Rating: 
Summary: What else can you say?
Review: "Rear Window" came to my attention 20 years ago, courtesy of my mom. She and I were talking about our favorite scary movies, and mine, of course, were confined primarily to blood and gore. She then told me about this amazingly simple story about "a man confined to a chair who may or may not have seen a murder." When I asked her how he could've seen a murder from his perspective in an apartment wheelchair, she told me "that's where all the suspense comes from." The movie was then rereleased in theaters, and I saw it for the first time. To put it simply, I was floored; no film with such a simple skeleton should have this much flesh and blood packed in a running time of 114 minutes. I went out and purchased it the moment it became a home video. The single-set confinement, the sub-stories involving the other neighbors, the cat-and-mouse interplay (not just with Jeffries and Thorwald, but with Stewart, Corey, Kelly, and Thelma Ritter) is spellbinding. (Sorry, that's another movie.) It's also a wonderfully adult movie, with more than a little sexy entendre betwixt James Stewart and the gorgeous Grace Kelly. One of my top ten favorites, I can honestly conclude that it is Hitchcock's masterpiece.
Rating:
Summary: It doesn't get much better than this
Review: Hitchcock's 'Rear Window' is a 50s classic. It's almost everything - a romance, a thriller, a mystery and a comedy - all at the same time.With some brilliant performances, especially by James Stewart, this movie is about how a man observes his neighbors, only to find that each experience is only a reflection (to varying degrees) of his feelings towards his girfriend (Grace Kelly). This is a thoroughly enjoyable (and less scary) Hithcock movie!
Rating:
Summary: Nail Biting Suspense
Review: This is the perfect thriller, driven by the voyeur in all of us. Hitchcock understood that most people are more comfortable looking at the lives of others from a distance. We can become involved and passionate about it even, just as we do with the movies, and yet have great difficulty one on one. This film subtly explores this area of our personalities while giving us one of the most entertaining films of all time. Would you have trouble commiting to the elegant and sexy Grace Kelly? Jeff (Jimmy Stewart) does, as we get to hear about when he is laid up in a cast because of an accident while he was on an assignment. Jeff (short for Jeffries) is used to seeing the world through the illuminating lens of his camera, he is a professional photographer. Lisa's (Grace Kelley) patience and elegant charm and the always no nonsense practicality of Nurse Thelma Ritter makes for great entertainment as Jeff is bored and begins watching his neighbors across the courtyard. Jeff becomes involved in their lives like he is watching a daily soap opera, much to the disapproval of Lisa. He takes to heart their loneliness and finds pleasure in their fine moments. But something darker begins to take shape when Jeff begins to piece together what he has seen in one apartment and fears he may be spying on a killer. His own disbelief and Lisa's early scorn turns into an obsession that becomes evermore dangerous for all of them as Lisa begins to be Jeff's legs and believe him. But the man who may have murdered his wife may believe he has seen to much and the tension escalates to a fever pitch, putting all their lives in danger, as the voyeuristic climate changes to 'one on one'. This is wonderful entertainment. It moves deftly from light and breezy to a more concerned tone, graduating to nail biting, grab the arm of your chair, suspense. This is a teriffic and enjoyable film and one of Hitchcock's best. Raymond Burr as the possible murderer creates terror just by a glance across the courtyard at the spying Stewart. Kelly and Ritter give this film it's footing, making the events completely believable. But it is Jimmy Stewart who hit's this one out of the park to dead center. He gives one of his finest performances here, conveying the irritation of being in a cast and the emotional helplessness when he may not be able to escape the consequences of his own voyeurism because of it. You'll watch this one every time someone comes over once you own it. Enjoy.....
Rating: 
Summary: Hitchcock banks solely on glamourous Kelly - his worst ever!
Review: Hitchcock's favorite leading man, Jimmy Stewart, wheelchair bound and bored, does what every guy in this situation would do: He grabs a pair of binoculars and "explores" the apartment windows across the yard. Of course he eventually gets an eye-full of funny business in one of the windows (someone murdered a woman and then disposed of the body by burrying it in the yard). Love interest Grace Kelly, totally keeping her cool, aides the handicapped amateur sluth in his quest to bring the murderer to justice. Also part of the fun is Thelma Ritter in one of her 6 career Oscar-nominated performances. This "thriller" is certainly predictable, limping by on a bit of nail-biting tension and several "almost caught by the bad guy" scenes. Otherwise it's just not up to Hitchcock's usual best. To anyone just discovering The Master of Mahem, I can highly recommend "Frenzy", "The 39 Steps" and the dark comedy "The Trouble With Harry", assuming that everyone starts (and has already seen) "Psycho". If you are new to "Rear Window", there are many better ways to spend 2 hours of your life (that you'll never get back). As a big fan of "The Master", I find this to be his weakest work. He offers the beautiful, ultra-glamourous Grace Kelly (soon to be Princess of Monacco) and a visibly much older, favorite leading man Jimmy Stewart, further perpetuating the chronic "older man, gorgeous young woman" love story that endured Barrymore/Garbo, Bogey/Bacall, Gable/Monroe and the likes. What is (and ever was) wrong with a 50 year old man dating a woman his own age? Stop the "Daddy" stuff, it's no longer cute.
Rating:
Summary: 'I'm not much on rear window ethics'
Review: One of Hitchcock's favourites of his own films, REAR WINDOW is up there with the master's best, including VERTIGO, NORTH BY NORTHWEST and PSYCHO. James Stewart has one of his best roles here as L.B Jefferies, a photographer who busts up his leg and gets stuck in an apartment with nothing to do but stare at the neighbours. Voyerism, wit and suspense are all well played and along with Jimmy's great performance, there is the amazing Grace Kelly and Ramond Burr as the surly neighbour who may, or may not have killed his wife. Franz Waxman's musical score adds a tense layer of gripping suspense, with one of the scores where the music is the 5th character. Everything about the film is brilliant. What other film could you mention where every line is classic? Stella: 'Let's go down there and find out what's buried in that garden.' Lisa Carol Fremont: 'Why not? I've always wanted to meet Mrs. Thorwald.'
If I could give this more than 5 stars, I would. It is one of the most superbly-crafted films of all time.
Rating: 
Summary: Midcentury voyeurism
Review: This is the quintessential Hitchcock flick, easy to understand, addictively interesting, featuring great stars (Grace Kelly and James Stewart), familiar bit players (Thelma Ritter in one of her best roles as Stewart's talkative nurse), and a kind of almost imperceptible satire on the human animal. In this case, Hitchcock has glorious fun displaying a whole range of human behaviors through the device of watching them through a Greenwich Village rear window before the age of air conditioners when everyone had to leave their windows open (and some even slept on the fire escape-I've done that) to cope with the appalling heat and humidity during an eastern seaboard heatwave. James Stewart stars as L.B. Jeffries, an adventurerous photographer who has a broken leg and is confined to his apartment in a cast while it heals. Bored beyond belief, he becomes a voyeur of his neighbors. Meanwhile there is his girlfriend, none other than Grace Kelly playing a "too perfect" socialite intent on winning his heart and soul. Trouble is Jeff worries that it won't work out, that they are essentially incompatible, she a socialite, who always goes first class, he a roughing it man of the world comfortable with second class accomodations. Naturally the audience (me!) finds it incredible that he isn't madly in love with her. Raymond Burr (long TV's Perry Mason) in gray hair and specks has an interesting role as Lars Thorwald, seen almost entirely from a distance across the courtyard doing very suspicious things with knives and suitcases and mysterious comings and goings in the middle of the night. Bored voyeurs wonder what is going on. There is some light romantic play between Stewart and Kelly, but it is decidedly secondary to the voyeuristic adventures seen through the rear window: the saga of Miss Lonelyhearts, the ardor of the newlyweds, the angst of the songwriter, the exhibitionism of the dancing beauty, the pampered dog in a basket, and Thorwald and his invalid and then missing wife. Hitchcock's America at midcentury. Each of the little stories within the story has a plot and a resolution: Miss Lonelyhearts finds her man. The songwriter finds somebody who appreciates his work. Dancing beauty's man (looking from a distance a little like Woody Allen in an army uniform) returns. The groom seeks a break from his exhaustive marital duties, etc. Hitchcock's sense of satire has the softest touch, which is why, I think, he is so beloved. In the final scene Grace Kelly, finding her man asleep, puts down the adventure book she is reading (for his benefit) and picks up Harper's Bazaar to check the fashions. One gets the sense of future marital bliss and especially, marital reality. There is some tension and some mystery, but nothing too strenuous for little old ladies from Pasadena, and nothing to offend anybody and nothing too graphic. You can see this with the kids and your maiden aunt and all will find it interesting. See it for Thelma Ritter, the sadonic character actress of many films, most notably this and All About Eve (1950).
Rating:
Summary: A great thriller in the inimitable Hitchcock style...
Review: Rear Window and North by Northwest are my favorite Alfred Hitchcok films and rank very highly on the list of my favorite films overall. Although they are very different films, they both share great suspense, creative plots, some humor, and wonderful stars - what more could you ask for in a movie? Additionally, Rear Window offers some interesting insights into human nature and shows that, like L.B. Jeffries, we (as movie watchers) are essentially voyeurs. Basically, Rear Window is about photographer L.B. Jeffries (James Stewart) who, not being able to move due to a cast on his broken leg, starts to use his powerful camera lenses to observe people in the neighboring apartments. While watching, he notes the strange behavior of one man...and then begins to believe that the man murdered his wife. With a beautiful girlfriend (Grace Kelly) at his side, Jeffries investigates the situation, creating a great deal of suspense. The movie has a wonderfully clever conclusion which I am NOT going to describe: watch it and find it out for yourself! Anyhow, this is a true thriller, Hitchcock style. It features classic actors (James Stewart, especially, is amazing in this film), a creative, original plot that keeps you on the edge of your seat, and interesting thoughts about voyeurism, etc. As a last point, Rear Window has a real sense of atmosphere - it really transports the viewer to the apartment building in the hot summer. All in all - this is a FANTASTIC film - I don't know how else to recommend it!
Rating:
Summary: Looking Within
Review: 1954's REAR WINDOW is a brilliant study on voyeurism and insatiable curiosity. Wheelchair bound James Stewart spies on his neighbors in the courtyard from the window of his Greenwich Village apartment. Convinced that he has uncovered a murder, Stewart maintains his vigil with his society girlfriend (Grace Kelly) by his side. Hitchcock asks the viewer about the ethics of interpreting what goes on behind the closed doors of our neighbors, as his courtyard is an allegorical cross section of American society and mores during the 50s.
Rating:
Summary: A Wish-Fulfillment Feast!
Review: Not only does this marvelous film cater to one's desire for a peek at the neighbors, but it makes their daily round unrealistically interesting, attractive or affecting. The courtyard of the Manhattan apartment I once inhabited had no lovely ballerina starting the day with graceful, sensual dance, or talented songwriter filling the night air with live, semi-classical piano. Rather, my window opened on the blare and schlock of commercial television and radio. Jimmy Stewart's neighbors include not only a killer who considerately leaves his shades up for everything but the crime but also Miss Lonelyheart, who searches and grieves in full view, another woman who eloquently laments and protests (to all the world who failed to stop it) the murder of her pet dog, and policemen who arrive within seconds after being summoned to stop a fight. Who would need movies if ordinary life were this alive? Although Stewart is prone, with left leg in full cast, his role is something like that of a male ballet dancer, functioning as a kind of center off and around whom others play. These "others" include not only his neighbors (for the most part unaware of him), but also his visitors. In dialogue, we first see this with Thelma Ritter, who plays his skillful, no-nonsense nurse. Stewart's unassuming, brief responses set off her fast, funny, caring, shrewd paragraphs. For how many people do insurance companies provide nurses like this? But of course the crowning wish-fulfillment is Grace Kelly as Stewart's would-be bride. If there is another movie in which she is this beautiful, lead me to it. The beauty is in her carriage, her looks, her clothes, her speech, her love, her intelligence, her pluck, her resourcefulness, her resilience, her good temper, her liveliness. (That she stays superbly attractive is the more remarkable, since aggressive pursuit is not ordinarily a becoming posture.) Here she is, mine to enjoy. The more so, because Stewart's retreats leave her more available to me, who would be glad to fill in. The murderer is played by Raymond Burr, who spent much of his cinematic life as a central character, Perry Mason. Here, he mostly elicits action from others, rather than providing it himself, which is perhaps the fate of most criminals in detective stories they precipitate. There is of course the last, frightening struggle between him and Stewart, a climax more crucial for the plot than for my enjoyment of the movie, which had already been signed, sealed and delivered. By the way, two recent customer reviews see Stewart as totally or partly defenseless as Burr approaches his apartment. But is he? Why not lock the door? He is physically able to move to the door and lock it. He could unlock it again for friends or police. It is certainly frightening when a disabled good guy wrestles for his life against a strong bad guy. But is this predicament really necessary? Do we have an ending with no artistic necessity?
Rating:
Summary: HUMAN NATURE
Review: To maintain interest for 112 minutes in a movie that has one set,you've got to have a good script,and JOHN MICHAEL HAYE's for this film is almost perfect.HITCHCOCK is clearly at his peak here,working with a crew that understands his vision.The casting is examplary in every aspect;GRACE KELLY shines with her feminine charm;THELMA RITTER was one of the best supporting actress of her time and JAMES STEWART was tailor made for his role.A suspense film like this was quite unusual in 1954.What makes HITCHCOCK such a great director is his attention for details:the ring in GRACE's hand near the end;the way that HITCHCOCK combines the appetites of sex prelude and murder without insisting too much but making his point.If you pay attention,this film actually has a lot to say about the human nature.You should watch this movie twice to fully appreciate it.Many youngsters, brainwashed by the thrillers of our time ,that manages a few killings every fifteen minutes will be bored by this film.It is in fact stylish and intelligently conceived.One of HITCHCOCK'S 10 best ever.
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