Rear Window Storyline and Short Reviews

The plot of Rear Window was inspired by Cornell Woolrich’s 1942 short story “It Had to Be Murder”. In the opening sequence, a wheelchair-bound photographer spies on his neighbors from his apartment window and becomes convinced one of them has committed murder.

Hitchcock purchased Woolrich’s story in February 1948, intending it to be filmed as To Catch a Thief (1955). However, he soon decided that the film would be too complicated to shoot and it was shelved until 1954. With few exceptions, the film is set entirely in a Greenwich Village courtyard apartment complex in the summer of 1954. It was shot entirely at Paramount Studios in Hollywood.

All About Of Rear Window Storyline and Short Reviews

Theatrical Release Poster

After directing Dial M for Murder (1954), Hitchcock had planned to make Rear Window his next project. However, he soon decided that the film would be too complicated to shoot. To give the studio time to find another project for him, Hitchcock directed To Catch a Thief.

The two films have many points of comparison: a wheelchair-bound protagonist, a glamorous blonde female lead (Grace Kelly), picture windows as an important plot device, and a heavy focus on the beautiful location. These similarities helped make Rear Window a success at the box office.

History

The film was shot through February 1954 and edited over a four-month period. The score was composed by Franz Waxman, and the cinematography was by Robert Burks, who also worked on ten other Hitchcock films.

In 1997, Rear Window was added to the United States National Film Registry in the Library of Congress as being “culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant”. It has been adapted for stage and television several times, including a 1998 play by Keith Reddin and a 2014 opera by Christopher Butterfield. 

Reviews

The film is considered by many filmgoers, critics and scholars to be one of Hitchcock’s best and one of the greatest movies ever made. It received four Academy Award nominations and was ranked No. 42 on AFI’s 100 Years…100 Movies list and No. 48 on the 10th-anniversary edition. In 1997, Rear Window was added to the United States National Film Registry in the Library of Congress as being “culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant”.

In 2007, Rear Window was ranked No. 1 on a list of the 100 best movies as chosen by members of the American Film Institute during their 10th Anniversary celebration.

It’s one of the most celebrated films of all time. Thirty years after it was made, it was deemed “culturally significant” by the United States Library of Congress and selected for preservation in the National Film Registry.

It has been recognized as a masterpiece not only by critics and film scholars, but also by an entire generation of filmmakers including Martin Scorsese, Brian De Palma, George Lucas, Francis Ford Coppola and Wes Craven.

Storyline

After breaking his leg photographing a racetrack accident, professional photographer L.B. “Jeff” Jefferies (James Stewart) is confined to a wheelchair in his Greenwich Village apartment to recuperate. His rear window looks out onto a small courtyard and several other apartments. During a powerful heat wave, he watches his neighbors, who keep their windows open to stay cool.

The courtyard comes to life each evening as people return home from work and school: a couple with a baby (Georgine Darcy), a dancer (Judith Evelyn), salesman Lars Thorwald (Raymond Burr), Miss Lonelyhearts (Judith Anderson) and her dog, newlyweds with an apparently normal marriage (Ross Bagdasarian Sr. and Georgine Darcy), a songwriter (Frank Cady) and his wife (Jesslyn Fax), an amorous middle-aged couple.

In his apartment across a courtyard from her, professional photographer L. B. Jefferies (James Stewart) is confined to a wheelchair with a broken leg. His rear window looks out onto several other apartments in his block, and he spends much time observing the neighbors’ private lives.

He is particularly interested in what he sees as an apparent romance between “Miss Lonelyhearts” (Judith Evelyn), a middle-aged woman who lives with dozens of dogs, cats and birds, and “Svengali”, an older musician who plays his violin for her after dark each evening.

Plot

The plot is set in the New York City apartment of a wheelchair-bound photographer (Stewart), who believes he has witnessed a murder committed by a man across the courtyard. His high-society fashion-consultant girlfriend (Kelly) visits him regularly, as does his insurance company’s nurse, who provides administrative support for his rehabilitation and accompanies him on outings.

The photographer’s rear window looks out onto a small courtyard and several other apartments. Through the course of an afternoon and evening, he observes the private lives of his neighbors.

The photographer comes to suspect that one neighbor has murdered his nagging and domineering invalid wife, and that he has disposed of her body in an old steamer trunk. The photographer discusses this suspicion with his girlfriend (who is temporarily living in his apartment while hers is being painted).

After she dismisses it, he enlists the help of both her and the nurse to investigate it more thoroughly. Eventually, they learn that the woman suspected of being murdered had been seen alive within the past few days.

Awards and Achievements

It even inspired a cartoon series — Mr. Magoo Meets Rear Window — in which the title character gets mistaken for Jimmy Stewart’s character L.B. “Jeff” Jefferies when he spies on his neighbors from his wheelchair-bound home.

Today, Rear Window stands as one of Alfred Hitchcock’s all-time greatest masterpieces — a voyeuristic tale about a photographer who spies on his neighbors from his wheelchair-bound home and suspects that one may be a murderer.

The film is also widely considered one of the finest examples of Hollywood’s Golden Age — an era defined by such groundbreaking films as Citizen Kane (1941), Casablanca (1942), Double Indemnity (1944), It’s A Wonderful Life (1946) and Sunset Boulevard (1950).

Alfred Hitchcock’s “Rear Window” (1954) is a true classic. It has been adapted into plays, and it has been remade. There is a reason for this. It is a very good film. There are many things that make this movie a classic piece of cinema.

What Makes This Film Great?

First off, it all takes place in one room. This was quite daring at the time as movies were generally shot in multiple locations and with a large number of actors and sets. To have an entire movie take place in just one room was unheard of, but Hitchcock managed to pull it off perfectly. The camera angles and editing techniques help keep the viewer entertained even though there isn’t that much going on visually.

Second, we have Grace Kelly who plays the perfect role as Hitchcock’s ice cold blonde character who always gets her man (or woman). Her performance is fantastic with just the right amount of emotion tinged with humor that really makes her stand out among other actors no matter when they appear on screen next to her or not. In addition she looks stunning as usual making this one of her most memorable roles outside Monaco.

Thirdly, it is exciting and suspenseful, even though it takes place entirely inside an apartment building courtyard. That is quite an accomplishment by Hitchcock and company who had to go beyond the time to deliver this kind of cinema.

One of the most interesting aspects of this movie is its use of post-production techniques for editing and scoring of sound effects and music. Hitchcock also uses camera techniques such as framing and focus along with sound techniques such as foley work to create unique cinematic experiences for viewers.

This level of experimentation would continue into future releases by Hitchcock such as Vertigo (1958) and Psycho (1960).

Details on the Storyline

The film is considered an early example of the “subgenre” of voyeurism that became popular in later years such as Peeping Tom (1960) and Blowup (1966). The film was shot from September 9 through December 23, 1953.

“Rear Window” is a film that combines suspense, thriller and drama in an excellent way and the way the story unfolds is brilliant.

Alfred Hitchcock uses the rear window to symbolize both the directed, focused vision of cinema as well as the voyeuristic nature of it.

As Jimmy Stewart watches his neighbors through their open windows, he creates stories about them from what he sees, making up characters and narratives for each person he watches. He does this because he’s bored and watching his neighbors is all there is to do (he can’t even go outside due to his broken leg).

In doing so, Stewart shows how movies create images and stories out of nothing but a scene or two.

This idea is obviously reinforced when Stewart watches various scenes unfold in the apartment across from him which lead him to believe that a murder has taken place, but we see other scenes throughout the apartment complex that are just as “suspicious.” For example, we see a couple fighting through an open window from across the courtyard, giving us the idea of his vision.

Wrap Up

Rear Window (1954) is one of Alfred Hitchcock’s most entertaining and compelling works. Because it is a “silent witness” thriller, it is a compelling showpiece for its star, Jimmy Stewart, who plays a voyeuristic wheelchair-bound photographer.

The entire film is shot from the perspective of Stewart’s apartment. He is watching his neighbors across the courtyard where he has a bird’s eye view of their apartments. His paranoia about his own situation leads him to become engrossed in watching the suspected murder activities of Raymond Burr’s character.