Director: Alfred Hitchcock

Genre: Mystery, Thriller

Runtime: 112 Minutes

Main Cast: James Stewart, Grace Kelly, Wendell Corey, Thelma Ritter, Raymond Burr, Judith Evelyn

Plot: After an accident leaves him wheelchair-bound with a broken leg in the middle of summer, Jeff finds himself with nothing better to do than to sit by his rear window, watching his neighbors go about their lives. He becomes suspicious one night that one of them might actually be a murderer.

My Thoughts: Rear Window is shockingly only my second Hitchcock movie, it was common sense to include at least one Hitchcock flick in my Blind Spot list this year! I knew the basic plot and the fact that Disturbia (2007) was based on it, but that was about it. After watching it, I feel quite conflicted. There are so many details about this movie that I love – but the story wasn’t that thrilling to me.

My favourite thing about the movie was the 3 lead characters. Poor Jeff in his wheelchair, suffering. His maid/nurse from the insurance company, providing the best advice and witty one-liners. His gorgeous girlfriend, wanting nothing but Jeff’s happiness whilst he pushes her away. You could give me any kind of plot and I would have absolute blast just watching these 3 characters interact with each other!

So I guess that leads me to the story itself. A day after watching, I can appreciate it’s simplicity – I think some modern movies have so much plot crammed into 2 hours that it’s a mess, but I was just left wanting more. It took almost a third of the runtime before anything really happened, and for me at least, there was never any question about what had transpired. The final act was thrilling though, I’ll definitely admit that.

Best Bit: The moment that Lisa suddenly changes her mind from ‘Jeff, you’re being crazy’ to ‘Oh my God Jeff your neighbour is a murderer’ was so funny – that’s exactly how fast I can change my mind sometimes. Either that bit or right at the end where we see Jeff sat back at his window again…poor guy!

Worst Bit: There’s so specific moment but that detective was a right nasty piece of work. I honestly thought at one point that he was being deliberately unhelpful because he was in on the murder!

Fun Trivia: According to Georgine Darcy, the scene in which the man and woman on the fire escape struggle in their attempt to get in out of the rain can be attributed to a prank by Sir Alfred Hitchcock. Each actor and actress in the apartment complex facing Jeff’s rear window wore an earpiece through which they could receive Hitchcock’s directions. Hitchcock told the man to pull the mattress in one direction and told the woman to pull in the opposite direction. Unaware that they had received conflicting directions, the couple began to fight and struggle to get the mattress inside once the crew began filming the scene. The resulting mayhem in which one of them is tossed inside the window with the mattress provided humor and a sense of authenticity to the scene which Hitchcock liked. He was so pleased with the result, that he did not order another take.

My Rating: 3 and a half baskets, which can be used to transport your cute little dog up to your third-floor apartment. And give others a heart attack worrying about whether the dog is going to jump/fall out!

The Blind Spot Series was created a few years ago by Ryan at The Matinee, and is now hosted by Sofia at Returning Videotapes. As part of the Series, bloggers choose 1 movie to watch and review each month that is deemed a ‘classic’ or ‘must-watch’. To see the rest of my picks for the year, check out my announcement post here.