FAQ for
Rear Window (1954) More at IMDbPro »

The following FAQ entries may contain spoilers. Only the biggest ones (if any) will be covered with spoiler tags. Spoiler tags have been used sparingly in order to make the page more readable.

For detailed information about the amounts and types of (a) sex and nudity, (b) violence and gore, (c) profanity, (d) alcohol, drugs, and smoking, and (e) frightening and intense scenes in this movie, consult the IMDb Parents Guide for this movie. The Parents Guide for Rear Window can be found here.

No. Rear Window is based on the short story It Had to Be Murder (1942) by American crime writer Cornell Woolrich [1903-1968]. A remake of the movie, also called Rear Window was released in 1998.

There is mention of it being a hatbox, but what was inside the hatbox was never clearly stated in the movie. Most viewers assume it to be Thorwald's wife's head. Thorwald (Raymond Burr) then kills the little dog and reburies the hatbox.

Alfred Hitchcock is known for cameoing himself in each of his movies. His cameo in Rear Window is about half an hour into the movie, in the scene in the singer's room. Hitchcock is the one winding the clock. A photo of this scene can be viewed here and here.

Just when Jeff (James Stewart) and Stella (Thelma Ritter) think she's going to take a handful of pills, Miss Lonelyheart (Judith Evelyn) hears the songwriter playing the piano and stops. At the end you see her in the songwriter's apartment telling him how much his music means to her.