Rear Window [VHS]
starring: James Stewart, Grace Kelley
directed by: Alfred Hitchcock
directed by: Alfred Hitchcock
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Like the Greenwich Village courtyard view from its titular portal, Alfred Hitchcock's classic Rear Window is both confined and multileveled: both its story and visual perspective are dictated by its protagonist's imprisonment in his apartment, convalescing in a wheelchair, from which both he and the audience observe the lives of his neighbors. Cheerful voyeurism, as well as the behavior glimpsed among the various tenants, affords a droll comic atmosphere that gradually darkens when he sees clues to what may be a murder.
Photographer L.B. "Jeff" Jeffries (James Stewart) is, in fact, a voyeur by trade, a professional photographer sidelined by an accident while on assignment. His immersion in the human drama (and comedy) visible from his window is a by-product of boredom, underlined by the disapproval of his girlfriend, Lisa (Grace Kelly), and a wisecracking visiting nurse (Thelma Ritter). Yet when the invalid wife of Lars Thorwald (Raymond Burr) disappears, Jeff enlists the two women to help him to determine whether she's really left town, as Thorwald insists, or been murdered.
Hitchcock scholar Donald Spoto convincingly argues that the crime at the center of this mystery is the MacGuffin--a mere pretext--in a film that's more interested in the implications of Jeff's sentinel perspective. We actually learn more about the lives of the other neighbors (given generic names by Jeff, even as he's drawn into their lives) he, and we, watch undetected than we do the putative murderer and his victim. Jeff's evident fear of intimacy and commitment with the elegant, adoring Lisa provides the other vital thread to the script, one woven not only into the couple's own relationship, but reflected and even commented upon through the various neighbors' lives.
At minimum, Hitchcock's skill at making us accomplices to Jeff's spying, coupled with an ingenious escalation of suspense as the teasingly vague evidence coalesces into ominous proof, deliver a superb thriller spiked with droll humor, right up to its nail-biting, nightmarish climax. At deeper levels, however, Rear Window plumbs issues of moral responsibility and emotional honesty, while offering further proof (were any needed) of the director's brilliance as a visual storyteller. --Sam Sutherland
Like the Greenwich Village courtyard view from its titular portal, Alfred Hitchcock's classic Rear Window is both confined and multileveled: both its story and visual perspective are dictated by its protagonist's imprisonment in his apartment, convalescing in a wheelchair, from which both he and the audience observe the lives of his neighbors. Cheerful voyeurism, as well as the behavior glimpsed among the various tenants, affords a droll comic atmosphere that gradually darkens when he sees clues to what may be a murder.
Photographer L.B. "Jeff" Jeffries (James Stewart) is, in fact, a voyeur by trade, a professional photographer sidelined by an accident while on assignment. His immersion in the human drama (and comedy) visible from his window is a by-product of boredom, underlined by the disapproval of his girlfriend, Lisa (Grace Kelly), and a wisecracking visiting nurse (Thelma Ritter). Yet when the invalid wife of Lars Thorwald (Raymond Burr) disappears, Jeff enlists the two women to help him to determine whether she's really left town, as Thorwald insists, or been murdered.
Hitchcock scholar Donald Spoto convincingly argues that the crime at the center of this mystery is the MacGuffin--a mere pretext--in a film that's more interested in the implications of Jeff's sentinel perspective. We actually learn more about the lives of the other neighbors (given generic names by Jeff, even as he's drawn into their lives) he, and we, watch undetected than we do the putative murderer and his victim. Jeff's evident fear of intimacy and commitment with the elegant, adoring Lisa provides the other vital thread to the script, one woven not only into the couple's own relationship, but reflected and even commented upon through the various neighbors' lives.
At minimum, Hitchcock's skill at making us accomplices to Jeff's spying, coupled with an ingenious escalation of suspense as the teasingly vague evidence coalesces into ominous proof, deliver a superb thriller spiked with droll humor, right up to its nail-biting, nightmarish climax. At deeper levels, however, Rear Window plumbs issues of moral responsibility and emotional honesty, while offering further proof (were any needed) of the director's brilliance as a visual storyteller. --Sam Sutherland
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Customer Reviews
Average Rating:
Rating: 
- 5 stars - with a caveat!
I teach this work as the pinnacle of Hitchcock's oeuvre in a film class, and I can literally watch it back-to-back, once every 10 weeks, and not get tired of it. It is so fantastically done on all fronts that it holds up beyond nearly all other popular films in the history of cinema.
This is a well-done DVD with a truly fascinating doc on the second disk that gives all kinds of great inside information about not only the work itself, but Hitchcock's methods. My caveat is for the DVD ... Read More
Rating: - One Of Hitch's All-Time Great Films
It took me several viewings over many years before I really appreciated this film. Now I absolutely love it. Next to Psycho, it's now my favorite Alfred Hitchcock film.Having it on a pretty-clear DVD transfer didn't hurt, either.Eventually, I'd like to see a sharp Blu-Ray version of this movie.
"Rear Window" still dated quite a bit with the dialogue, but the focus of the story, namely Jimmy Stewart's voyeurism and suspicions of what is going on in Raymond Burr's apartment, never ... Read More
Rating: - a gift is a gift
I bought this as a gift for a friend that has Rear Window as one of their favorite movies of all time to watch
Rating: - Rear Window purchase
Received this great movie in great shape from the buyer. This is such a classic that if you are a fan of Jimmy Stewart or Alfred Hitchcock it is a must have. The suspence keeps you going until the very end.
Rating: - THE ORIGINAL ROOM WITH A VIEW
This is my second-favorite Jimmy Stewart movie ( VERTIGO being my favorite of both Stewart's, and Hitch's ). I have always been amazed by the intricacy of the staging, and set design in this beautifully, and brilliantly orchestrated psychological thriller, that juggles droll humor, social commentary, and mounting suspense with such aplomb, and twisted, though, surgeon-like precision. REAR WINDOW is an exquisite film, and should be in any serious collection.
- 5 stars - with a caveat!I teach this work as the pinnacle of Hitchcock's oeuvre in a film class, and I can literally watch it back-to-back, once every 10 weeks, and not get tired of it. It is so fantastically done on all fronts that it holds up beyond nearly all other popular films in the history of cinema.
This is a well-done DVD with a truly fascinating doc on the second disk that gives all kinds of great inside information about not only the work itself, but Hitchcock's methods. My caveat is for the DVD ... Read More
- One Of Hitch's All-Time Great FilmsIt took me several viewings over many years before I really appreciated this film. Now I absolutely love it. Next to Psycho, it's now my favorite Alfred Hitchcock film.Having it on a pretty-clear DVD transfer didn't hurt, either.Eventually, I'd like to see a sharp Blu-Ray version of this movie.
"Rear Window" still dated quite a bit with the dialogue, but the focus of the story, namely Jimmy Stewart's voyeurism and suspicions of what is going on in Raymond Burr's apartment, never ... Read More
- a gift is a giftI bought this as a gift for a friend that has Rear Window as one of their favorite movies of all time to watch
- Rear Window purchaseReceived this great movie in great shape from the buyer. This is such a classic that if you are a fan of Jimmy Stewart or Alfred Hitchcock it is a must have. The suspence keeps you going until the very end.
- THE ORIGINAL ROOM WITH A VIEWThis is my second-favorite Jimmy Stewart movie ( VERTIGO being my favorite of both Stewart's, and Hitch's ). I have always been amazed by the intricacy of the staging, and set design in this beautifully, and brilliantly orchestrated psychological thriller, that juggles droll humor, social commentary, and mounting suspense with such aplomb, and twisted, though, surgeon-like precision. REAR WINDOW is an exquisite film, and should be in any serious collection.
