2. General Information
Rear Window is a suspense film
directed by Alfred Hitchcock. It
was written by John Michael
Hays and based on a short
story, “It Had to Be Murder” by
Cornall Woolrich.
The film was released on the 1th
August 1954 in America.
3. Synopsis
Photographer L.B. “Jeff” Jeffries
breaks his leg working at a race
track. Being confined to a wheel
chair in his New York
apartment, he spends his time
looking out of the rear window
observing the neighbours. He
begins to suspect that the man
opposite may have murdered his
wife. Jeff enlists the help of his
girlfriend Lisa Fremont and his
nurse, Stella, to investigate.
4. Technical Information
The film was filmed in colour
(Technicolor)
Aspect Ratio 1.66.1 Spherical
Running Time: 112 minutes
It was all filmed in production
studio Paramount Pictures.
5. Cast
James Stewart - L B "Jeff" Jeffries
Grace Kelly - Lisa Carol Fremont
Wendell Corey - Lieutenant Thomas J Doyle
Thelma Ritter - Stella
Raymond Burr - Lars Thorwald
Judith Evelyn - Miss Lonelyheart
Ross Bagdasarian - Songwriter
Georgine Darcy - Miss Torso
Sara Berner - Woman on fire escape
Frank Cady - Man on fire escape
Jesslyn Fax - Miss Hearing Aid
Rand Harper - Newlywed man
Havis Davenport - Newlywed woman
Irene Winston - Mrs Anna Thorwald
Alan Lee - Landlord
Anthony Warde - Detective
6. Main Crew
Directed by Alfred Hitchcock
Herbert Coleman - assistant director
Produced by Alfred Hitchcock
Written by John Michael Hayes
Photographed by Robert Burks
Music by Franz Waxman
Edited by George Tomasini
Costume Design by Edith Head
Production Design by: J McMillan
Johnson
Hal Pereira - art director
7. Brief Analysis of Voyeurism in
Rear Window
The MacGuffin plot device in Rear Window is the murder
of Thorwald’s wife and to some extent, so is Jeffries’
obsession in spying into the lives of his neighbours. The
macguffin allows the the story of the romantic
relationship begin Jeffrey and Lisa to develop.
The characters use the opposite windows similarly to
cinema screens. They partly to identify with other
people, to compare their lives, to use these lives to talk
about their lives.
The majority of the film is in the subjective view of
Jeffrey. There are times where the camera shows us
something which Jeffrey doesn’t see to build suspence.
8. Reception
The film earned $5.3 million in rentals
at North American box office in 1954.
With a $36,764,313 total from the box
office from a budget of $1 million.
Time magazine called it “just possible
the second most entertaining picture
(after the 39 Steps) ever made by
Hitchcock”.
Rotten Tomatoes gave it a 100%
certified fresh rating, based on 61
reviews.