REAR WINDOW (1954)

“I enjoy playing the audience like a piano” - Alfred Hitchcock

Today is the 70th anniversary of the wide release of Alfred Hitchcock’s REAR WINDOW (1954). Based on the short story ‘It Had to Be Murder’ by Cornell Woolrich, this mystery-thriller stars James Stewart as L.B. “Jeff” Jefferies, a photographer confined to his apartment with a broken leg. Jefferies passes the time by observing his neighbours, becoming obsessed when he suspects one of them of murder.

Just as one can read into the meaning behind Hitchcock’s cameo—winding the clock in the apartment for the piano player—we feel Hitchcock’s guiding hand as he masterfully times and ties the film elements together like a conductor of cinematic concerto. We are played like a piano, complicit voyeurs in the confined space of Jefferies’ apartment.

As we watch the neighbours through the square frames of apartment windows, we become participants in an allegory for the cinematic experience—vicariously watching the lives of others unfold from a distance. The binoculars become our lens, making Jefferies our surrogate filmmaker framing the story of the courtyard as it unfolds.

Through this meta-construction, REAR WINDOW makes us actively negotiate Hitchcock’s thematic exploration of human curiosity, the limitations of perspective and the ethics of surveillance. We are confronted by the moral ambiguity of voyeurism. We are seduced by the incredible set (where the film was shot in it’s entirety), the use of diegetic sound (hearing only what the characters would hear) and the thoughtful work of cinematographer Robert Burks, employing a range of visual techniques to keep the us engaged without relying on exposition.

Designed by art director Joseph MacMillan Johnson, Hitchcock personally supervised 50 set-builders in the construction of what would be at the time the largest indoor set built at Paramount. Consisting of multi-story buildings, 31 apartments, twelve were completely furnished with running water and electricity. Each apartment was lit separately, while the entire set had lighting presets to simulate various times of day and weather (including a drainage system to allow the simulation of rain). The set also included the Manhattan skyline, trees, gardens, fire escapes, smoking chimneys, and an alley leading to a street complete with a bar, pedestrians, and moving traffic. The main floor of the sound stage was ripped out to accommodate a multilevel courtyard 70 feet long. The complex and detailed set created a significantly realistic and defined setting.

Meanwhile the walls of Jefferies’ apartment were wild, and had the ability to be moved to accommodate various angles where one of two main cameras were located. A second camera with a telephoto lens was mounted on a crane to capture the small details through the windows across the courtyard simulating Jefferies’ perspective.

To synchronize the actions within the apartments, Hitchcock gave directions through earpieces to the actors. This included the man and woman on the fire escape struggling to get out of the rain. Unaware that they had received conflicting directions, the couple began to fight and struggle to get the mattress inside, providing humor and a sense of authenticity.

Every character observed by Jefferies is reflective of various stages of relationships, mirroring his conflicting desires about his relationship with Lisa (Grace Kelly). The fear that domesticated life is too stifling is perhaps what gives him pause. He suggests at one point that Lisa is too perfect as he is drawn towards the going-ons through his window. Nurse Stella (Thelma Ritter) warns Jefferies the troubles that may come with his new pastime. In addition to her health checks, she imparts wisdom with comedic fashion with some of the most memorable quips in John Michael Hayes’s Oscar nominated script. “Nothing has caused the human race as much trouble as intelligence.” As well as the sharply delivered, “We’ve become a race of Peeping Toms. What people ought to do is get outside their own house and look in for a change.”

However, it is Lisa who is the one who goes outside, and becomes integral to the solving of the mystery. In doing so, she shows to Jeff that their lives together will be every bit of exciting as his photojournalist assignments. Lisa’s quick banter and radiant, charming demeanour helps ground the film, delivered by Grace Kelly at the height of her career. That year she received National Board of Review and New York Film Critics Circle accolades for her work as Lisa and her other films DIAL M FOR MURDER (1954) and THE COUNTRY GIRL (1954), which the latter earned her a Golden Globe and an Oscar.

Nominated for four Academy Awards—script, cinematography, sound, direction—REAR WINDOW appears often in critical film lists, including ranking 48 in AFI’s Greatest Films of All Time and third best Mystery Movie.

This Must See Movie is the 52nd highest rated film on IMDb and is available through Criterion as well as available to rent through most online rental services.