Rear Window (1954) Appreciation Thread

On the set of Rear Window

 

Loving this thread!

 

Continued...

 

On set continued... I want to know what Grace is writing on the cast! Great photo!

 

What happened to Grace Kelly? I heard an automobile accident but that it was possibly caused by a physical fight with her sister while driving?

 

Continued... LOL

 

Some of us have commented on the back stories taking place among Jeff's neighbors. To me they comprise much of the richness of this film. Think how different and how much smaller it would be without Miss Torso, Miss Lonleyhearts, The Composer, etc. Those stories and scenes add so much humanity. Did other Hitchcock films do that?

It's interesting to consider the levels of voyeurism in this film. Jeff and company are spying on the whole building, looking at very personal parts of people's lives. We the audience are voyeurs watching Jeff, Lisa, Stella, and all the other residents. The film seems to be slyly saying "Don't be too quick to judge Jeff and Lisa for peeking at intimate moments of other people's lives. You do the same thing every time you watch a movie. This is human nature."

 

It's interesting that the only time Jeff/Lisa close the blinds - they end up missing the strangling of the dog, which turns out to the most emotional part of the film, and then the camera shifts away from Jeff's lens to how the neighbors see each other. Agree 100% about the neighbors adding to the richness of the film. Still wondering about why the couple were sleeping outside on the balcony fire escape.... lol Hitchock once stated the courtyard "shows every kind of human behavior - a real index of individual behavior...what you see across the way is a little group of stories that, as you say, mirror a small universe."

I think a lot of the voyeurism is also to demonstrate how off base Jeff's preconceived notions are about the people he sees and judges. He puts people into preconceived categories, including his own girlfriend. But the one that he can't fit into any category is the salesman, Thorwald.

As one reviewer noted, "Jeff's job has programmed him to analyze other human beings in the most practical way possible, and this applies to his opinions about his neighbors and his girlfriend. Before we even meet Lisa, Jeff has set her up in a negative light; he tells Stella that Lisa is too perfect. The audience, therefore, also has a preconceived notion about her before she even arrives onscreen - the Park Avenue friends, the expensive clothes, and the glamorous appointments that make up her life. These expectations are satisfied when Lisa makes her grand entrance, wearing a $1,100 dress and bearing an elegant lobster dinner. To this end, Hitchcock puts a great deal of thought into designing Grace Kelly's "look" for this role. He told costume designer Edith Head that Lisa's character should evoke "a piece of Dresden China, something slightly untouchable" . Critic Donald Spoto points out that in the beginning of the film Jeff regards Lisa as "merely something to be watched but not touched - just as he watches his neighbors." This is how Hitchcock sets up the arc of Lisa's character. She must spend the whole film proving to both Jeff - and the audience - that she is deeper than a piece of expensive dishware; there is a lot more underneath the surface.

In his conversations with Lisa and Stella, Jeff also reveals how he has slotted all of his neighbors into categories, just as he has prematurely judged Lisa. He refuses to change his first impression of people. Ironically, Jeff's life has certain obvious similarities to the unhappy women he is judging - Lisa, Miss Lonelyhearts, and Miss Torso. All four of these characters are alone, but Jeff is the only one who cannot see his own loneliness."

Rear Window Late Night Rainstorm - Taking Away the Trunk Summary and Analysis | GradeSaver

 

Allegedly, Grace Kelly had a stroke while driving her car back to her home in Monaco in 1982 with her daughter in the car. The daughter tried to get control of the car, but it went off a cliff and Grace was killed and the daughter was injured. There's often been a question as to whether the daughter had been driving, but nobody really knows for sure. Kelly was only 52 when she died. I think she was the best actress Hitchcock ever worked with, and she was great in every one of the films they did together.

 

Number 2 on Hitchcock.

Number 1 is North by Northwest.

 

Grace Kelly?

To Catch A Thief (1955).

 

Alfred Hitchcock.

My top three films of his would be.

Rear Window
Psycho
To Catch A Thief

 

Christopher Reeve did a remake in 1998.

 

Uncle of mine who was in the army said she had a nickname in the fifties.

 

Guess you could say that for Star Wars (1977).

 

My Top 5 would be

1. Rear Window
2. North By Northwest
3. To Catch A Thief
4. The Birds
5. Psycho

 

Very hard for me to narrow it down to just five: Hitchcock did 50 films in his career, and a dozen of them are brilliant, iconic, and very influential. Vertigo would always be very, very high on any list of mine: that's an incredible film that holds up well after many viewings. I even like some of his lesser films like Spellbound, Shadow of a Doubt, and Saboteur.

If I had to narrow it down to just five...

1. Psycho
2. Vertigo
3. Rear Window
4. North by Northwest
5. Shadow of a Doubt.

In truth I'd say he did a dozen truly great films, some that were just OK, maybe a dozen that were not very good, and only a handful that were terrible. Even the bad films have brilliant moments: I find a lot of The Birds and Man Who Knew Too Much to be tedious, but man, when things heat up, those films are riveting.

 

Fantastic movie, an all-time classic. The only part that I find hard to accept is that Jeff is so reluctant about getting serious with Lisa. Any man in real life would give his left nut to be with a woman like Grace Kelly!

 

One Hitchcock film that doesn't get a lot of love or attention is THE WRONG MAN, and pardon me for inserting it into a REAR WINDOW thread. It's almost quintessential Hitch with his morbid fear of authorities like the police. Many of his films use that "wrong man" theme where outside forces conspire against an innocent everyman.

THE WRONG MAN doesn't engender a lot of discussion. I suspect there might be a number of otherwise fans who are not even aware of the movie. There was a time back in the 90s when I was still unaware of it. Then somehow I stumbled on the fact that there was a 50s Hitchcock movie with Henry Fonda that I'd never heard of. Most of the 50s Hitchcock movies are among my favorites, so it became imperative that I find it. I remember calling Borders Books And Music to find out if they had a Laserdisc - my preferred movie format of the day - and they did. When I finally saw the film, I was happy to have discovered another Hitchcock movie with many of the familiar Hitchcock tropes: a wronged man in Henry Fonda, a "Hitchcock blonde" in Vera Miles, a Bernard Herrman score, and familiar faces like Doreen Lang. She later played Cary Grant's secretary in NxNW, and the woman in the diner in THE BIRDS. In this one, she has an unforgettable "fearful" face.

The things that make it a little different are the fact that it's based on a true story, without a lot of chase scenes, or special effects, it's just a straightforward tale, told with terrifying realism. Hitchcock also forgoes his usual coy appearance and puts himself in an introduction to the narrative he's telling.

Back to the thread subject, I recall visiting Universal Studios theme park in Orlando when it was first built. It was very different in those early days and there was a Hitchcock attraction. First they filtered the audience into a theater for a sample scene from DIAL 'M' FOR MURDER in 3D. Then there was a demonstration room explaining some of Hitch's special effects, like the spiral stairway in VERTIGO - and I recall a small mock-up of the courtyard from REAR WINDOW. I wish exhibits still existed like this instead of more monster roller-coasters, but then I'm an old fart now.

 

Many other things too.

 

I said earlier that ' Rear Window ' was the only Hitchcock film I had seen in the big screen. I lied. I had forgotten I saw ' Frenzy ' when it was released. Another Hitchcock favourite ---violent and funny. The potato truck scene is great.

 

Barry Foster said that the film had some of the best and worst times he ever had. The rape and murder took two weeks and it was just hell. The potato truck took at least a week and he and the woman in the sack just constantly cracked each other up.

 

I always get a kick out of seeing the great Ross Bagdasarian cast as the 'tortured composer' neighbor.
The first time my wife and I watched the film together I pointed him out and remarked: "Hey...that
guy was 'The Chipmunks'!"