Review: Rear Window (1954)

Alfred Hitchcock. James Stewart. Grace Kelly. Three reasons why Rear Window was destined to succeed. Released in 1954, it went on to become the 3rd highest grossing film of the year, and it currently holds the 21st spot on IMDB's Top 250 films.

After a recent accident, photographer  L. B. Jeffries, who goes by the nickname Jeff, is confined to a wheelchair in his tiny, New York apartment. With not much else to do in the middle of a sweltering summer, Jeff spends most of his time observing his neighbours from his apartment's rear window. One humid and rainy night, Jeff notices his neighbour across the courtyard, Lars Thorwald, leaving and returning to his apartment several times throughout the wee hours of the morning. Though this strikes him as odd, Jeff doesn't think much of it at first, but after discussing it with his Girlfriend, Lisa, Jeff begins to believe that Lars has murdered his wife.

"When two people love each other, they come together - WHAM - like two taxis on Broadway."

Rear Window is a cinematic masterpiece from the master of suspense himself, Alfred Hitchcock. Every frame of the film is so perfect, every scene so fasinating, that you know that a lot of care and preparation went into the final product.

One of the things I admire most about Rear Window is its ability to scare through nothing more than suspense. There is no blood. There is very little violence. But a sense of danger is ever present. You know that what the characters are doing is dangerous, but you're with them 100% of the way. The terror you feel comes from caring about about the characters, and what happens to them as they work together to solve a possible murder.

"Intelligence. Nothing has caused the human race so much trouble as intelligence."

The cast of Rear Window is superb - there is no other word for it. Grace Kelly plays the role of Lisa Fremont beautifully. It's such a shame that a woman of her talents made so few films. Thelma Ritter provides much needed comic relief to the picture, and does a wonderful job at delivering it. Raymond Burr is also very good as the menacing Lars, but this picture belongs solely to the one and only Jimmy Stewart. Stewart is so fantastic in his role as Jeff, but, then again, Jimmy was fantastic in every film he ever made. He was and is, in my opinion, the greatest actor that ever lived.

Rear Window is a classic Hitchcockian film that everybody should have the chance to see at least once in their lifetime. A true masterpiece if there ever was one. 10/10

Trivia: Rear Window was filmed entirely on a very elaborate set built at Paramount Studios. At the time, it was the largest set the studio had ever constructed.

- Vixtastr43