock was a stickler for detail. For instance, he aimed the open windows so they would show subtle reflections of places in the apartment we couldn't see directly. However, there were certain details included or excluded that were inexplicable. Would Thorwold really be scrubbing the walls with the blinds open? Would Lisa be conspicuously waving at Jeff while Stella (Thelma Ritter) was digging up the garden? Moreover, wouldn't Lisa have taken off her high heels before climbing a wall and then a fire escape? This film had numerous small incongruities that are normally absent from Hitchcock films. Though these are picayune criticisms, they are painfully obvious in the film of a director known to be a compulsive perfectionist.

The acting is superb in this film. Jimmy Stewart is unabashedly obsessed as the lead character. Photographers have an innate visual perceptiveness and the ability to tell a story with an image and Stewart adopts this mindset perfectly. Grace Kelly has often been accused of being the `Ice Maiden' in her films, yet in this film she is assertive and even reckless. Though cool at times, she is often playful and rambunctious. I always enjoy Thelma Ritter's performances for their honesty and earthiness and this is another example of a character actor at her best. Raymond Burr often doesn't get the recognition he deserves for this role, which is mostly shot at a distance with very few lines. Yet, he imbues Thurwold with a looming nefariousness using predominantly physical acting.

This film was rated number 42 on AFI's top 100 of the century sandwiched between `Psycho' (#18) and `Vertigo' (#61). I personally think more highly of `Vertigo' but it is a minor distinction, because I rated them both 10/10. `Rear Window' is a classic, a masterpiece of filmmaking technique from a director who was a true pioneer of suspense.