What better movie to watch during Stay-at-Home than Rear Window where James Stewart stays home and witnesses a murder.
Alfred Hitchcock’s classic film from 1954 captures the current climate of prolonged home confinement that begins as a portrait of boredom. Few movies show the mental state that results from being stuck in the same room for an extended period of time: the restlessness, the longing to get back to “normal” life, and the quest to find something to occupy one’s mind during this period of time.
Rear Window was adapted by screenwriter John Michael Hayes from a Cornell Woolrich short story, “It Had to Be Murder.” James Stewart stars as L.B. “Jeff” Jefferies, a Greenwich Village photojournalist temporarily incapacitated due to a shattered leg.
I’ve always considered Rear Window to be Hitchcock’s best film. Some may argue that Vertigo or North By Northwest are superior. But in this Age of Coronavirus, Rear Window should speak to us all. Do you have a favorite Hitchcock film? GRADE: A
North By Northwest is probably my favorite.
Jeff, NORTH BY NORTHWEST blew me away the first time I saw it. Imagine what Hitchcock could do if he had the CGI technology of today!
Don’t forget Hitchcock’s other claustrophobic film LIFEBOAT.
Jeff, I have a copy of LIFEBOAT that I need to rewatch now that you’ve reminded me!
This is good as are the others you have mentioned but my favourite (and there are quite a few l haven’t watched) is STRANGERS ON A TRAIN.
Neeru, Hitchcock’s STRANGERS ON A TRAIN might be better than Patricia Highsmith’s novel.
North By Northwest is also my favourite – especially the scenery in the mountains – with Mount Rushmore, which I’ve never had the chance to visit.
Might be that I’ve never seen Rear Window, maybe because I was to young when it was shown in German cinemas, have to try to get it.
Wolf, you will love REAR WINDOW. Very suspenseful, very clever.
Now I realised that I’ve seen it of course – as “Das Fenster zum Hof” (window to the court) …
Wolf, interesting translation!
Probably my favorite is VERTIGO—although I wish Hitchcock hadn’t let the audience in on who Kim Novak’s character really is so early in the movie and had let them discover her identity at the same time Jimmy Stewart does. I don’t think Hitchcock ever trusted his audience to connect the dots—which is why he has that long coda at the end of PSYCHO with the psychiatrist explaining why Norman Bates did the things he did.
Deb, I agree with you on Hitchcock’s opinion of his audiences. That coda at the end of PSYCHO is completely unnecessary.
I’ve seen all of Hitchcock’s movies starting with the thirties version of “The Man Who Knew Too Much”, many of them several times, and picking one favorite is virtually impossible. Probably “North By Northwest” is the most purely entertaining, followed closely by “Rear Window”. The one I’ve seen most frequently is “Psycho”–the only movie I’ve seen more often is Howard Hawks’ “Rio Bravo”, my favorite western. I love “Vertigo” and understand why it’s the critics’ favorite, but there are a few others I prefer. The one I saw most recently is “To Catch a Thief”, which doesn’t have one of Hitchcock’s nail biting plots, but very few directors have ever made a more stunning looking movie. There are a few turkeys, like “Torn Curtain” and “Topaz”, but in a career of 40+ years the number is very small.
Michael, I totally agree with you on the quality of Hitchcock’s films over his long career. I need to rewatch TO CATCH A THIEF.
My favorite also followed by Vertigo and North by Northwest. I love them all. I have been wanting to see Notorious again. Maybe Prime has it for $4,
Patti, I may have to break out my Hitchcock movies and binge. I need to watch NOTORIOUS again, too!
Yes, it’s a good one, though I also like Vertigo a lot.
Rick, VERTIGO is very stylish.
Of his older films, I also like SHADOW OF A DOUBT.
Jeff, yes, SHADOW OF A DOUBT is underrated.
I’m a big Hitchcock fan. I like just about every Hitchcock movie I’ve seen. He does have a few stinkers-Waltzes From Vienna, Jamaica Inn, The Trouble With Harry, Marnie, Topaz. I like Rear Window a lot, but my favorite Hitchcock is Psycho. Followed by North By Northwest and Strangers On a Train. Vertigo is probably his most overrated. I also prefer the original The Man Who Knew Too Much. The remake suffers from too much Doris Day and Que Sera Sera. A few years back a local theater showed new prints of Vertigo, North By Northwest and Rear Window.
Steve, the Blu-ray versions of Hitchcock’s movies dazzle me!
I don’t endorse the concept of “Best” or even “Favorite” since I hate to talk in Absolutes, but I will say REAR WINDOW is the Ultimate Movie, in that it puts the viewer and the hero in the same position: all-seeing and helpless. I still remember seeing it in as crowded theater and hearing a collective gasp as Raymond Burr looked up into the camera.
Dan, I agree with your analysis. REAR WINDOW forces constraints on the viewer–just as Stewart is constrained–and ratchets up the tension and suspense. It’s a brilliant film.
Hitchcock always believed cinema was a form of voyeurism.
Steve, Hitchcock is right.
My favorite, SECRET AGENT. I imagine I’m a majority of one on that choice. I first saw REAR WINDOW on a re-release in 1962, those pre-home video days when most of us had to catch a movie on re-release, in a repertory house (if you were lucky enough to live in a large city with one), on a one-and-done local or network TV broadcast, or not at all.
Fred, I need to rewatch SECRET AGENT, too. It’s been years since I’ve seen it.
This was the movie that made me realize how beautiful Grace Kelly was.
My Mom was a member of Better Films and had a pass (her plus 1) for the Downer Theater. One summer they ran a series of old movies on their big screen. I was Mom’s plus 1.
I’d seen Rear Window before on TV but the color and the big screen put everything into perspective.
Wow! Grace was a knockout!