Rear Window (1954) Appreciation Thread

I feel this film deserves its own thread. Rewatched it again and is easily in my top 5 films of all time. And below is my favorite scene from Rear Window (1954), and the Grace Kelly "wedding ring moment" is one of the best shots by Hitchock in the entire film. And the Grace in that floral print dress is simply stunning as usual!

Also, worthy of mentioning is the amazing work by cinematographer Robert Burks on this film. As other reviewers have stated, Hitchcock was a master of how he manipulated storytelling with many cinematographic techniques, and it is nowhere better visible than in Rear Window. Hitchcock uses a wide array of visual cues to communicate certain messages - especially the lighting cues. It was stated that during certain points in filming, Hitchcock had used every single light owned by the studio in which this film was shot.

 

An ultrawide Panoramic view of Hitchock's Rear Window is amazing - a look at the Before and After of what we're missing.

 

See Hitchcock's 'Rear Window' Rendered in Miniature

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Fantastic movie. Grace is yummy
I grew up hearing about this great film that was long out of circulation. Then the 80's reissues in the theaters. OMG.
I saw it up on the big screen. When married, took the wife to see it. She LOVED it.
I knew so much about the film before I even saw it.
And, of course, this is the answer to 'what do Alfred Hitchcock and the Chipmunks have in common?'

 

Another interesting element of the film is the change in Grace Kelly's character (Lisa) that mirrors her gradual fashion changes. Her initial wardrobe represents her elegance and refinery, which also highlights her incompatibility/disconnet with Stewart (Jeff). But as she changes throughout the film, her wardrobe also becomes more casual, practical and less ostentatious as the film wears on, until she is finally wearing a smart blouse, jeans and a pair of loafers. The change in her wardrobe reflects changes in her character as well. This is also seen in her serious facial expressions, stiffer body language earlier in the film, even smoking in the earlier scene, and then how joyous she becomes when joining Jeff in the mystery of the missing Mrs. Thorwald. She smiles wide, and Jeff often responds with a grin on his face as he notices and sees the change in Lisa as well.

 

I saw this for the first time a few months ago and enjoyed it. Seems like it would have been a very good movie for its time.

 

So many perfect set pieces in the film, but the one that stays with me above all others is the glow of Thorwald's cigar in his darkened apartment.

For me, North By Northwest is the untouchable. Add in Rear Window, Strangers On A Train, Vertigo and Psycho, and Hitchcock's 1951-1960 must be the strongest 10-year stretch any director ever had.

 

Agreed with Thorwald's glowing cigarette scene. The entire scene is so masterfully done. The death of the dog scene where Thorwald is the only one not reacting to the dog's death is meant to be the most powerful scene in the entire film, lasting only 2.5 minutes.

The scene begins fades in on Jeff, sipping the last of his brandy. Then Lisa exits the bathroom, and walks over to the window, without any cutting. Look at the way Jeff and Lisa are staged here; they are seen in a long shot, with a considerable distance between them.


They then hear a scream, and Lisa opens up the center blind. Notice the nice framing here, as you can see the woman on her balcony.



Up to this point, all of the camera angles have been the ones we are used to. Everything is from Jeff’s apartment, or rather Jeff’s point of view. We see what he sees, as we have for the entire movie. Now, for just one moment, Hitchcock will do something entirely different. He will break with his own “camera logic” and give us a few brief shots that can’t be from Jeff’s point of view. As the dog owner is addressing the courtyard: “Which one of you did it?” we get this long shot. Her heartfelt remarks are coming to a close, as she continues to accuse everyone in the courtyard. “Did you kill him because he liked you?” When we next see Lisa and Jeff, it is a mid-range shot, and they have drawn closer together.


Then, just as we saw everyone react to the scream, now we see them all, in quick cuts, return to their routine. And we are back in familiar territory visually, with every shot from Jeff’s point of view. The party goers disperse at the composers. We then see the newlyweds put their heads in, and close the blind. The couple on the far upper right balcony get another shot. Miss Torso goes inside and closes her door. The sculptress does the same. When we next see Lisa and Jeff, they are even closer together.


Then Jeff tells Lisa that there was only one person in the whole courtyard that didn’t come to the window to look, and we get this wonderful shot, of Thorwald’s cigarette glowing in the dark like a malevolent eye. The scene ends on Lisa and Jeff, and they are yet again even closer, as close as they can be.



So what did Hitchcock accomplish in this mere two and a half minutes of film? He told us that Thorwald is a dog killer, and he told us in a strikingly visual way. He gave us a very emotional scene, in which the dog owner berates everyone for not being good enough neighbors. Why does Hitchcock break his own rule, and give us a few very brief shots that are not from Jeff’s point of view? Because this is the most emotional scene in the film, and those images heighten the emotion. The images are very quick cuts, so the viewer will most likely be too caught up in the story to notice or question Hitchcock’s camera logic. It is powerful and effective filmmaking, and does not break with the concept of montage that he uses throughout. And finally, we see a strengthening of the bond between Jeff and Lisa. At the beginning, there is a gulf between them. This little tragedy, the death of a dog, and the knowledge of its killer and what that may mean, bring them as closer together.

Excerpts taken and more pictures from: Miss Torso – Alfred Hitch-blog

 

Brilliant film, not only one of Hitchcock's best, but also one of the greatest films ever made.

 

You had me from the first gif of Grace.

 

Great movie!
One of my five or six favorite Hitchcock movies.

 

My favourite Hitchcock film and my favourite US film. I'd probably watched it 10-15 times before I finally had the chance to see it on the big screen (I think it may have been to celebrate it's 50th Anniversary) and it wasn't until I saw it in a packed cinema that I realized how funny it was.

Definately one of my favourite 15-20 films.

 

Hitch had already done the Grace/wardrobe changes in Dial M, even more noticeable there.
One of the books I read said that he had filmed a shot of Grace's feet in a pair of heels (cut, obviously) and when someone asked him why, he said 'Haven't you ever heard of a foot fetish?'

 

such a elegant woman, class all the way, where did they go?

 

One of my top 5 as well. I re-watched it in Thailand a while back with a couple of other expat friends who'd never seen it and they both liked it very much. So many great little sub-plots. It's suspenseful, with almost no violence...just superb writing, directing, and acting. Beautiful cinematography. At the end, I love the way the Miss Lonelyhearts story is resolved, and I love Grace Kelley putting away Beyond The High Himalayas and picking up a fashion magazine. I just can't say enough good things about this wonderful film.

 

It doesn't seem that any moment was wasted in this film. So many gems if you think deeper and deeper of how it fits in with the rest of the film. The one scene that I didn't get at first but later thought about it in the entirety of the film is the comic ending Stanley, the returning army boyfriend to the beautiful Miss Torso. Was it just a humorous moment implemented by Hitchock? I had to think back a bit and realized it brought many of the moments throughout the film full circle.



When Jeff insults Lisa (and Miss Torso). Jeff looks at Miss Torso's apartment where she is with 3 well-to-do gentleman, and Jeff says to Lisa "We have a little apartment here probably just as popular as yours. You remember Miss Torso, the ballet dancer. She is like a queen bee with her pick of the drones." Jeff links Lisa to Miss Torso, who he thinks is both promiscuous and superficial. But Lisa responds by countering Jeff - not in the way he expects. Lisa does associate herself and sees herself in Miss Torso's apartment, but she sees a different Miss Torso than Jeff by responding "It looks to me like she is doing a woman's hardest job, juggling wolves." The jab is fantastic - as she comes back with her own "nature metaphor" to Jeff's queen bee remark.



Then Miss Torso walks out on the balcony with a dapper gentleman, leaving 2 other men back in her apartment. Jeff then states "Well it looks like she chose the most prosperous one". But Lisa knows Miss Torso through her woman intuition better than judgmental and ignorant Jeff. Though we see Lisa change dramatically throughout the film, we also see here how much Jeff needs to change. Lisa responds "She [Miss Torso] is not in love with him or any of them!" Jeff asks her how she knows that and Lisa says "You said it resembled my apartment."

Lisa is on point and this back and forth is amazing, which comes full circle by the end of the film. Lisa was right - we the end of the film where Miss Torso greets her returning army boyfriend, a rather ordinary (to put it mildly) and purposefully comically short man (the audience it is explicable). Lisa agrees she is very much like Miss Torso - both are attractive, young, Lisa a model/Miss Torso a dancer. Both are around well-to-do circles with the social elites and desirous men. But because Lisa is so close with Miss Torso (though she doesn't even personally know her), both being surrounding by elegant desirous men ("wolves"), she makes the intuitive remark that they both are in love with ONE man, not men in the fashionable, elegant social circles, who they are both inexplicably loyal. And interestedly, as Lisa identifies herself with Miss Torso, in Lisa's mind, this links Jeff to Stanley. In both cases, the women could choose elegant men, wealthy men (which Stewart repeatedly states how little money he makes to Grace), more attractive men. And I think this one key element of why Hitchock chose Jimmy Stewart for this role instead of Cary Grant. Stewart is not the charming suave Grant, and in Miss Torso's window and this scene, Hitchcock is acknowledging that Stewart is no Grant and doesn't represent the perfect romantic match for Grace.

And this ties in to Miss Lonelyhearts making dinner for a man who literally is not there, while at the same moment, Lisa is making dinner for Jeff, who symbolically was "not there" either. So as Miss Torso literally waits for her man to return home, just as Lisa symbolically waits for Jeff to return to her. Remember the line Lisa says to Jeff when they are arguing by Jeff's window: "Isn't it time you came home, Jeff?" When Stanely finally comes home at the end of the film, so does Jeff. It's amazing how Hitchock ties in all the various stories from each window and each apartment and weaves them into Jeff & Lisa's own reflective characters.



- Excerpts for Fawell's "Hitchock's Rear Window: The Well-Made Film"

 

Seen the then new print uptown nyc December 1983. My personal AH favorite film (have poster )

 

Not my favorite Hitchcock film, but probably his best. In my opinion he was at at his apex with his creativity in Rear Window. I've seen this movie around 20 times, and it seems I discover something new with every viewing.

 

Going to rewatch Dial M for Murder tonight for a comparison. It's been a while (about a year) since I last watched it, and I pick up more of the nuances with each watch. Thanks for the tip! I've been on a Grace Kelly binge watch lately. Dial M For Murder tonight, Country Girl tomorrow night

 

I too had the chance to see it on the big screen back in the early 80s ( the only classic Hitchcock film I 've seen that way ) and it was great. Packed full of fans , applause at the end. A fun night at the movies.

 

' Vertigo ' is oft-mentioned as the best Hitchcock film. But isn' t ' Rear Window ' truly better?
Me , my favourite of his is 'Lifeboat ' but that's me...

 

I definitely see the genius of Vertigo, but was not as enjoyable to me as some of Hitchcock's other films. I respect Vertigo and can see why it is so high on people's lists, but I think Rear Window has the same genius and scriptwriting, but also has the enjoying/entertainment factor that I can rewatch over and over again. There is similar tension/suspense but with more light-hearted moments and humor as well. I have Rear Window as my #1 Hitch movie. I think most have Rear Window, Vertigo, and North by Northwest in various orders on people's lists, but we all have personal tastes. I don't put that much stock in those "all-time greatest movie lists." I'm also biased toward anything with Grace Kelly, so my view isn't very objective

 

Any time!

 

I don't want to be negative in an appreciation thread, but I will just say that if a film came out nowadays that wrapped up the ending with the murderer being slowed by a guy in a wheelchair blinding with him with camera flashbulbs, it would probably not get a good reception. I enjoyed the movie, but the ending fell very flat for me.

 

You had to have been there at the time.