Movie Review: Rear Window (1954)

Rear Window is one of Alfred Hitchcock’s best films. It’s all set in one location, and has a very small cast of characters, and it’s as compelling as can be. The movie’s script lets you know all the main characters really well, and you root for them.

This movie’s very funny. I think people who aren’t too familiar with Alfred Hitchcock never realize how much dark humor is in his movies, but this has some of my favorite, usually brought on by the nurse, Stella (Thelma Ritter, All About Eve).

The big weak point of this movie is its climax. It’s not realistic, and it’s not particularly exciting. But plenty of other moments in this movie certainly are.

The movie of course revolves around a wheelchair-bound photographer, L.B. Jeffries (James Stewart, Vertigo, It’s a Wonderful Life), who thinks one of his neighbors across a courtyard — Lars Thorwald (Raymond Burr, TV’s Perry Mason) — has killed his wife.

Throughout the movie, there’s some drama between Jeffries and his girlfriend, Lisa Carol Fremont (Grace Kelly, High Noon). Initially, the drama is because she’s a high society type woman — a model — and he’s more of an old fashioned guy. But eventually the conflict becomes whether or not Jeffries is losing his mind. It’s all done really well, and the script never makes the love interest feel like anything but a pivotal character, which is greatly appreciated.

The best scene of the movie is when Jeffries has Lisa sneak into Thorwald’s apartment. It’s still shot from the perspective of Jeffries’s apartment, so everything is distant, and unable to be heard, but this just makes it more tense.

As always with Hitchcock, this is an absolute masterclass in building tension and suspense, and is a very entertaining movie overall.

Rating: 10/10