Often cited as Hitchcock's best film (it's certainly in the top five), Rear Window (1954) is a masterpiece of suspense. A testament to Hitch's perfectionist attitude and his ability to plan everything out, the sound stage had to be dug out and lowered in order to accommodate the inner-city set of buildings and adjacent courtyards. Each shot meticulously thought out, the final sequence is one of the most tense and memorable conflicts ever captured on film.
L.B. Jeffries (James Stewart) is a magazine photographer who has to spend the summer holed up in his apartment as a result of a broken leg. His only regular visitors are his nurse (Thelma Ritter) and his fancy, socialite girlfriend (the lovely Grace Kelly).
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| Rear Window. 1954. Alfred Hitchcock: James Stewart and Grace Kelly |
With little else to do, Jeffries spends most of his time looking out his back window and watching the goings on in his neighbors' apartments via a courtyard that makes all the windows visible to one another...
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| Rear Window. 1954. Alfred Hitchcock: James Stewart and Grace Kelly |
Things start out innocent enough, there is a lovelorn lady, a songwriter, a newlywed couple and a sexy ballet dancer that practices in her living room...
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| Rear Window. 1954. Alfred Hitchcock |
A morbid turn happens... With constant vigilance, Jeffries sees suspicious things in his Salesman neighbor's apartment that lead him to believe that he has murdered his invalid wife and disposed of her body...
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| Rear Window. 1954. Alfred Hitchcock: James Stewart |
He enlists the help of his nurse and girlfriend, who share the suspicions, to try to figure out if the neighbor is in fact a murderer...
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| Rear Window. 1954. Alfred Hitchcock: James Stewart and Grace Kelly |
Tension grows and an unforgettable climax is the result...
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| Rear Window. 1954. Alfred Hitchcock: James Stewart and Grace Kelly |
