Rear Window (1954)

Director:

Alfred Hitchcock

Writers:

John Michael Hayes (screenplay)
Cornell Woolrich (short story "It Had to Be Murder")

Release Date:

14 January 1955 (Japan)

Genre:

Crime | Mystery | Romance | Thriller

Tagline:

Through his rear window and the eye of his powerful camera he watched a great city tell on itself, expose its cheating ways...and Murder!

Plot:

A wheelchair bound photographer spies on his neighbours from his apartment window and becomes convinced one of them has committed murder.

Plot Keywords:

Apartment | Neighbor | Nurse | Window | Salesman

Awards:

Nominated for 4 Oscars. Another 4 wins & 5 nominations

Cast

James Stewart	...	L. B. 'Jeff' Jefferies
Grace Kelly	...	Lisa Carol Fremont
Wendell Corey	...	Det. Lt. Thomas J. Doyle
Thelma Ritter	...	Stella
Raymond Burr	...	Lars Thorwald
Judith Evelyn	...	Miss Lonelyhearts
Ross Bagdasarian	...	Songwriter
Georgine Darcy	...	Miss Torso
Sara Berner	...	Wife living above Thorwalds
Frank Cady	...	Husband living above Thorwalds
Jesslyn Fax	...	Sculpting neighbor with hearing aid
Rand Harper	...	Newlywed man
Irene Winston	...	Mrs. Anna Thorwald
Havis Davenport	...	Newlywed woman
Marla English	...	Girl at songwriter's party

Also Known As:

Alfred Hitchcock's Rear Window (USA) (complete title)

Runtime:

112 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Colour:

Colour (Eastmancolor) (negative) | Colour (Technicolor) (prints)

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Recording)

Certification:

USA:PG (re-rating) (1983) (cerfiticate no. 27069) | Canada:A (Nova Scotia) (1983) | Canada:G (Quebec) (1983) | Canada:PG (Manitoba/Ontario) | USA:Approved (PCA #16938) | Portugal:M/12 | Spain:T | Iceland:L | Germany:12 | West Germany:16 (f) | Brazil:12 | Sweden:11 (re-rating) (1984) | Sweden:15 (original rating) (1955) | New Zealand:PG | Italy:T | Argentina:13 | Australia:PG | Chile:14 | Finland:K-8 | France:U (2000 re-release) | Netherlands:AL | Norway:16 | South Korea:15 | UK:PG | Peru:14 | Singapore:PG

Filming Locations:

Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

Paramount Pictures

Trivia:

Ross Bagdasarian, who plays the songwriter seen in one of the windows with Hitchcock, later became better known as David Seville , a novelty recording artist. In the late 1950s he popularized the fad of speeding up voices recorded at lower speeds and using them as characters in his recordings such as "Witch Doctor" (#1 US Pop) , "The Chipmunk Song" and "Alvin's Harmonica".

Goofs:

Continuity: The detective accidentally throws his brandy over himself, soaking his shirt and jacket. In the next scene, seconds later, as he is about to leave the apartment, his clothes all appear bone dry.

Quotes:

[first lines]
Voice on radio: Men, are you over 40? When you wake up in the morning, do you feel tired and rundown? Do you have that listless feeling...
[the camera pans around the courtyard; cut to later in the day]
Jeff: [answering phone] Jefferies.
Gunnison: Congratulations, Jeff!
Jeff: For what?
Gunnison: For getting rid of that cast!
Jeff: Who said I was getting rid of it?
Gunnison: This is Wednesday; seven weeks from the day you broke your leg. Yes or no?
Jeff: Gunnison, how did you ever get to be such a big editor with such a small memory?
[...]

Movie Connections:

Referenced in The Key to Reserva (2007)

Soundtrack:

To See You (Is to Love You)

Tremendous thriller. Classic Hitchcock.

In '54, I was seven years old and this is one of the first 'grown up' movies I remember seeing. I have seen it at least ten times since and realize seeing something different each time.

James Stewart is a photographer in a wheelchair recovering from an accident. He passes the time by watching his neighbors out his apartment window. He thinks that he witnessed a murder and has trouble convincing his girlfriend, Grace Kelly, to help prove a crime was committed.

Three scenes that always stuck with me:(1) Stewart fighting off his attacker with flashbulbs (2) the smoldering kiss (3) the glowing cigarette in the dark apartment.

Every bit a classic. I think this is THE BEST Hitchcock movie. No offense intended toward PSYCHO, but this movie has the more human aspects of fear and terror. This super cast includes Raymond Burr, Thelma Ritter and Wendell Corey.