Rear Window - Collector's Edition

Rating:
Summary: LOVE this movie
Review: This is a great flick. A classic. Could never be redone and improved upon. A PERFECT film

Rating:
Summary: A Beautiful Classic!
Review: "Rear Window" is an extraordinarily clever movie. Though a thriller, it is fun to watch. Alfred Hitchcock must have relished making it. RW is special in that there is only one location- Jimmy Stewart's rear-facing apartment. The ensuing claustrophobic effect only adds to the charm. Jimmy plays a big time "Life Magazine" photographer, laid up with a broken leg. With too much time on his hands, he spies on his neighbors in the building across the courtyard. What an assortment of cameras! And what an assortment of characters! Each window holds a story. Just imagine the choreography the director had to manage. The "neighbors" include the struggling musician with strange friends and stranger parties, Miss Lonely Hearts, Miss Torso, the newlyweds, the couple with the little dog (!), and the man with the sickly wife. The husband, Raymond Burr, gives Stewart bad vibes right away. Some bizarre actions-and sounds (!)- emanating from that apartment leads Stewart to believe that Burr has killed the wife and disposed of her in a suitcase. In 1954, Burr still was cast as a bad guy. The problem is that no one listens to Jimmy. His ravishing girlfriend (Grace Kelly), his physical therapist (Thelma Ritter) and his detective buddy, (Wendell Corey) all think Jimmy has gone stir crazy from inactivity. Suddenly, in a pivotal nighttime moment, Kelly believes him! Dressed to the nines, she actually breaks into Burr's apartment! This reviewer won't divulge the resolution but Hitchcock does a masterful job in resolving the kaleidoscopic sagas of the vanishing wife and those wonderful folks in the windows. How grateful we are that they kept their shades up. (Most of the time) It's delightful to think about how many subplots this classic movie has. Many praise Stewart's work in RW but this reviewer would shed the spotlight on Kelly, the perfect uptown girl, icy and sexy all at the same time. Watch for that second story job in an expensive calf length dress! RW was nominated for Best Director and Best Screenplay but came away empty handed at Oscar time. Why it was not nominated for cinematography is a mystery- since RW is a photographic marvel Kelly did win the Oscar for her role in "The Country Girl". The New York film Critics also bestowed on her their Best Actress Award for "Rear Window", "The Country Girl" and another Hitchcock classic-"Dial M for Murder". 1954 was quite a year for Grace. The Academy Awards may have passed RW by but movie fans should not. This is one of those films that get better with time and are more appealing on the fifth viewing than the first. The sheer visual effects alone mark RW as a jewel.