Through his rear window and the eye of his powerful camera
a photo jounalist watches a great city tell on itself, expose
its cheating ways and Murder!
The movie is about voyeurism and to a lesser degree about
love between two apparently different people.
Rear Window is a 1954 film directed by Alfred Hitchcock, based on
Cornell Woolrich's 1942 short story It Had to Be Murder. It stars
James Stewart as photojournalist L. B. Jefferies, Grace Kelly as
his fashion model girlfriend Lisa Carol Fremont, and Raymond Burr
as the suspected killer, Lars Thorwald.
The film is considered by many film goers to be one of Hitchcock's
best and most thrilling pictures.
L. B. "Jeff" Jefferies is a professional photographer who has been
confined to his Greenwich Village apartment after an accident has
left him with his leg in a cast,he takes to spying on his neighbors
through the rear window. His view of the back of several apartment
buildings, their inner courtyard, and the persons dwelling within.
Jeff comes to believe a murder has taken place in the building across
the courtyard, though his friends, his nurse Stella (Thelma Ritter),
and his girlfriend, Lisa Carol Fremont (Grace Kelly) initially think
his beliefs are imagined, and put them down to his idle behavior.
Thorwald and his wife are a reversal of Jeff and Lisa. Thorwald looks
after his invalid wife just as Lisa looks after the invalid Jeff.
They were actually a newlywed couple who rarely leave their bedroom.
But this developes into trouble for their marriage and Thorwald and his
wife begin to argue.The constant nagging of the wife sets the
stage for murder.
The character of Lars Thorwald is not seen in close-up and cannot
be heard speaking clearly until the climax of the movie.
At this point, he appears in Jeff's room. This scene features a
sequence shown from Thorwald's point of view as he attempts to proceed
towards Jeff, but is repeatedly stopped as Jeff blinds him with
the flash from his camera. But Lars does suceeds in pushing Jeff out
of the window just as the police arrieve and arrest Lars for the murder
of his wife.
Jeff survives and the film ends with the planning of his future with
Liza.
This movie has been deemed "culturally significant" by the United
States Library of Congress and selected for preservation in the
National Film Registry.The film received four Academy Award nominations.
[1]Best Director for Alfred Hitchcock,[2] Best Screenplay for John Michael
Hayes,[3]Best Cinematography, Color for Robert Burks,[4] Best Sound Recording
for Loren L. Ryder, Paramount Pictures.