By Robert Seebach
Alfred Hitchcock’s Rear Window was released over twenty years before I was born, and yet it has become one of my favorite films. It was released by Paramount Pictures in 1954 and stars James Stewart, Grace Kelly, and Thelma Ritter. Stewart, Kelley, and Ritter deliver masterful perfomances.
Every mannerism and subtlty of dialogue is captured by Hitchcock. Rear Window was directed Alfred Hitchcock . The screenplay was written by John Michael Hayes based on a 1942 short story by Cornell Woolrich titled “It Had to Be Murder.”
Rear Window was not the first Hitchcock film I saw. Like many people my introduction to Hitchcock’s films were Psycho and The Birds. Once I started, I had to see Hitchcock’s other films. There is something about the way Hitchcock tells a story – the setting, mood, tension.
But it was when I saw Rear Window that I gained a new level of respect, not just for Hitchcock, but for filmmaking as an artistic medium. It was the first time my eyes were opened to what films could be – Art. Rear Window is Alfred Hitchcock’s masterpiece.
When people think of Alfred Hitchcock, they think horror and suspense. Rear Window is without question suspenseful, but Hitchcock relies on the fear of the unknown to create that suspense. I would argue that Rear Window is a complex drama about relationships first, and a suspenseful murder mystery second.
L.B. Jefferies is an adventurous photographer with a broken leg isolating in his small apartment. “Jeff” has nothing better to do but watch the goings on of his neighbors. But things take a turn when Jeff witnesses suspicious activities in the apartment across the courtyard. Jeff comes to believe that his neighbor has killed his invalid wife, chopped her up, and stuffed her in a trunk. Everyone Jeff tells about these suspicious behaviors, including his socialite girlfriend Lisa Carol Fremont, Nurse Stella, and old war buddy turned detective Tom Doyle, believe Jeff is simply experiencing cabin fever. That is, until they too begin witnessing the strange behaviors of Jeff’s neighbor.
Early in the film Jeff approaches Lisa about splitting up, stating that their worlds are too different and neither one is willing to change. The audience watches the progression of their relationship play out on screen. Lisa becomes more involved with helping Jeff untangle the mystery of his neighbor while simultaneously proving that she is willing to adapt to Jeff’s lifestyle. The couple, with the help of Nurse Stella, become amateur sleuths on the case of proving Jeff’s neighbor a murderer.
The film begins with the viewer looking out the “Rear Window” of L.B. Jefferies’s Greenwich Village apartment. The three shades are drawn up in succession, much the way a curtain is raised at the start of a play. The camera follows a first person view around the courtyard, giving the audience a glimpse into the apartments of “Jeff’s” neighbors. Starting the film in this manner accomplishes three things.
Firstly, the viewer becomes a participant in this world from the start. It is an enclosed world, cozy and charming at times, claustrophobic at others. The set design makes us feel as though we are a part of this small world. The couryard is enclosed, which insulates us from the larger world beyond. The audience only sees a sliver of the bustling Greenwich Village neighborhood beyond. The sounds we hear throughout the film also support this feeling of intimacy. We hear music from one apartment, conversations from others.
Secondly, the audience learns something about each of Jeff’s neighbors, observing them as they go about their day-to-day activities.
The shot concludes with the camera tracking back into Jeff’s apartment. Hitchcock shares information about Jeff through the panning of the camera. It moves as if it isn’t a camera at all, but rather a first person point of view scanning Jeff’s apartment, pausing and focusing on certain objects. We see a broken camera, then a series of photographs on the wall – one of which is a wreck at an automobile race track and presumably the event at which Jeff broke his leg. The other photographs depict dramatic events as well, which tells us that Jeff is not just a photographer, but a photographer who puts himself in harm’s way. We learn later that this excitement is extremely important to Jeff.
Finally, we see a photographic negative of Grace Kelly’s character, Lisa Carol Fremont, as well as a stack of magazines, the cover of which depicts this very same photographic image in color. We learn a lot about Jeff just from that one sequence of images. We deduce that Lisa Fremont is the love interest of Jeff. One wouldn’t frame and hang a negative of a photograph and have a stack of the magazines with that image on it unless the person photographed or the event of the photograph were important. We can even assume that this photo shoot is where L.B. Jefferies and Lisa Fremont met.
Through this opening scene, we learn things about Jeff’s environment, the people who inhabit this environment, as well as information about Jeff and his relationship with Lisa. This is something Hitchcock does so well; he “shows” the audience, rather than “tells” the audience information about the characters.
We also learn about Jeff and Lisa’s relationship through dialogue between Jeff and Stella. Stella- portrayed brilliantly by Thelma Ritter- is an insurance nurse who visits Jeff daily to check his temperature and give him a massage, as well as some homespun wisdom on various topics, including relationships. We learn from these exchanges that Jeff is thinking about ending his relationship with Lisa. The primary reason given is that each of them lives in extremely different worlds. Jeff is often on assignment living nomadically, while Lisa is a socialite mingling with New York City’s elite. He isn’t ready to give up the excitement of his work in exchange for a stable home life. Jeff also states to Stella that Lisa is too perfect. Stella dismisses this statement as ludicrous.
Jeff refers to Lisa’s perfectionism later during a scene in which Lisa has dinner from the restaurant 21 delivered to Jeff’s apartment in celebration of his final week in a cast. Remember, this is 1954. High-scale restaurants didn’t deliver food. Lisa made this happen. There is tension in Lisa and Jeff’s conversation. Lisa remarks, “well, at least you can’t say the dinner isn’t right.” Jeff replies, “Lisa, it’s perfect…as always.” (Rear Window, 0026:20 – 00:27:00)
There is one scene where Jeff is watching a pair of newlyweds enter the apartment across the courtyard. He watches with a fond smile on his face, which gradually fades as he begins to apply that situation to himself. Jeff continues to look over at the newlywed’s apartment throughout the film as he continues to weigh his own marital future.
During their post dinner conversation about the curious goings on in the apartment across the courtyard, Lisa comments, “for all you know, there might be something far more sinister going on in there”, gesturing to the newlywed’s apartment. To which Jeff replies with a smirk on his face, “no comment.” (Rear Window, 00:48:40 – 00:48:51)
There is another brief scene where Jeff is watching his neighbor the ballerina dancing in a skimpy outfit and then glances over to the drawn window shade of the newlyweds. He’s weighing his options here. Bachelorhood or marriage.
There is also a scene in which Lisa enters Jeff’s darkened apartment and leans over a sleeping Jeff in his wheel chair to give him a kiss just as he is waking up. Lisa’s shawdow eclipses Jeff. The shadow symbolizes the uncertainty of their relationship. We then see Jeff recognize Lisa, smile, and then Lisa leans in for a slow motion kiss.
Many of the characters Jeff watches through his “Rear Window” are personifications of his possible future. “Miss Torso”, the ballerina, represents bachelorhood. “Miss Lonely Heart” represents Jeff’s possible future of growing old alone. “The Newlyweds” represent Jeff’s preconceived notion about what marriage looks like.
The audience learns Jeff’s thoughts on these possible futures by his reaction to these observations. Hitchcock discusses this technique in a 1963 interview he gave Cinema (US) Journal. “Now we have the other pieces of film which create ideas: Rear Window, a very cinematic picture. But a static figure – in one position, in one room, for the whole picture. And yet this is pure cinema. I’ll tell you why. Mr. Stewart is sitting looking out of the window. He observes. We register his observations on his face. We are using the visual image now. We are using the mobility of the face, the expression, as our content of the piece of film.” (Hitchcock 4-8 & 34-35)
Jeff attempts to explain to Lisa why it would be best if they separated. There are two reasons why Jeff thinks it best to break off his relationship with Lisa: Firstly, his fear of giving up the excitement of being a nomadic, worldly photographer. Secondly, his belief that Lisa would be unable or unwilling to adapt to his lifestyle. Jeff views it as a practical decision. In his mind, he’s doing what is best for them both. Nevertheless, there is a lingering suspicion that perhaps Jeff is fearful of change and looking for an excuse to avoid such change.
The scene concludes with Lisa leaving saying, “Goodbye, Jeff.” To which Jeff replies, “You mean good night?” Lisa states, “I meant what I said.” “Couldn’t we just keep things …status quo?” Jeff asks. “With no hope of a future?” Lisa asks. Jeff asks when he will see her again. Lisa replies, “Not for a long time. at least…not until tomorrow night.” (Rear Window, 00:30:38 – 00:31:08) It is evident by this exchange that Lisa and Jeff have true love and admiration for one another.
It is at this point in the film that the mystery of what is going on in the apartment across the courtyard and the relationship of Jeff and Lisa converge.
Lisa returns the following night, but the situation in the apartment across the courtyard is distracting Jeff. Jeff believes that Raymond Burr’s character- Lars Thorwald- has murdered his invalid wife, cut her up, and stuffed her in a trunk. Jeff’s obsession annoys and frightens Lisa. That is, until she witnesses the same suspicious activity Jeff has. Lisa becomes intrigued and begins helping Jeff uncover the mystery. Nurse Stella also joins in.
The mystery of what has happened in the apartment across the courtyard is the catalyst for the evolution of Jeff and Lisa’s relationship. The mystery is the glue which holds their relationship together long enough for that evolution to take place. As Lisa’s enthusiasm and willingness to help Jeff solve the mystery grows, so grows Jeff’s awareness of Lisa’s ability to adapt. It isn’t just Lisa’s enthusiasm that attracts Jeff, it is her willingness to take risks and put herself in harm’s way. This mirrors Jeff’s willingness to put himself in harm’s way. Their relationship grows.
In the final scene we see Jeff asleep in his wheel chair (now with two broken legs), a smile upon his face. Lisa is reading a thick book “Beyond the High Himalayas”, which represents Jeff’s world. She glances over and sees that Jeff is asleep, at which point she sets down the book and picks up a Bazaar magazine. This of course represents Lisa’s world. She compromises. She has one foot in Jeff’s world and one in hers.
Rear Window is a film which immediately draws the audience into the world of its characters and holds us there, not as prisoners, but observers. We are not observers from afar. Rather, there is an intimacy. Nevertheless, we also feel the clausterphobic nature of this world when Hitchcock sees fit to do so. We begin to care for Jeff and Lisa and root for their relationship to succeed. The evolution of this relationship and the mystery of the missing Mrs. Thorwald simultaneously play out with equal intrigue. The subtleties in each character’s performance, including facial expressions or the way in which a particular piece of dialogue is executed, enhances the authenticity of the story being told. Hitchcock masterfully manipulates what and how we see. Hitchcock treats the audience with a certain intelligence by “showing” us, not “telling” us what he wishes us to see.
All of these elements combine to create a suspenseful thriller and complex love story. This is why Rear Window, a film released in 1954, is one of my favorite films.
Works Cited
Rear Window. Dir. Alfred Hitchcock. Paramount Pictures, 1954. Film
Hitchcock, Alfred. “Hitchcock on Style: An Interview With Alfred Hitchcock.” Cinema (US) August and September, vol. 5, issue 1, 1963: Pages 4-8 and 34-35