James Stewart and Grace Kelly Find Adventure Awaits Through Hitchcock's Rear Window

 

One of the definitive works in director Alfred Hitchcock’s storied career, 1954’s Rear Window from Paramount Pictures offers an irresistible blend of mystery, amusement and romance. Offering the tantalizing blend of comedic and hair-raising elements Hitchcock had carefully honed during his career, Window gave the aptly-named Master of Suspense a chance to create one of his most dazzling concoctions on the screen. An involving, alternately tense and droll John Michael Hayes screenplay (adapted from a Cornell Woolrich story) help Hitchcock set an uneasy but often jocular tone, as the tale concerning a temporarily invalid photographer who believes he’s overheard a murder unfolds in enthralling fashion. Ace lensing and editing by frequent Hitchcock collaborators Robert Burks and George Tomasini, a lively, inventive Franz Waxman score that deftly sets a playful and tense tone from the film’s outset and a top cast of talented players in fine form provide Hitchcock with other significant assets to weave one of the cinema’s most mesmerizing tales of intrigue.

As he had shown in past work such as the use of a single set for Lifeboat and via long takes in Rope, Hitchcock appeared to enjoy challenging himself creatively by placing limitations on his filmmaking process, and this experimental aspect of his style, which sometimes brought uneven results, reached its artistic zenith with his incredible Window achievement. Utilizing one of the most impressive studio sets ever built, Hitchcock appears to have a ball illustrating the various inhabitants of the apartment complex, an area constructed to allow filming from virtually any angle possible. Although the narrative never strays from the complex, with Hitchcock at his most inventive a viewer is immediately caught up in the action and never views the limited physical scope as a plot hinderance. With sublime craftsmanship the director draws the audience into the scenario, making one care about each of the members of the compound, while becoming more nervous as the tension surrounding the main storyline mounts. Although Hitchcock would go on to make several more classics, including Vertigo, North by Northwest and Psycho, his unique achievement of creating in Window a delightful, fully immersive and satisfying viewing experience within a one-set dynamic stands tall among his list of major cinematic works.

As L.B. Jeffries (aka “Jeff”) the photojournalist laid up with a broken leg in his sweltering Manhattan apartment after encountering an accident while on assignment, James Stewart brings his everyman persona to the role, thereby serving as useful identification point for audiences as Jeff who, biding his time by spying on neighbors across his courtyard, becomes embroiled in and stimulated by the mystery at the plot’s center after hearing a suspicious cry in the dark one night. As one of Hollywood’s most beloved and trusted figures on screen by the time of Window, Stewart is able to allow Jeff to sidestep criticism regarding how acceptable his behavior is, as viewers avidly go along with him using any means necessary to uncover clues and facts to resolve the case. Although perhaps not among some of his more complex, earnest work in Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, The Shop Around the Corner, It’s a Wonderful Life and Harvey, Stewart’s work as Jeffries ranks among his best-known roles, with the big box-office for Window helping Stewart to move to #1 among the top box-office draws in 1955 (according to the Quigley poll). Stewart would continue as a major player in films for the rest of the decade and beyond, including ending the 1950s on a high note with one of his best performances and biggest hits via Otto Preminger’s engrossing courtroom drama Anatomy of a Murder.

1954 represented Grace Kelly’s banner year in films during her brief reign as a top Hollywood star, and she possibly gained her career role in Window as Lisa Freemont, Jeff’s ultra-glamorous, cosmopolitan career girlfriend yearning for a deeper relationship with the skittish, non-committal Jeff. Kelly comes on like gangbusters from her first entrance, laying one of the more memorable kisses on Stewart, then maintaining a chic yet warm, funny and relatable presence throughout the rest of the movie. Kelly is endearing and compelling as she illustrates Lisa’s change of heart once she becomes increasingly involved in Jeff’s theory concerning a possible murder, coming across as the least-aloof screen goddess imaginable as she takes action to gain crucial evidence in the movie’s most riveting sequence. With her beauty, charm and seemingly effortless depiction of Lisa’s every mood, Kelly perfectly embodies a screen heroine for the ages, providing Hitchcock’s faith in her as his ideal leading lady was well-placed after her strong impact earlier in the year in her initial film under his tutelage, Dial “M” for Murder.

After her great success in Window, Kelly would finish the year with starker dramatic work as the unhappy, put-upon housewife in The Country Girl, and forever deal with a substantial amount of criticism after winning the Oscar over Judy Garland in A Star is Born for her Country emoting. However, some of this demeriting seems unfair when considering Kelly’s work as a whole during 1954, with both the National Board of Review and the New York Film Critics aptly mentioning all three of Kelly’s films in granting her the Best Actress prize, before she went on to match Garland at the Golden Globes with a Best Actress win for both. In retrospect, on the basis of her signature Window role alone, one could argue Kelly warranted placement among the year’s best performances, but back in the day (and still today in many cases) drab-but-serious portrayals won out over what’s deemed lighter fare, no matter how beautifully and skillfully the star inhabited the more colorful role. Kelly was happily re-teamed with Hitchcock the following year for possibly her most alluring and daring work, generating a maximum wattage of star chemistry opposite Cary Grant in To Catch a Thief. Kelly would exit her tenure as one of Tinseltown’s most bankable stars only one year later, via her celebrated 1956 marriage to the Prince of Monaco.

Offering prime support, as she did in virtually every film she made, starting with her scene-stealing cameo in her debut, Miracle on 34^th Street, Thelma Ritter accounts for many of Window’s choicest comic moments. As Stella, the nurse hired to assist with Jeff’s recuperation, Ritter utilizes her earthy, sage and witty persona to add abundant humor and heart to her scenes, with Stella going on to serve as an important ally to Jeff and Lisa as they work to solve the film’s central mystery, while also commenting on and questioning Jeff concerning his lack of interest in Lisa, serving as a voice of reason for the audience who may want to pose similar questions on the same topic. Somewhat puzzlingly, Ritter, who had gained four Oscar nominations in a row for 1950-53 work, would somehow have this streak broken the year of Window, even if now it’s possibly the first Ritter film that comes to mind for film buffs. Post- Window, Ritter who continue a very fruitful career as perhaps the biggest character actress of her generation, including two more Oscar nominations (but alas, no wins), while also winning a Tony award in 1958 for New Girl in Town.

Wendell Corey, with an established reputation as a sage, introspective leading man built after his debut in 1947’sclassic color noir Desert Fury and via quality work in such films as The Search, Holiday Affair and The Furies, does a fine job as Tom Doyle, Jeff’s friend and former war buddy, who as a Lt. Detective with the NYPD who somewhat reluctantly aids Jeff in his quest to gain information concerning the possible crime. Tom also demonstrates a chauvinistic side and comes into conflict with the liberated Lisa, and Corey does a fine job of allowing this unattractive aspect of Tom’s nature to be fully delineated, without trying to make Tom more likable to viewers. As the main figure Jeff focuses his sights on, Raymond Burr, continuing his run of heavies in movies a few years before Perry Mason would stamp him as one of the most recognizable and adored figures on television, manages to come across as both menacing and sympathetic as Lars Thorwald. Thorwald is seen throughout most of the film as a somewhat distance figure across the way from Jeff, and in his signature film role Burr does an impressive job making his strong presence felt nonetheless, making later moments wherein Thorwald suddenly becomes more front-and-center impactful, as Burr has established how imposing and dangerous an adversary Thorwald might be.

Among the other inhabitants unknowingly spied on by Jeff, Ross Bagdasarian (several years before his greater fame as the creator of The Chipmunks) can be seen as the frustrated composer whom Hitchcock fixes a clock for early in the movie in one of the director's famous cameo appearances, while Judith Evelyn makes an impression as “Miss Lonely-Hearts,” several years before facing off with The Tingler in a very different suspense classic. Georgine Darcy helps enliven scenes as “Miss Torso,” the undulating dancer “juggling wolves,” as Lisa puts it, while Kathryn Grant, a few years before finding greater fame on screen with The 7th Voyage of Sinbad and Anatomy of a Murder and as the wife of Bing Crosby, and the ubiquitous Bess Flowers, who can be spotted in a plethora of classic films, turn up as party guests at the songwriter’s apartment.

Released in August of 1954, Rear Window would resonate strongly with both critics and audiences, being hailed as one of Hitchcock’s finest films while gaining initial first run U.S./Canadian rentals of $5,300,000 (according to Variety) to place among the top five box-office hits of the decade. Along with the Best Actress citations for Kelly, the movie would grant Hitchcock a Quarterly award from the Director’s Guild of America and a fourth Best Director Academy Award nomination. Hayes would also score a richly deserved Oscar nomination for Best Adapted Screenplay, with Burks also in the running for Best Color Cinematography and Loren L. Ryder mentioned for his vivid sound recording. A 1983 re-release of the film, after years of being virtually unseen by audiences (along with several other Hitchcock classics) allowed a new generation to discover one of Hitchcock’s most entertaining and ingenious comedy-thrillers. Later plaudits included mention among the films included on the 1997 National Film Registry list, ranking among the top 50 on both the AFI’s 1998 (#42) and 2007 (#48) list of the greatest films, and placing at #38 on the latest Sight and Sound poll from 2022, tying with Breathless and Some Like it Hot. These continual honors point to the timeless entertainment value of a peerless masterpiece and, with its superior cast, crew and direction by a true cinematic genius in peak form, movie fans old and new are sure to be rewarded by opting to look back through a thrilling Rear Window.