Pajiba

Yes, love, love, love this movie. So hard to have chosen just one of the Hitchcock films to review here, eh?

I adore Rear Window (though I do have to say that it isn't quite on par with the mind-numbing perfection of Vertigo...). It was probably one of the few Hitchcock films that I watched a second time just to get all of the subtext.

Stewart's performance in Rear Window (along w/ Vertigo and the Anthony Mann Westerns) is what marks him as perhaps our finest, most daring actor. What present-day star, especially one whose persona was built on being "the nice guy" or "the average Joe" would take not one, but two roles where the character is not just flawed, but an outright bastard? Denzel in Training Day is the closest analog.

Hitchcock movies are some of my favorites. The deep, dark recesses of the human mind and the slow, but inevitable, descent to those depths made all other "thriller" movies feel like cheap carnival sideshows. There has yet to be another director willing to be patient enough to scare the bejeebers out of an audience by making them think themselves into fear. Thanks for reminding me of a movie worthy of curling up and spying (erm, watching) again. In fact, there may be a "Hitchcock Festival" in the works at my house!

Thelma Ritter is an asset to every movie she's in, good or bad and she rocks in this one. I love Thelma Ritter.

I will undoubtedly get booed for this--but I've always thought that Tom Hanks was the closest we have to a modern day James Stewart. Alternately funny and sincere and a very wide range of movie roles.

Rear window is my favorite Hitchcock movie. I think it's the most enjoyable to watch.

This is by far my favorite Hitchcock. I was hoping this review was coming soon.

One of part of the movie that always makes me giggle is when Jeff, Lisa and Doyle are all hanging around and warming their brandy throughout the entire scene. It cracks me up everytime. The visual of the three of them swirling and swirling and swirling for some reason just strikes me as funny. Am I the only one who thinks this or have I watched this film one too many times?

I love Rear Window. My other favorite is Rope, but I'll happily any/all the Hitchcock movies.

Not only did he direct over 50 flawless features

I sure hope you're not including Frenzy in that. Eeeesh. What a tawdry little movie.

Rear Window is my second favorite Hitchcock. First is The Trouble with Harry. When I was child I was fascinated with the universe beyond Jeff's window. I wanted to live in a neighborhood just like this, with a cozy little commons behind all the buildings. All the details in this movie are perfection--from the honeymooners in the adjoining apartment house going from horny to irritated in sixty seconds flat to the vigorous massage Thelma Ritter gives Jimmy Stewart.

(I mean, Jesus, it's Grace Kelly! Has he seen her outfits?!)

HAHAHA! I wanted every one of Grace Kelly's outfits when I first saw the movie, and I still do.

I actually saw this on a BIG, big screen, right after they had restored it and rereleased it in the theaters. That must have been in the 1980's or early 90's, I think. Anyway, it's really good on a big screen, as you can see into the apartments across the way much better.

Thelma Ritter could have played my grandmother if they ever made a movie of Nana's life. Love Thelma Ritter!

I also loved the really intense colors in this movie. Oversaturated. The blue eyes of the police detective. The red residual after the flash bulbs go off. And when the dog dies, Raymond Burr sitting in the dark with only the glowing end of his cigar giving him away.

HAHAHA! I wanted every one of Grace Kelly's outfits when I first saw the movie, and I still do.

They make me swoon.
I'll admit that I watch classic movies as much for the story as I do for the clothes.

Bweaves: I've never seen the movie, but I always assumed it was in black-and-white, not color? Is this my misperception or did you see one of those updated color versions? I hate those, by the way! I hope it's in black-and-white. I've always wanted to see it and always anticipated a b&w flick, which I have to be in a certain mood for. Let me know!

Thank you so much for this review! It's been said a couple of times already but it's absolutely my favorite Hitchcock movie. I just love it, it's perfect.

Nope tophat, Rear Window is indeed a color film. And not colorized B&W.

Re: The brandy swirling, it always makes me laugh, too. I'm like "Just drink it already!" and when Doyle does, he spills it all over his lapels. Hee.

Oh Andrew, I agree with you one hundred and ten percent... Thelma Ritter worked every single role I've seen her in, she even made me cry during Pick Up on South Street.

I was the only girl (who had heard of Thelma) in my highschool who wanted to be like Thelma Ritter... I mean, was she a huge star? No, but she did get recognized and got to work with some of the finest actors of her time (Grace Kelly, Jimmy Stewart, Bette Davis, Anne Baxter, etc., etc.).

I adore this movie. I understand why people say Vertigo is the "better" film, but for me, it's this one, by a mile. Thelma Ritter is one reason, Grace Kelly is another. Oh my, oh my -- my first and most sustained straight-girl crush was and is on Grace Kelly as Lisa Fremont.

And James Stewart is just amazing, doing almost the entire performance from a wheelchair. His panicked whispering into the phone, his reactions when Lisa is...well, you know if you've seen it, and even the gurgling struggle near the end.

Most of all, there's the pantomime -- Miss LonelyHearts, in particular, but also the couple with the dog, the dancer, and the pianist. I've never seen anything else like it.

Rear Window is arguably the best screenplay ever written.
Classic, flawlessly executed narrative construction. Every scrap of dialougue, every little subplot, all the themes of marriage and relatiohships that the neighbours' stories reflect, every characterization is perfectly formed. Brilliant!

And about Jimmy Stewart's refusal of Grace Kelly: If you can get over the fact that it's GRACE KELLY (but would you really want to?) you can see that a globe-trotting photographer would think a woman like her is more trouble than she's worth. That a marriage to her would be like that cast never coming off his leg. It's only when she demonstrates her bravery and intelligence toward the end, that Jimmy Stewart sees her true character-- but remember when she switches the magazines at the end? She may get the last laugh after all.

Thelma Ritter was awesome. ANyone remember her as the cleaning lady for Doris Day's character in, gosh, what was that movie with Rock Hudson...

anyway. She was a comedic genius.

I really like Rear Window, but I loved Grace Kelly in To Catch A Thief with Cary Grant. The chemistry between those two... hot damn!!

Tophat: Yes, this is indeed in Flaming Technicolor! I have an old newspaper that advertised Technicolor movies as "Flaming" and I think it's hilarious. But the color in this movie is really oversaturated. This movie had to be in color, just like Psycho had to be in B&W (to not show the blood).

When the dog is killed, everyone runs out of their apartment or leans out their window to look, except for Raymond Burr who sits in the dark inside his apartment, only given away by the red glow of his cigar.

And at the end, when Raymond Burr comes to attack Jimmy Stewart, Stewart uses his flashbulbs to temporarily blind Burr, and Hitchcook makes the screen do what happens in your eye when your retina is flashed. Very cool effect of the white flash, then the red glow disappearing as your eyes come back into focus.

Although Vertigo is my favorite Hitchcock movie (and I, also, have a lot of love for Rope), Rear Window is great. As I mentioned on the Classic Freebies page, that first shot of Kelly, leaning in to kiss Stewart, made a huge impression on me. She is just so incredibly beautiful.

But honestly, my favorite part of this movie is Burr's line: "What do you want? Money? I haven't got any money." We realize in that moment that he's not some criminal mastermind that only our hero can see through; he's just a sort of pathetic guy who did something very bad and stupid. Not that we should feel sorry for him, but the way that single sentence, "I haven't got any money," transforms him in the audience's eyes is masterful.

LOVE this movie it's my favorite hitchcock. please continue reviewing the classics!

LOVE this movie it's my favorite hitchcock. please continue reviewing the classics!

I'd just like to thank you folks for "Classics Week." It was a fantabulous idea.

I think you should do this twice a year...I'd read more if you provided more; but I think twice a year (isn't February another traditional Hollywood-doldrums month? You could do Feb. and Aug.) would be marvelous.

It'll be a long time before you run out of material to review.

It doesn't get much better than Jimmy Stewart and Grace Kelly in the same movie.

The only movie that can top this, imho, is The Philadelphia Story.

My, she was yar.

Hey is that a Talented Mr. Ripley reference in the title?

But of course. A la Phillip Seymour Hoffman.

I was late to Hitchcock, having never seen a single one until my early 30s. But one night, instead of British comedies, my local PBS station was showing Rear Window, and instead of saying "what is this shit?" me and my family were sucked in from the first second.

We didn't have TiVo so we couldn't pause. And it was PBS so there weren't commercials. You would think it was the first time it was broadcast, because we all risked UTIs holding it until the credits rolled. We were glued to the couch, mouths ajar.

What a masterpiece this film is. Nothing can touch it. We went on to devour everything else Hitchcock did, in a phase we now affectionately call "Our Al Period." We discovered many more gems, but none can ever touch Rear Window.

Oh as for Kelly's dresses, remember the first one she appears in? It's got a black bodice, I believe, fitted and strapless. She wears a gauzy white wrap and white short gloves. The skirt is white, but has black little stripes that don't go all the way down. A ballerina skirt. Two inch pumps. A little black clutch. Pearls.

When my then 10 year old daughter saw this film and Kelly first walked in that scene, her eyes got huge and she whispered, "Momma, why don't women still dress like THAT?"

Amen, child. She was stunning.

This may come in too late, but NOBODY mentioned that the "piano player" was Ross Bagdasarian, AKA David Seville of "Alvin & the Chipmunks".
You will see his real name in the credits.

I hope it's OK to post links here - I read this a few weeks ago in my local paper and it blew my mind. It spells out a theory that Jimmy Stewart's character in Rear Window was actually asleep and that the entire sequence of events in the movie is nothing more than a dream. I thought you might find it interesting. It definitely made me want to go back and view the movie again. If I can ever get my three-year-old to relinquish control of the DVD player, I will do that.

http://www.bwcitypaper.com/1editorialbody.lasso?-token.folder=2007-08-09&-token.story=199715.112112&-token.subpub=

KC - the dream sequence is an intriguing theory, but at the beginning, Jeff only has one broken leg and in the closing shot, both are in casts.

A wonderful film. In my opinion, the best place to see it is in an old, un-airconditioned theatre during a heat wave.

Faaabulous Grace Kelly. So beautiful, with clothes designed just for her. When will the modern stars realize that they are here not to follow fashion, but to make it?

Hitchcock's best film, though, was Shadow of a Doubt (don't think so? Have you seen it?)

But there were so many other greats: Notorious, The Lady Vanishes, The 39 Steps, Vertigo, Suspicion, and so on. And I am a Frenzy defender. It is amazing, and well before its time.

Why is Hitchcock called a misogynist? This is a bad world, where bad things happen to women. But most of Hitchcock's female characters are stronger and smarter than the men in their lives.

One of my favorites. I had the sense while watching "Rear Window", that it could have been made yesterday. It is absolutely a timeless masterpiece.

Kathy, your daughter is one after my own heart! I watch a lot of of old movies and think the very same thing. I personally love the pale green outfit GK wears with the white halter-style top and again, the pearls. She was Perfection Salad! My love for "Rear Window" knows no bounds. I watched it first when I was 15 years old and I fell in love with Jimmy Stewart. Then I watched "Rope" and my love just increased tenfold. I find it interesting that several people on this thread list the two together. Awesome. Classics week rules. And, nice "Ripley" line... didn't realize "How's the peepin", Tommy?" had become a catch-phrase with anyone but me.

Oh, this movie is one of the best ever. The brandy swirling, the way Kelly spreads out her skirts when she sits down, the way she says "handbag" instead of purse or pocketbook and "corridor" instead of hallway, the way she unpacks her tiny bag to demonstrate that she has every intention of spending the night--and the way Jimmy Stewart's character is unfazed by only the most beautiful, elegant woman in the whole world--not to mention "Miss Lonelyhearts" and the couple sleeping on the first escape--Oh I love this movie. There is absolutely, positively not one thing wrong with it.