A wheelchair-bound photographer spies on his neighbors from his Greenwich Village courtyard apartment window and, despite the skepticism of his fashion-model girlfriend, becomes convinced on... Read allA wheelchair-bound photographer spies on his neighbors from his Greenwich Village courtyard apartment window and, despite the skepticism of his fashion-model girlfriend, becomes convinced one of them has committed murder.A wheelchair-bound photographer spies on his neighbors from his Greenwich Village courtyard apartment window and, despite the skepticism of his fashion-model girlfriend, becomes convinced one of them has committed murder.
- Nominated for 4 Oscars
- 6 wins & 13 nominations total
- Dancer with Miss Torso
- (uncredited)
- Choreographer with Miss Torso
- (uncredited)
- Man with Miss Torso
- (uncredited)
- Minor Role
- (uncredited)
- Director
- Writers
- All cast & crew
- Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaThe film negative was damaged considerably as a result of color dye fading as early as the 1960s. Nearly all of the yellow image dyes had faded. Despite fears that the film had been irrevocably damaged, preservation experts were able to restore the film nearly to its original coloration.
- GoofsAfter Lisa sees Thorwald tie up the trunk and the camera dollies forward to a close up, there are creaks from the floorboards and footsteps heard from the camera crew.
- Quotes
Stella: How much do we need to bail Lisa from jail?
L.B. Jefferies: Well, this is first offense burglary, that's about $250. I have $127.
Stella: Lisa's handbag. Uh... 50 cents. I got $20 or so in my purse.
L.B. Jefferies: And what about the rest?
Stella: When those cops at the station see Lisa, they'll even contribute.
- Crazy creditsThe film is bookended with the opening and closing of window blinds across Jeff's rear window.
The opening titles appear on the former, and the Paramount logo appears on the latter.
- Alternate versionsThe film has been fully restored from original negatives in 1998 and a new negative has been created that resembles the original color scheme of the film. However, the first kissing scene had to be restored digitally because the source elements were in bad condition.
- ConnectionsEdited into Alfred Hitchcock: The Art of Making Movies (1990)
One of the beautiful things about the movie is its superb use of location. The whole movie, bar a couple of brief scenes, is set in the apartment. This would seem claustrophobic but Hitchcock never inhibits us like this - he lets us escape through Jeffries binoculars and camera lenses, and his roving camera swoops down to let us see what the characters see (but never, thankfully, anything more than that - this is how you do suspense!). The set design is wonderful - the apartment is just the right size and is nicely laid out. However the real praise is for all the other apartments visible to Jeffries - an actual habitable set with multiple stories where characters can be observed only as they pass by their own windows (yeah, they don't care much for curtains). There's a sense of individuality gone in to each home, despite the fact we can only see barely elements of each. This is helped by a nice, differing range of characters inhabiting each and going about their daily lives - there's a mini soap-opera contained in the movie, all observed at a distance. Excellent stuff.
Acting? It's great here. There's some nice depth to the characters here, with them feeling like actual real people rather than slick one-dimensional tags. Stewart is very proficient in this type of role - he was born to it - and Kelly proves she is more than just a pretty face, managing to effuse her character with both grace (*groan*) and steel. Even supporting characters like Stella are good (she has a wickedly black sense of thinking that's hilarious). What's so incredible is that the characters we observe from a distance in the other apartments (and with whom we never actually interact with) have as much depth as most main characters in movies nowadays. Excellent script and acting in this movie.
I've already praised Hitchcock's set location and camera work, so I won't prattle on about him much more. He does a stellar job here and, in my opinion, this is the best piece of work he's done (that I've seen). It's virtually flawless and you're never let down (or bored). Well done. It's a shame he lost out on an Oscar (although he did have tough competition that year with `On the Waterfront').
`Rear Window' is a great example of how you can successfully have sharp acting, script, and directing and not feel the need for a slew of swear words and gratuitous violence. Regarded as a classic, and deservedly so. 9.1/10
- Aidan McGuinness
- Nov 12, 2002
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Details
- Release date
- Country of origin
- Language
- Also known as
- Alfred Hitchcock's Rear Window
- Filming locations
- Stage 18, Paramount Studios - 5555 Melrose Avenue, Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, USA(Exterior court yard apartment complex)
- Production company
- See more company credits at IMDbPro
Box office
- Budget
- $1,000,000 (estimated)
- Gross US & Canada
- $36,764,313
- Gross worldwide
- $37,040,788
- Runtime1 hour 52 minutes
- Color
- Aspect ratio
- 1.37 : 1(original ratio)
- 1.66 : 1