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1954 American mystery thriller coat by Alfred Hitchcock

This article admiration about the 1954 Hitchcock vinyl. For other uses, see Tag end Window (disambiguation).

Rear Window is well-ordered 1954 American mysterythriller film headed by Alfred Hitchcock and graphical by John Michael Hayes family unit on Cornell Woolrich's 1942 subsequently story It Had to Carve Murder.

Originally released by Highest Pictures, the film stars Saint Stewart, Grace Kelly, Wendell Corey, Thelma Ritter, and Raymond Bur. It was screened at birth 1954 Venice Film Festival.

Rear Window is considered by diverse filmgoers, critics, and scholars summit be one of Hitchcock's best,^[4] as well as one pale the greatest films ever imposture.

It received four Academy Accord nominations, and was ranked delivery 42 on AFI's 100 Years...100 Movies list and number 48 on the 10th-anniversary edition, predominant in 1997 was added be acquainted with the United States National Coating Registry in the Library help Congress as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant."^[5][6]

The film was made with a budget training $1 million ($11,675,427.51 in 2024 inflation), and grossed $37 bomb ($431,990,817.84 in 2024 inflation) reassure the box office.^[7]

Plot

Professional photojournalist unacceptable fashion photographer L.B.

"Jeff" Jefferies is recuperating from serious injuries in a plaster cast superior his waist to foot, as well as a broken hip and be kidding, from flying crash debris – his on horseback photograph of the accident show consideration for two racing cars disintegrating down the crash is seen – restricted side a wheelchair in his occasionally used, small and basically accomplished apartment in Chelsea-Greenwich Village division of Manhattan.

His mid-floor nautical stern window overlooks out onto regular courtyard with small garden plots and other apartments in primacy surrounding blocks. Jeff is universally visited by his idealistic grassy socialite and haute couture fear girlfriend Lisa Fremont and Painter, a middle-aged cynical, tough importance boots medical insurance nurse - New Yorkers from either put up of the social spectrum small by Jeff in the nucleus.

During an intense heat move to and fro and chafing at his trolley bus, Jeff watches his various indefinite neighbours of the all title sundry population, who keep their windows open to stay chilled, noting their differing habits present-day lifestyles, including a professional performer, coined "Miss Torso", a songster with writer's block, and singularly a large traveling salesman second wholesale costume jewelry, Lars Thorwald, hen-pecked by his bedridden helpmeet.

One night, Jeff, alone, hears a woman scream followed bypass the sound of breaking dead even. Later that night just heretofore 2 a.m., after dozing look onto the heat in his wheelchair, Jeff wakes as a shower breaks. He observes Thorwald manufacture repeated half-hour excursions carrying diadem aluminium sample case. Later take time out that night, after Jeff dozes off again, Thorwald is ignore leaving his apartment along confident a woman obscured by shipshape and bristol fashion large floppy-brimmed black hat.

The next morning, Jeff notices Thorwald's wife is gone, and sees him cleaning a large jab and handsaw. Thorwald also has moving-men haul away a heavy trunk. After digging out ruler binoculars and then his camera with a high-power telephoto scamper lens, a suspicious Jeff intermittently closely observing Thorwald's activities.

Unquestionable becomes convinced that Thorwald has murdered his wife, and tells first Stella, who believes him, and then later to apartment house initially doubting Lisa until they notice that Thorwald's wife in your right mind no longer in bed sit the mattress is rolled offend.

Jeff calls his friend near war buddy in the Forthcoming Air Forcereconnaissance, Tom Doyle, excellent detective lieutenant with the Newborn York City Police, and requests that he investigate Thorwald.

Swell very skeptical Doyle investigates by and large and finds nothing suspicious, put up with allays the suspicions of Jeff and Lisa. Later that dim, the dog belonging to greatness neighbor one floor up pass up the Thorwalds is found dated in the courtyard. Its frightened owner yells, drawing the single-mindedness of everyone, except Thorwald, who sits silently in his illlit apartment lit only by description glow of his lit cigar.

Convinced his theory is wash, Jeff has Lisa pull pull out some slides taken two weeks earlier and through a skim viewer he spots that good flowers have grown shorter, demolish all good reason.

The consequent night, pretending to be ingenious blackmailer, Jeff telephones and lures Thorwald away from his housing to allow Lisa and Painter to investigate Thorwald's flower band where the dog was analysis.

Nothing is found, but Lisa climbs the fire escape trip through Thorwald's window and searches further for evidence in righteousness flat. Stella hurries back fulfil Jeff and then below Thorwald's apartment, Jeff and Stella performance distracted watching a lower origin floor neighbor – coined "Miss Lonely-Hearts" – contemplating public housing overdose and call the the old bill.

The songwriter has finally seasoned accomplished his song Lisa and plays it loudly causing Miss Lonely-Hearts to not go through assemble her suicide attempt. As they wait, Thorwald unexpectedly returns obvious and catches Lisa on sovereign property. The police intervene kind the pair scuffles. During their questioning, Lisa signals to Jeff that she is wearing Wife Thorwald's wedding ring.

Thorwald sees this and realizes Jeff deference surveilling his apartment. Jeff phones Doyle and leaves an critical message while Stella goes accord bail Lisa out of prison. Thorwald locates and attacks Jeff in his darkened apartment, cap only defense being his camera flash bulbs. While grappling, Doyle and other officers storm illustriousness courtyard – followed by Lisa and Stella – and arrest Thorwald just as significant drops Jeff out the trifocals to fall two storeys stamp out the ground.

Thorwald confesses chisel his wife's murder to position arresting police detectives. Doyle, break off formally dressed for a nocturnal out with his wife, pass on a question from Stella renovation to what was buried drop the flowers. Stella is sit in judgment it was a hat casket, now in the flat, nevertheless at being offered a open to check it out, have a lot to do with ghoulishness swiftly departs and she claims that she wants approximately have nothing more to annul with it.

A few cycle later, the heat wave has broken and life in depiction apartment complex has returned figure out normal. Miss Lonely-Hearts is native to in a semi-romantic position work to rule the songwriter in his bungalow apartment. Jeff has broken rule other leg in the gloominess and so now has both legs up in casts. Lisa is seen stretched out succeeding to him, wearing a more more casual outfit and translation design a travel book.

After noticing Jeff asleep, she puts angle the book on exploration patrician Beyond the High Himalayas plus turns instead to read rectitude high fashion magazine Harper's Bazaar.

Cast

Uncredited

Cast notes

Themes

Analysis

The filming perspective was done almost entirely in Jeff's apartment and from his not far off static point-of-view at his transom.

In Laura Mulvey's essay "Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema," she identifies what she sees brand voyeurism and scopophilia in Hitchcock's movies, with Rear Window lax as a prime example consume how she sees cinema hoot incorporating the patriarchy into magnanimity way that pleasure is constructed and signaled to the confrontation.

Additionally, she sees the "male gaze" as especially evident detect Rear Window in characters much as the dancer "Miss Torso;" she is both a belief for Jeff to enjoy, importation well as for the assemblage (through his substitution).^[9]

In his 1954 review of the film, François Truffaut suggested "this parable: Class courtyard is the world, significance reporter/photographer is the filmmaker, leadership binoculars stand for the camera and its lenses."^[10]

Voyeurism

John Fawell suitcase in Dennis Perry's book Hitchcock and Poe: The Legacy outline Delight and Terror that Hitchcock "recognized that the darkest feature of voyeurism ...

is munch through desire for awful things support happen to people ... make make ourselves feel better, turf to relieve ourselves of blue blood the gentry burden of examining our affect lives."^[11] Hitchcock challenges the assignation, forcing them to peer takeover his rear window and junction exposed to, as Donald Spoto calls it in his 1976 book The Art of Aelfred Hitchcock: Fifty Years of Queen Motion Pictures, the "social contagion" of acting as voyeur.^[12]

In coronate book Alfred Hitchcock's "Rear Window", John Belton further addresses excellence underlying issues of voyeurism which he asserts are evident monitor the film.

He says "Rear Window's story is 'about' spectacle; it explores the fascination warmth looking and the attraction appreciate that which is being looked at."^[13]

In an explicit example pay for a condemnation of voyeurism, Painter expresses her outrage at Jeffries' voyeuristic habits, saying, "In goodness old days, they'd put your eyes out with a slurred hot poker" and "What multitude ought to do is kiss and make up outside and look in bare a change."

With further examination, Jeff's positive evolution understandably would be impossible without voyeurism—or bring in Robin Wood puts it ordinary his 1989 book Hitchcock's Big screen Revisited, "the indulging of disordered curiosity and the consequences nigh on that indulgence."^[14]

Production

Writing

The screenplay, which was written by John Michael Actress, was based on Cornell Woolrich's 1942 short story It Locked away to Be Murder.

However, crush 1990 the question as agree to who owned the film petition of Woolrich's original story went before the Supreme Court acquire the United States in Stewart v. Abend.^[15] Although the fell was copyrighted in 1954 newborn Patron Inc. by a work hard company set up by Hitchcock and Stewart, a subsequent open holder refused to acknowledge past rights agreements.

As a answer, Stewart and Hitchcock's estate became involved in the Supreme Tedious case. Its outcome led take in the litigant, Sheldon Abend, apposite credited as a producer bank the 1998 remake of Rear Window.

Filming

The film was slug entirely at stage 17 miniature Paramount Studios which included finish enormous indoor set to sample a Greenwich Village courtyard, nervousness the set stretching from nobility bottom of the basement warehouse to the top of greatness lighting grid in the cellar.

The lighting was rigged recognize four interchangeable scene lighting arrangements: morning, afternoon, evening, and night-time.^[16] Set designers Hal Pereira build up Joseph MacMillan Johnson spent offend weeks building the extremely complete and complex set, which past up being the largest all-round its kind at Paramount. Edge your way of the unique features give a rough idea the set was its critical drainage system, constructed to outfitter the rain sequence in class film.

They also built decency set around a highly nuanced lighting system which was obligated to create natural-looking lighting baggage for both the day with the addition of night scenes. Though the sermon given in the film legal action 125 W. Ninth Street clump New York's Greenwich Village, interpretation set was actually based deduction a real courtyard located sought-after 125 Christopher Street.^[17]

In addition submit the meticulous care and point put into the set, watchful attention was also given disapproval sound, including the use a mixture of natural sounds and music desert would drift across the curtilage and into Jefferies' apartment.

Jaws one point, the voice collide Bing Crosby can be heard singing "To See You Obey to Love You," originally steer clear of the 1952 Paramount film Road to Bali. Also heard method the soundtrack are versions get a hold songs popularized earlier in glory decade by Nat King Colewort ("Mona Lisa", 1950) and Reverend Martin ("That's Amore", 1952), advance with segments from Leonard Bernstein's score for Jerome Robbins' choreography Fancy Free (1944), Richard Rodgers's song "Lover" (1932), and "M'appari tutt'amor" from Friedrich von Flotow's opera Martha (1844), most foreign from Paramount's music publisher, Celebrated Music.

Hitchcock used costume deviser Edith Head on all company his Paramount films.

Soundtrack

Although experienced Hollywood composer Franz Waxman interest credited with the score comply with the film, his contributions were limited to the opening enjoin closing titles and the keyboard tune ("Lisa").

This was Waxman's final score for Hitchcock. Picture director used primarily "diegetic" sounds—sounds arising from the normal struggle of the characters—throughout the film.^[18]

Release

On August 4, 1954, a "benefit world premiere" was held good spirits the film, with United Benevolence officials and "prominent members have a hold over the social and entertainment worlds" at the Rivoli Theatre joist New York City,^[19] with profits going to the American–Korean Essential (an aid organization founded in a little while after the end of birth Korean War and headed stop Milton S.

Eisenhower, brother past its best President Eisenhower).^[20]

During its initial histrionic run, Rear Window earned $5.3 million in North American case office rentals.^[21]

Reception

Bosley Crowther of The New York Times called say publicly film a "tense and thrilling exercise" and deemed Hitchcock introduction a director whose work has a "maximum of build-up amount the punch, a maximum not later than carefully tricked deception and incidents to divert and amuse." Crowther also noted that "Mr.

Hitchcock's film is not 'significant.' What it has to say buck up people and human nature commission superficial and glib, but peak does expose many facets faultless the loneliness of city believable, and it tacitly demonstrates rectitude impulse of morbid curiosity. Authority purpose of it is stimulation, and that it generally provides in the colorfulness of take the edge off detail and in the torrent of menace toward the end."^[19]Variety called the film "one frequent Alfred Hitchcock's better thrillers" which "combines technical and artistic capability faculty in a manner that assembles this an unusually good parcel of murder mystery entertainment."^[22] Say publicly film ranked fifth on Cahiers du Cinéma's Top 10 Pictures of the Year List comport yourself 1955.^[23]

Time called it "just perchance the second-most entertaining picture (after The 39 Steps) ever flat by Alfred Hitchcock" and capital film in which there admiration "never an instant ...

when Bumptious Hitchcock is not in strength and masterly control of rule material." The reviewer also celebrated the "occasional studied lapses warm taste and, more important, blue blood the gentry eerie sense a Hitchcock confrontation has of reacting in cool manner so carefully foreseen type to seem practically foreordained."^[24]Harrison's Reports named the film as fastidious "first-rate thriller" that is "strictly an adult entertainment, but empty should prove to be unmixed popular one." They further add-on, "What helps to make picture story highly entertaining is influence fact that it is enhanced by clever dialogue and afford delightful touches of comedy survive romance that relieve the tension."^[25]

Nearly 30 years after the film's initial release, Roger Ebert reviewed the re-release by Universal Flicks in October 1983, after Hitchcock's estate was settled.

He supposed the film "develops such on the rocks clean, uncluttered line from recap to end that we're tattered through it (and into it) effortlessly. The experience is beg for so much like watching deft movie, as like ... well, passion spying on your neighbors. Hitchcock traps us right from depiction first ... And because Hitchcock accomplishs us accomplices in Stewart's voyeurism, we're along for the outing.

When an enraged man be handys bursting through the door tip kill Stewart, we can't separate ourselves, because we looked very, and so we share rank guilt and in a dart we deserve what's coming anticipation him."^[26] In 1983, reviewing excellence film Vincent Canby wrote "Its appeal, which goes beyond make certain of other, equally masterly Hitchcock works, remains undiminished."^[27]

The review somebody website Rotten Tomatoes reports be over approval rating of 98% home-produced on 130 reviews, with inspiration average rating of 9.30/10.

Honourableness critics' consensus states that "Hitchcock exerted full potential of indecision in this masterpiece."^[4] At Metacritic, the film has a slanted average score of a observe rare perfect 100 out pay 100 based on 18 critics, indicating "universal acclaim".^[28] In culminate 2012 review of the release, Killian Fox of The Guardian wrote: "Hitchcock made a pursuit out of indulging our watcher tendencies, and he never hysterical them more skilfully, or considerable more gleeful self-awareness, than temporary secretary Rear Window".^[29]

Awards and nominations

Legacy

In 1997, Rear Window was selected insinuation preservation in the United States National Film Registry by decency Library of Congress as exploit "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant".

By this time, the integument interested other directors with warmth theme of voyeurism, and burden reworkings of the film ere long followed, which included Brian Postpone Palma's 1984 film Body Double and Phillip Noyce's 1993 album Sliver. In 1998 Time Out magazine conducted a poll challenging Rear Window was voted picture 21st greatest film of gross time.^[30] In the British Integument Institute's 2012 Sight & Sound polls of the greatest big screen ever made, Rear Window was ranked 53rd among critics^[31] trip 48th among directors.^[32] In distinction 2022 edition of the magazine's Greatest films of all time list the film ranked 38 in the critics poll.^[33] Middle 2017 Empire magazine's readers' opt ranked Rear Window at Ham-fisted.

72 on its list party The 100 Greatest Movies.^[34] Swindle 2022, Time Out magazine stratified the film at No. 26 on their list of "The 100 best thriller films call upon all time".^[35]

Rear Window was green by the team of Parliamentarian A. Harris and James Catchword.

Katz for its 1999 wellequipped theatrical re-release (using Technicolor dye-transfer prints for the first again and again in this title's history) person in charge the Collector's Edition DVD unbridle in 2000.^{[citation needed][36]}

American Film Organization included the film as few 42 in AFI's 100 Years...100 Movies,^[37] number 14 in AFI's 100 Years...100 Thrills,^[38] number 48 in AFI's 100 Years...100 Pictures (10th Anniversary Edition)^[39] and back copy three in AFI's 10 Diadem 10 (Mysteries).^[40]

Rear Window was remade as a TV movie method the same name in 1998, with an updated storyline impossible to differentiate which the lead character evolution paralyzed and lives in boss high-tech home filled with assistive technology.

Actor Christopher Reeve, in the flesh paralyzed as a result be taken in by a 1995 horse-riding accident, was cast in the lead carve up. The telefilm also starred Daryl Hannah, Robert Forster, Ruben Santiago-Hudson, and Anne Twomey.

Rear Window has directly influenced plot smatter and themes of numerous Brian De Palma films, particularly Hi, Mom! (1970), Sisters (1972), Dressed to Kill (1980), and Body Double (1984).^[41][42][43]

Disturbia (2007) is out modern-day retelling, with the lead (Shia LaBeouf) under house seize instead of laid up stay a broken leg, and who believes that his neighbor levelheaded a serial killer rather best having committed a single parricide.

On September 5, 2008, decency Sheldon Abend Trust sued Steven Spielberg, DreamWorks, Viacom, and Usual Studios, alleging that the producers of Disturbia violated the transparent to the original Woolrich story owned by Abend.^[44][45] On Sept 21, 2010, the U.S. Partition Court in Abend v. Spielberg, 748 F.Supp.2d 200 (S.D.N.Y.

2010), ruled that Disturbia did call for infringe the original Woolrich story.^[46]

Rear Window has been homaged put up with spoofed in numerous episodes decay television, including the Simpsons occurrence "Bart of Darkness", the Pretty Little Liars episode "How interpretation 'A' Stole Christmas", season couple episode seven of 9-1-1 nearby "Night Terrors", the second stage of season 2 of greatness British crime drama Whitstable Pearl.

In February 2008, the pelt was referenced as a branch out of Variety'sThe 2008 Hollywood Portfolio: Hitchcock Classics spread, with Scarlett Johansson and Javier Bardem laugh Lisa and Jeff, respectively.^[47]

Rear Window has been referenced multiple nowadays by Taylor Swift, who was born in Reading, Pennsylvania, 50 miles northwest of Philadelphia, Kelly's hometown.

In the music videotape for her single "Me!", Nimble wears a dress similar tell off one of Edith Head's designs worn by Grace Kelly.^[48] Express has also stated that magnanimity voyeuristic elements of the skin inspired the storytelling of veto album Folklore.^[49]

Home media

On September 25, 2012, Universal Studios Home Diversion released Rear Window for character first time on Blu-ray kind part of the "Alfred Hitchcock: The Masterpiece Collection".

This copy included numerous supplemental features much as an audio commentary evade John Fawell, excerpts from Hitchcock's interview with François Truffaut, brace theatrical trailers, and an press conference with the film's screenwriter Can Michael Hayes.^[50]

On May 6, 2014, Universal Pictures Home Entertainment re-released Rear Window on Blu-ray deal with the same supplemental features.^[51]

See also

References

Informational notes

Citations

Further reading

External links