Rear Window

1954.

#42 / #48

Nominated for 4 Academy Awards.

L.B. "Jeff" Jeffries (Jimmy Stewart) is confined to a wheel chair after he breaks his leg. He takes up spying on his neighbors through his camera lens to pass the time. He and his girlfriend Lisa (Grace Kelly) begin to suspect one of their neighbors of murder.

Sarah: My first viewing of this was at the Hollywood Forever Cemetery, which is really the perfect place to see this thrilling movie. I think this is the simplest and most Hitchcock of the Hitchcocks. It is relatively simple, but the suspense builds so slowly and pleasantly that it is very satisfying.

I think Thelma Ritter adds a lot of comedy to the film as the nosy and brassy housekeeper Stella. She is one of my favorite character actresses of that time period.

Also, the movie is fun for Grace Kelly's fashion. I want her huge-ass charm bracelet.

Eddie: Alfred Hitchcock went his entire career without winning an Academy Award. It's movies like REAR WINDOW that make it clear that he should have won the Nobel Prize. Hitchcock's mastery of suspense leaves you watching the film like a child watching a meteor shower for the first time. You are filled with wonder, dread, and excitement, all rolled into one draining and fulfilling emotional experience. The constraint of REAR WINDOW - most of the movie takes place within Jeff's apartment - frees Hitchcock to underplay the film's suspense, twisting the audience into a knot, until he's ready to let it explode.

REAR WINDOW is in the company of only a few other suspenseful movies - M, NORTH BY NORTHWEST, ROPE, JAWS, SILENCE OF THE LAMBS - in terms of its whole quality. It's damn good.

Why You Should See It: When Mr. Thorwald (Raymond Burr) burns the lens with his stare, you will scream.