... Rear Window was made in 1954, and it's hailed as one of his finest achievements, even being voted number 14 on IMDb's top 250 films! That's above Citizen Kane and Lawrence of Arabia! Plus it was nominated for 4 Oscars, including Best Screenplay and Best Director! It stars James Stewart ... Read review
None of Hitchcock's films has ever given a clearer view of his genius for suspense than ... more
Rear Window. When professional photographer J.B. Jeff Jeffries (James Stewart) is confined to a wheelchair with a broken leg, he becomes obsessed with watching the ...
Jefferies (James Stewart(, a photographer with a broken leg, takes up the fine art of ... more
spying on his Greenwich Village neighbours during a summer heat wave. But things really hot up when he suspects one neighbour (Raymond Burr) of murdering his invalid wife and burying the body in a flower garden.
None of Hitchcock's films has ever given a clearer view of his genius for suspense than ... more
Rear Window. When professional photographer J.B. "Jeff" Jeffries (James Stewart) is confined to a wheelchair with a broken leg he becomes obsessed with watching the private dramas of his neighbours play out across the courtyard. When he suspects a salesman may have murdered his nagging wife Jeffries enlists the help of his glamorous socialite girlfriend (Grace Kelly) to investigate the highly suspicious chain of events... Events that ultimately lead to one of the most memorable and gripping endings in all of film history.
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Alfred Hitchcock amply demonstrates why he's been called "The Master of Suspense" with ... more
this both witty and macabre tale of voyeurism and murder starring two of cinema's all-time favourites James Stewart and Grace Kelly. L.B. Jeffries (Stewart) a photographer with a broken leg takes up the fine art of spying on his Greenwich Village neighbours during a summer heat wave. But things really hot up when he suspects one neighbour of murdering his invalid wife and burying the body in a flower garden.
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Production Year: 2002 - Thriller - Director: Bharat Nalluri, Rob Bailey, Andy Wilson - Original Language: English - Classification: 15 years and over - Starring: Matthew MacFadyen, Keeley Hawes, David Oyelowo, Peter Firth, Jenny Agutter, Lisa Faulkner
Thriller - Original Language: English - Classification: 15 years and over - Starring: Timothy West, Neil Morrissey, Tara Fitzgerald, Annette Crosbie, Pauline Quirke, Rob Brydon, Denise Van Outen, John Thomson, Kevin Whately, David Suchet
Advantages: Deliberately slow build-up of tension Disadvantages: May be a bit too slow for some
...master of suspense". Rear Window was made in 1954, and it's hailed as one of his finest achievements, even being voted number 14 on IMDb's top 250 films! That's above Citizen Kane and Lawrence of Arabia! Plus it was nominated for 4 Oscars, including Best Screenplay and Best Director! It stars James Stewart and Grace Kelly as a couple who become sure that there's something suspicious going on in the flat opposite...
Stewart plays ... ...Yes, these are aspects of Rear Window, but this film also contains a lot of humour and romance. I'll warn you now, if you have a short patience span, you might not enjoy watching this. For the first 30 minutes, literally nothing happens, and I'm not exaggerating. Although things do begin to happen after this, it is nonetheless a very slow film. But that's exactly the point - it builds up the suspense, lets you learn more about Mr Jeffries's weird ... more
In case you're wondering, I'm having a bit of an Alfred Hitchcock week, and I've been watching a few films by "the master of suspense". Rear Window was made in 1954, and it's hailed as one of his finest achievements, even being voted number 14 on IMDb's top 250 films! That's above Citizen Kane and Lawrence of Arabia! Plus it was nominated for 4 Oscars, including Best Screenplay and Best Director! It stars James Stewart and Grace Kelly as a couple who become sure that there's something suspicious going on in the flat opposite...
Stewart plays Mr Jeffries, a newspaper photographer who has been confined to his apartment for six weeks with a broken leg, after a car accident. With nothing else to do, he watches his neighbours, and since there is a heat wave and everyone leaves their windows open, he has the perfect opportunity to observe their various lives, learning more about people who he doesn't know very well. However, proceedings take a turn for the sinister when he thinks he sees a travelling salesman across the block acting strangely, after his wife has mysteriously disappeared. Why is he wrapping a saw and a knife in newspaper? And why is he scrubbing the bathroom wall? He, his girlfriend and his nurse/carer must investigate for themselves when a local policeman refuses to believe their story, and end up getting into danger themselves.
Although the story sounds like pure thriller, this film was not at all as I was expecting. I thought Hitchcock was just all about tension, clues and suspicion. Yes, these are aspects of Rear Window, but this film also contains a lot of humour and romance. I'll warn you now, if you have a short patience span, you might not enjoy watching this. For the first 30 minutes, literally nothing happens, and I'm not exaggerating. Although things do begin to happen after this, it is nonetheless a very slow film. But that's exactly the point - it builds up the suspense, lets you learn more about Mr Jeffries's weird neighbours, and also helps constructs a gentle romance between him and his girlfriend, Lisa, played by Grace Kelly.
That humour I mentioned was in places quite macabre, but it really did lift this film out of the noir-ish style I was expecting. For example, Jeffries sits down to eat his breakfast, and his nurse starts talking about how much blood spurted out of the victim as she was killed. It may not sound very funny, but in the context of the film it made me laugh. Although maybe that's just my sense of humour… And there's also the quirky nature of the people who live in the apartments, such as an old lady who lifts her dog up and down from the balcony in a little basket, the lonely woman who sets out a meal for her and an imaginary partner, and the couple who have to bring the mattress inside off the balcony when it starts to rain.
Humour aside, this film is also worth watching if you like your traditional, dark, creepy Hitchcock films. The way the film is made (all shot out of one window, often through a binocular lens) makes it quite tense. When the blinds are drawn in the man's house, there is a lot of use of shadows moving against the wall, and there are some long continuous shots when the camera pans across all the windows and shows us what everyone is up to. At one point Grace Kelly sneaks into the suspect's apartment and begins looking around, but he comes home and is about to find her in there, whilst Mr Jeffries is watching frantically, and there is nothing he can do to help. This creates so much tension that I found myself leaning off the couch. That's not to mention the ending, which is extremely exciting and really creates a feeling of fear.
The story provides a few moral issues for the viewer to think about. At several points in the film the observers ask each other whether it is right to watch other people, even if they do discover something important in the process. Mr Jeffries is described by his nurse as a "window shopper" and a voyeur, and Hitchcock makes the statement that society is becoming more and more obsessed with the personal lives of other people. That message rings strangely true in today's media-obsessed world, even though this film was made over 50 years ago.
The acting from the top-drawer cast is great, especially from James Stewart, who is in practically every scene, and commands your attention at all times. Grace Kelly radiates beauty and style, but also shows she can do some serious plotting and sleuthing. Raymond Burr plays the salesman with loads of creepiness, although he hardly says anything at all, since most of the time he is being watched from afar. But as usual, the most important person in this film is Hitchcock himself, whose technical brilliance and ability to tell a good story are the driving factors in this film. In the hands of a different director, this film could have been completely boring, as opposed to mildly boring as this was. I have to say that of the three Hitchcock films I've seen (this, Strangers on a Train and North by Northwest), Rear Window was my least favourite.
But hey, it's not fair to end this review on a bad note, as it is a very good thriller. Personally, I don't think it's his best work, nor is it one of the best films ever made. But that's just my opinion, and you only need to take a look at all the other ratings to see how popular this film is. It is undoubtedly very exciting and suspenseful, with great acting and a truly original and thought-provoking premise. You could do a lot worse than this for a top night in! Next stop for me: Psycho! ___________________________________________
This DVD is available to purchase from www.play.com for the unbelievable price of £5.99!
Directed by: Alfred Hitchcock Starring: James Stewart, Grace Kelly, Wendell Corey, Thelma Ritter, Raymond Burr Running Time: 112 minutes Classification: PG
Advantages: One of Hitchcocks best. Disadvantages: James Stewart is not the most effective screen lover
In his book "Hollywood Babylon II" Kenneth Anger claims that Alfred Hitchcock had a powerful telescope set up in his Hollywood home, focussed in on Grace Kelly's bedroom, in order that he could watch her undress. Believe that if you will, but what is a fact is that voyeurism featured heavily in Hitchcock's films: Anthony Perkins watched Janet Leigh take a shower in "Psycho"; James Stewart observed Kim Novak's daily life in "Vertigo"; Ronald Coleman, ... ..."The Thirty Nine Steps". The same can be said of "Rear Window", except here the camera is on our eye level and we see and watch as avidly as the voyeur.
L.B. (Jeff) Jeffries is bored. Seven weeks earlier he broke his leg whilst on a photographic assignment, and now he is confined to a wheelchair in his second floor apartment. He is a man who thrives on danger- he sustained his injuries after being hit by a racing car whilst trying to get the perfect ...
gerb 06.12.2002
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Rear Window (DVD)
Advantages: great acting, direction, original Disadvantages: none
Rear Window is one of Alfred Hitchcock's best films. If anyone needs to get an idea of what Hitchcock films are like then take a look at this. It's the kind of film that probably wouldn't get made in the present hollywood system with many executives not seeing the box office gold of a film that takes place in one location. James Stewwart plays L. B. "Jeff" Jeffries, a photographer who is confined to his apartment with a plaster cast on his leg due ... ...his apartment window he can see the surrounding apartments and due to his current state he becomes a voyeur of sorts. He is also a man who is afraid of commitment, he is frequently nagged by his home help Stella to settle down. You would think he'd want to as his female partner comes in the shape of Grace Kelly as Lisa Carol Fremont. In fact she is hanging on the moment he will marry her although she knows he probably won't. Together they spend their ...
utero 02.09.2001
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Rear Window (DVD)
This classic 1954 film is one of Alfred Hitchcock's most celebrated and enduringly popular films, famed for its incredible case and suspense, and when you watch it, it is easy to see why. Basically the film centres around a photographer called L.B Jeffries, played by the superb James Stewart, who is confined to his apartment due to having a broken leg. He spends a great deal of time looking out of his window, merely out of boredom and intrigue and ... ...building may have been murdered by her husband. This is an incredibly suspenseful, atmospheric and well acted film, with the vast majority of the film taking place in one room looking out into a courtyard. The performances from Stewart and the incomparable Grace Kelley make this incredibly easy to watch. Their relationship and the way in which it develops through their investigation of the suspected murder, is for me one of the highlights of the ...
adamp123 02.11.2009
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Rear Window (DVD)
Advantages: Fab set, wonderful characters, gripping storyline Disadvantages: You won't want it to end!
Rear Window (1954) is surely one of Alfred Hitchcock's finest movies. The premise is a simple one. The lead character, Jeff, played with aplomb by the wonderfully gifted James Stewart, is an award winning photographer for a magazine. Confined to a wheelchair in his New York apartment due to an unfortunate broken leg which is still in a cast, Jeff manages to help pass the time by people-watching the inhabitants of the apartment block directly opposite ... ...of Jeff's apartment and its rear window's vista. It won't surprise viewers to learn that it was filmed on one large set representing a ficticious address in Greenwich Village, Manhattan. Like several of Hitcock's movies it feels like a play and this intimacy helps drag you in and connect with each of the characters. I've lost count of the number of times I have seen this film and I delight in the opportunity to introduce it to new people. It's a ...
englishdavid 09.06.2009
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Rear Window (DVD)
Advantages: Grace Kelly (need I say more?) Disadvantages: None
Rear Window has all the ingredients of the Hitchcock classic that it is. First and most important of all, the movie has a plot that twists and turns like a shark closing in on its kill. James Stewart’s photo-journalist (Jeff Jefferies) is put out of action for a month with a broken leg and is left wheelchair-bound in his apartment, confined to watching the domestic to-ings and fro-ings of the inhabitants in the block of flats opposite. The only relief ... ...he views out of his rear window, in particular, he becomes convinced he has witnessed the murder and subsequent cover-up of a neighbour by her husband (played by Raymond Burr). Second, the main characters are really well portrayed. Stewart is perfect for this type of part, Grace Kelly is especially striking (oh yes), playing the perfect society girls whose aversion to getting her hands dirty is the sticking point in her relationship with Jeff. Ritter ...
Alistair 12.06.2000
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: helpful Review of Rear Window (DVD)
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Advantages: A good idea for reworking "Rear Window"... Disadvantages: ...but it had a poor script and lost a lot of what made the original plot so good
RearWindow (1998) - FILM ONLY REVIEW
Certificate: PG (UK)
Running Time: 89 Minutes
Director: Jeff Bleckner
Voyeurism is the act of observing the lives of others, often, though not always, for sexual gratification; it is a process by which the observer gets more satisfaction from viewing others than from experiencing their own lives. There is a little bit of this tendency in all of us, as what is watching a film if not opening up a window on the lives of others, be they real or fictional? It is no surprise, therefore, that the film industry has from time to time chosen voyeurism as the subject of its stories. A widely regarded classic of the theme is Alfred Hitchcock's 1954 film "RearWindow", an engrossing and suspenseful examination of what it is like to be a voyeur, first enforced by circumstance and later pursued ...
Collingwood21 13.09.2009
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Rear Window (DVD)
Advantages: Delectable story, delightful screenplay Disadvantages: They don't make films like this anymore
' for Murder (1951), RearWindow (1953) and To Catch a Thief (1955). Hitchcock's work intrigued and engaged me, and I am now in the process of completing my Hitchcock DVD collection. And so being instantly smitten with Grace back on a rainy Tuesday afternoon in 1995 led me to gain a passionate interest in films and film making.
To Catch a Thief is typical Hitchcock. It combines many, if not all, of his trademark features. It has the iconic ice queen blonde, Frances (Francie) Stevens (Kelly), the charming bad boy made good slightly down on his luck hero, John Robie (Cary Grant), combined with an interwoven, layered plot, a sophisiticated and charming screenplay and a slightly comedic twist at the end. Not to mention the brief cameo that is the trade mark of the Hitchcock film. The film is a gorgeous masterpiece of comedy, suspense, sexual ...
A man confined to his apartment with a broken leg passes the time by spying on his neighbours. He suspects one of his neighbours of murder and must try to convince non-believers.
"...[New print details] give the movie a sharpness that underscores the whole subtext..." -- Rating: A (Entertainment Weekly, p.80, 21/01/2000)
"...Everything from the masterly opening sequence to the ambiguous final shot indicates that this is the work of a prodigiously talented director..." -- 5 out of 5 stars (Total Film, p.76, 01/03/2000)
DVD Description
The weather is getting hotter, and photographer L.B. Jefferies (James Stewart) is stuck in his apartment with a broken leg and nothing to do--that is, nothing to do but spy on his neighbours through their open windows across the way in the apartment complex. There's an attractive and scantily clad dancer, a songwriter, a lonely woman, and the Thorwalds (Raymond Burr and Irene Winston), a bickering couple, among others. But when Mrs. Thorwald disappears, Jefferies is sure that something's wrong. Soon, despite the warnings of his girlfriend Lisa (Grace Kelly), and his motherly nurse Stella (Thelma Ritter), Jefferies has out his binoculars and telephoto lens and is studying his neighbour 'like a bug under glass.' However, looking in from the outside might not be as safe as Jefferies assumes. REAR WINDOW is not only a gripping story of murder and suspense, it is a celebrated allegory on the nature of film itself, a story in which the audience watches Jefferies watch the story unfold. The different windows can also be seen as a representation of the emerging medium of television, with Jefferies watching a multitude of 'shows' from the comfort of his own apartment.
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