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Rear Window
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Audience Rating: PG (Parental Guidance Suggested)
Binding: VHS Tape
EAN: 9786300183513
Format: Closed-captioned, Color, NTSC
ISBN: 6300183513
Label: Paramount Pictures
Languages: English (Original Language), Analog
Manufacturer: Paramount Pictures
Number Of Items: 1
Publisher: Paramount Pictures
Release Date: March 01, 1992
Running Time: 113 minutes
Studio: Paramount Pictures
Theatrical Release Date: 1954
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Editorial Review:
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
Customer Reviews
Average Rating: 
Rating:  - Heads up! New 2-disc Special Edition due out October 7th, 2008!
A homebound man with a broken leg watches his neighbors and what may be evidence of murder out his apartment's rear window. Considered by many Hitchcock's best film, with a suspense-filled plot, wryly humorous script, and audience favorites James Stewart and Grace Kelly, I think most movie fans, and especially fans of this movie, will find the upcoming DVD set worth the wait.
The new edition will include a new audio commentary, a new featurette on Hitchcock's cinematography, and a new ... Read More
Rating: - Hitchcock Perfection
I think that this is one of Hitchcock's most popular and entertaining films. I truly adore Jimmy Stewart, and his work with Hitchcock is just magical (Rope, Vertigo, and the Man Who Knew Too Much). Grace Kelly IS the Hitchcock blonde. Their dysfunctional relationship is believable and well acted. Thelma Ritter stands out, even among these two, to be a transcendent comic character.
The story itself is still so intriguing: a voyeur witnesses a crime, but has trouble convincing others ... Read More
Rating:  - Fun and Entertaining Except For the DVD!
This movie is a great one to encapsulate what makes Hitchcock films great. His brand of storytelling is unique and for me very enjoyable. He always shows us the story from the subjective viewpoint of the actor and in this case, Jimmy Stewart, as the temporarily invalid photographer who out of boredom decides to take an interest in his neighbour's activities. In effect, he is watching many television screens aka windows outside his apartment that happen to be screening real-life soap operas.
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Rating: - Grace fan
Another great classic! Grace has such style and class. Jimmy Stewart is fantastic. Great rolls for both of them and great chemistry!
Rating: - Rear Window
One of Hitch,s best movies, look hard to see Hitch in this film, a great performance of Jimmy Stewart and Grace Kelly, hit all the emotional buttons, hummor, romance, suspence, one you can watch over with Thelma Ritter adding a brillant performance as Stewarts nurse.
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