Rear Window (1954)

Director:

Alfred Hitchcock

Writers:

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

Release Date:

14 January 1955 (Japan)

Genre:

Crime | Drama | 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:

Girlfriend | Amateur Detective | Camera | Tense | Injury

Awards:

Nominated for 4 Oscars. Another 4 wins & 5 nominations

Cast

James Stewart	...	L. B. Jefferies
Grace Kelly	...	Lisa Carol Fremont
Wendell Corey	...	Det. Lt. Thomas J. Doyle
Thelma Ritter	...	Stella
Raymond Burr	...	Lars Thorwald
Judith Evelyn	...	Miss Lonelyheart
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
Kathryn Grant	...	Girl at songwriter's party (as Kathryn Grandstaff)
Alan Lee	...	Newlyweds' landlord
Anthony Warde	...	Detective
Benny Bartlett	...	Man with Miss Torso
Fred Graham	...	Detective
Harry Landers	...	Man with Miss Lonelyheart
Dick Simmons	...	Man with Miss Torso
Iphigenie Castiglioni	...	Woman with bird
Ralph Smiley	...	Carl, waiter from 21
Eddie Parker	...	Detective (as Edwin Parker)
Len Hendry	...	Policeman
Mike Mahoney	...	Policeman
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Jerry Antes	...	Dancer with Miss Torso (uncredited)
Barbara Bailey	...	Choreographer with Miss Torso (uncredited)
Nick Borgani	...	(uncredited)
Sue Casey	...	(uncredited)
James Cornell	...	Man (uncredited)
Bess Flowers	...	Songwriter's party guest with poodle (uncredited)
Art Gilmore	...	Radio announcer (voice) (uncredited)
Alfred Hitchcock	...	Man winding clock in songwriter's apartment (uncredited)
Jonni Paris	...	(uncredited)
Jack Stoney	...	(uncredited)

Directed by
Alfred Hitchcock

Writing credits
Cornell Woolrich		(short story "It Had to be Murder")
John Michael Hayes		(screenplay)

Produced by
James C. Katz	....	producer (1998 restoration)
Alfred Hitchcock	....	producer (uncredited)

Original Music by
Franz Waxman

Cinematography by
Robert Burks		(director of photography)

Film Editing by
George Tomasini

Art Direction by
J. McMillan Johnson		(as Joseph MacMillan Johnson)
Hal Pereira

Set Decoration by
Sam Comer
Ray Moyer

Makeup Department
Wally Westmore	....	makeup supervisor

Production Management
C.O. Erickson	....	unit production manager (uncredited)

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Herbert Coleman	....	assistant director

Art Department
Dorothea Holt	....	illustrator (uncredited)
Gene Lauritzen	....	construction coordinator (uncredited)

Sound Department
John Cope	....	sound recordist
Harry Lindgren	....	sound recordist
Harry E. Snodgrass	....	sound editor (1998 restoration)
Richard LeGrand Jr.	....	supervising sound editor (1998 restoration) (uncredited)
Loren L. Ryder	....	sound recording mixer (uncredited)
Samuel Webb	....	assistant sound editor: 1998 restoration (uncredited)

Special Effects by
John P. Fulton	....	special photographic effects

Visual Effects by
Scott Dougherty	....	digital restoration producer: Cinesite (uncredited)
Jerry Pooler	....	digital restoration supervisor (uncredited)
Irmin Roberts	....	special visual effects (uncredited)
Tiffany Smith	....	digital restoration coordinator: Cinesite (uncredited)

Stunts
Fred Graham	....	stunt detective (uncredited)
Ted Mapes	....	stunts (uncredited)
Eddie Parker	....	stunt detective (uncredited)

Camera and Electrical Department
William Schurr	....	camera operator (uncredited)
Leonard J. South	....	assistant camera (uncredited)

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Edith Head	....	costumes

Editorial Department
Richard Mueller	....	color consultant: Technicolor
Jeff Smithwick	....	color timer: Technicolor (1998 restoration) (uncredited)

Music Department
Ray Evans	....	composer: song "Mona Lisa"

Other crew
Robert A. Harris	....	1998 reconstruction and restoration
Bob Landry	....	technical advisor

Production Companies

• Paramount Pictures
• Patron Inc.

Distributors

• Paramount Pictures (1954) (USA) (theatrical)
• Paramount Pictures (1962) (USA) (theatrical) (re-release)
• Universal Pictures (1983-2000) (USA) (theatrical) (re-release)
• CIC Vídeo (Brazil) (VHS)
• Cinema International Corporation (C.I.C.) (1984) (Japan) (theatrical)
• Les Films Paramount (1955) (France) (theatrical)
• MCA Home Video (video)
• MCA/Universal Home Video (USA) (VHS)
• MCA/Universal Home Video (USA) (laserdisc)
• National Broadcasting Company (NBC) (1966) (USA) (TV) (original airing)
• Paramount Pictures International (1955) (Japan) (theatrical)
• Paramount (1955) (West Germany) (theatrical)
• Seven Films (2008) (Greece) (theatrical) (reissue)
• USA Films (2000) (USA) (theatrical) (re-release)
• Universal Home Entertainment (USA) (DVD)
• Universal Home Video (Brazil) (DVD)
• Universal Pictures (1999) (Germany) (VHS)
• Universal Pictures (2001) (Germany) (DVD)
• Universal Pictures (2002) (Japan) (DVD)
• Victor Entertainment (2001) (Japan) (DVD)

Also Known As:

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

Runtime:

112 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor) (negative) | Color (Technicolor) (prints)

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Recording)

Certification:

Brazil:14 | Portugal:M/12 | Canada:G (Quebec) (1983) | Germany:12 | Canada:PG (Manitoba/Ontario) | West Germany:16 (f) | USA:PG (re-rating) (1983) (cerfiticate no. 27069) | Canada:A (Nova Scotia) (1983) | Iceland:L | USA:Approved (PCA #16938) | Spain: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:

The size of the set necessitated excavation of the soundstage floor. Thus Jeff's apartment was actually at street level.

Goofs:

Crew or equipment visible: In the first full pan of the apartment area (just before Lisa first appears, about ten minutes into the film) in a top floor window, an arc light visibly blows out.

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 "Mystery Science Theater 3000: The Atomic Brain (#6.18)" (1993)

Soundtrack:

Mona Lisa

A Deep & Entertaining Classic

One of Hitchcock's greatest masterpieces, "Rear Window" is a deep and entertaining classic with many strengths, and a little bit of everything. A fine suspense story is combined with romantic tension in the main plot, and there are numerous sub-plots, some humorous and some moving, all with many psychological overtones. The main characters are wonderfully portrayed and full of life. The apparently simple setting in an apartment complex is developed into a world filled with intriguing and sometimes unsettling possibilities, and this apparently average neighborhood comes to life with a wealth of lavish visual detail and interesting minor characters. It is the kind of film-making that (like many of Hitchcock's greatest movies) is very flattering to the viewer. The director assumes that his audience will pay close enough attention to appreciate the many subtleties with which he has filled the movie. It rewards both careful attention and repeated viewings, since there is much more here than merely a suspense plot, as good as that story is in itself.

For the first 30 minutes or so, we simply get to know the characters. Jimmy Stewart gives one of his best performances as a photographer recuperating from an injury, forced to spend several weeks staring out his apartment window at the minor dramas in the lives of his neighbors. Grace Kelly is ideal in the role of his perfect girlfriend, who can never find a way to break down Stewart's reserve. The study of their relationship would have made a good movie by itself. Almost every action and every word between them is filled with meaning, and what they see in the lives of others is an interesting reflection of the tensions and possibilities in their own present and future. Thelma Ritter is wonderful as a colorful, no-nonsense nurse who constantly sheds some light - sometimes unwanted - on what is happening between them. The action and suspense that occur later serves in large part as a catalyst that resolves some of the important issues between the two.

After we get to know the characters and their world, things start to happen, as Stewart becomes engrossed in some of the things he has seen. The ethical and moral concerns of meddling in others' affairs become intertwined with more urgent questions about what may have happened in those other apartments, and from then on the tension builds steadily. It leads up to a riveting climactic sequence filled with suspense, and made even more meaningful by our awareness of its deeper significance to the main characters.

There is much more that could be said, but you should see this for yourself. It is a classic that will be enjoyed not only by thriller fans, but by anyone who appreciates carefully crafted movies with a lot of depth.