“You’re not up on your private-eye literature. When they’re in trouble, it’s always their Girl Friday who gets them out of it.”
-Lisa Fremont (Grace Kelly), Rear Window (1954)
In 1954, Alfred Hitchcock found himself in a bit of a career slump. While he had had a hit a few years earlier with an excellent movie titled Strangers on a Train (1951), that success was the exception that proved the rule: Hitchcock’s filmography since Notorious (1946) had been critically panned, commercially unsuccessful, or both. Personally, I haven’t seen many of Hitchcock’s movies from that period-except for Rope (1948), which I love and will defend any day of the week. (I’ve seen and loved Strangers on a Train, too, although that one doesn’t need any defense from me; that’s the only Hitchcock film from 1947-1953 that’s widely known and loved!)
Unfortunately, those financial flops were especially impactful. In 1947, he had established his own production company, Transatlantic Pictures, with his associate Sidney Bernstein. It had been a bid to get out from under the thumb of domineering producers like David O. Selznick (for whom Hitchcock had made his first American movies). Sadly, the fledgling company was unable to recover from the number of financial flops produced under its banner, and it shuttered after the release of I Confess (1953).
After all this had happened, Hitchcock knew that he had to re-establish himself. He took on two projects with two different studios: Dial ‘M’ For Murder for Warner Bros. (based on Frederick Knott’s hit play) and, for Paramount, an adaptation of a Cornell Woolrich short story titled Rear Window.
While both movies are good, it’s Rear Window that’s the shining jewel. It’s also the movie we’re here to discuss today!
(Incidentally, that trailer is for a 1960s re-release of the movie, evidenced by the fact that the trailer mentions Psycho. Apparently, the trailer for the original release no longer exists! Anyway, back to your regularly scheduled post…)
During his normal life, L.B. Jeffries (James Stewart) works as a photographer for a news magazine. Unfortunately, he hasn’t been able to live that normal life for several weeks. After an accident during a race-track photo shoot, Jeffries-“Jeff” to his friends-is tied to his apartment, bound by a wheelchair and a broken leg. Faced with a long string of empty hours, Jeff begins to fill that time by spying on his neighbors in the apartment buildings across the courtyard outside his building. (We’re going to be talking A LOT about those neighbors in a moment, so I won’t go into detail about them here!)
His homebound life is also punctuated by visits from two people. One of those visitors is Stella (Thelma Ritter), a nurse for the insurance company who provides care with a side of sarcastic, down-to-earth advice. The other visitor-and the more interesting one storywise-is Lisa Fremont (Grace Kelly), a young socialite who happens to be in love with Jeff. Jeff is hesitant to get into a relationship with Lisa, though, believing that their lifestyles are incompatible. (More on their relationship later, too!)
Jeff’s neighbor-watching becomes more perilous when he comes to believe that Lars Thorwald (Raymond Burr), a street-corner-style salesman, has murdered his bedridden, strong-willed wife. Eventually, Lisa and Stella believe it, too-although Jeff’s detective friend Tom Doyle (Wendell Corey) doesn’t. Undeterred, the three of them try to expose Thorwald as the killer…
What we’ve laid out so far is the basic structure of Rear Window. So far, it seems to be a par-for-the-course Hitchcock thriller, right? Nothing less than what we expect from the so-called “master of suspense.” There’s nothing wrong with that, and if a person wanted to enjoy Rear Window simply as a mystery-thriller with some light comedy and a unique hook, they’d absolutely be rewarded!
However, to paraphrase Donald Spoto in his book The Art of Alfred Hitchcock, to enjoy Rear Window only as a good thriller is to miss out on all the interesting details and side trails that make the movie such a rich and rewarding experience. In fact, during my most recent rewatch, I noticed something that I thought was fascinating-in fact, it made pieces of the movie click in my mind in a way they never had before.
See, I think Rear Window isn’t a thriller so much as it is a romance. The possible-murder storyline takes a backseat to what’s going on between Lisa and Jeff!
Sounds crazy, but let me explain!
“I can hear you now. ‘Get out of my life, you perfectly wonderful woman; you’re too good for me.'”
-Stella (Thelma Ritter), Rear Window
We hear about Lisa Fremont before we meet her, during a long scene between Stella and Jeff. Through their conversation, we learn that Lisa is a real mover-and-shaker in New York City society, and, as we’ve established, she’s madly in love with Jeff. Not only is Lisa in love with Jeff, she’s ready to settle down with him. As it turns out, this is the opposite of what Jeff wants. There are a couple of reasons Jeff refuses to take the plunge. First of all, he’s afraid that marriage-especially to a beautiful socialite like Lisa-will put an end to his rough-and-tumble globe-hopping life taking photos for his magazine. Secondly-and as Stella astutely points out-Jeff’s a little afraid that Lisa’s out of his league, and that she might realize it if they got married.
When Lisa comes to visit Jeff later that night, she wants to show Jeff how much she cares for him, making his last week in the wheelchair as enjoyable as possible. Lisa tells Jeff that she’s bought him a new cigarette case to replace a broken, worn-out one. Even more impressively, Lisa’s arranged for her and Jeff to share a catered dinner from the 21 Club, complete with a fully uniformed waiter to help with the meal. Unfortunately, these gestures only reinforce Jeff’s opinion that Lisa’s high-society life wouldn’t mesh with his adventurous photographer’s life.
Lisa suggests compromises: maybe Jeff could establish a permanent studio in New York and become exclusively a fashion photographer, or she could travel with him and the two of them could enjoy adventures together. Jeff shoots down both possibilities (somewhat rudely, it must be said), firm in his belief that their lives wouldn’t work together. All of this is laid out in this scene. It’s emotionally hard to watch but it lays out their relationship dynamic really well!
At the end of the scene, Lisa leaves for the evening, leaving Jeff alone with his window and the neighbors across the courtyard. There’s one small hiccup, though: Jeff isn’t leaving his relationship with Lisa behind at all. In fact, through that window, we see different dimensions to the relationship between Lisa and Jeff, as illustrated by those neighbors!
“Well, she picked the most prosperous looking one.”
“She’s not in love with him, or any of them.”
“How can you tell that from here?”
“You said it resembled my apartment, didn’t you?”
-Jeff and Lisa
Let’s start with “Miss Torso” (Georgine Darcy), Jeff’s nickname for the dancer who lives in the studio apartment directly across from him. According to Jeff, “Miss Torso”‘s the tenant that’s the most similar to Lisa’s: an attractive woman with a busy life who appears to have a wide selection of suitors from which to choose. Lisa feels more of a connection with another of the neighbors. However, she understands enough of “Miss Torso”‘s life to see that there’s more happening than Jeff can see, that she’s not just the “eat-drink-and-be-merry girl” that Jeff describes. Lisa says that there’s a deeper longing and feeling behind the life Jeff sees, and the ending of the movie proves Lisa right.
One reason why Lisa can see the deeper story beneath the surface is because Lisa’s living in a similar scenario. To Jeff and (perhaps) the others around her, Lisa leads a glamorous, carefree life full of new fashions, lunches with society moguls, and the like. However, Lisa also carries a deep longing for a man who’s unavailable to her. It’s a plight she and “Miss Torso” share!
“Poor Miss Lonelyhearts, she drank herself to sleep again.”
“Poor soul. Maybe one day she’ll find her happiness.”
-Stella and Jeff
Lisa feels more of a connection with “Miss Lonelyhearts” (Judith Evelyn), an extremely lonely woman who lives directly beneath the Thorwalds’ apartment. Throughout the movie, we see her in a series of really sad scenes in which she struggles to deal with her crushing loneliness. In the scene pictured above, she creates a fantasy dinner for two that ends in tears as the daydream crumbles. Later in the movie, she goes out, trying to find a date. She does find one, but when she brings him home to bring the dinner to life, the lecherous man forces himself upon her. Fortunately, “Miss Lonelyhearts” gains the upper hand and throws the man out, but she obviously feels shattered by the experience.
I think it’s really telling that Lisa relates with “Miss Lonelyhearts” the most. Not only is it a vivid reminder that everybody needs help (even people who seem to have it all together), but it also shows how heavy an emotional toll Jeff’s constant rejection takes on her. “Miss Lonelyhearts”‘s loneliness is so strong and crushing that it makes it hard for her to have an enjoyable life, and the fact that Lisa feels the same is incredibly tragic.
“About time you got married, before you turn into a lonesome and bitter old man.“
“Yeah, can’t you just see me rushin’ home to a hot apartment to listen to the automatic laundry and the electric dishwasher and the garbage disposal…the nagging wife…”
-Jeff and his Editor (Gig Young)
However, Jeff doesn’t see anything out his window that inspires him to tie the knot; in fact, he sees things that prompt him to keep away from the institution. The most vivid example of this happens to be Lars Thorwald, our possible murderer, and his wife and victim Anna (Irene Winston). Each time Jeff watches the couple interact, it ends in arguments, insults, and hurt feelings. We never hear what those arguments are about, but seeing them is enough to keep Jeff further from marriage.
What’s even more telling is how similar Anna Thorwald resembles Lisa Fremont. With similar hairstyles and EXACTLY the same nightgown, it’s a visual way for the movie to underline the parallel that Jeff sees between the Thorwalds and his relationship.
“Where’s that wonderful music coming from?”
“Some songwriter over there in the studio apartment.”
“Oh, it’s enchanting. Almost as if it were being written especially for us.”
“No wonder he’s having so much trouble with it.”
-Lisa and Jeff
All of these conflicting notions and emotions are underscored by the songwriter (Ross Bagdasarian) in the studio apartment to the right of Jeff’s. The songwriter spends most of the movie working on a song that’s not coming very easily. Throughout the film, we see him noodling around with notes and, at one point, he flings his song pages off the piano in a fit of frustration. However, he slowly but surely continues to progress with the song, which happens to be titled “Lisa.” (What a coincidence!) What’s really lovely is to hear the song come together as Lisa and Jeff’s relationship strengthens-and it does. But more on that later!
However, the song isn’t the only interesting point to be gleaned from the songwriter’s apartment; there’s a poignant blink-and-you’ll-miss-it moment that suggests a deeper parallel between the songwriter and Jeff! The songwriter throws a party at one point, and one of the records played during said party is titled “Mona Lisa.” As the song plays, we catch a glimpse of the songwriter’s apartment. Something interesting happens: while the partygoers are drinking and having a good time, the songwriter stands silently, sipping a drink and staring out the window. It leaves us to wonder: does this song make the songwriter feel melancholy? Does he have a Lisa he left behind?
And will Jeff feel the same if he pushes Lisa away?
(Spoilers in this next section, but this is important!)
Eventually, Lisa gets a chance to prove that she’s capable of following along with Jeff on his globetrotting adventures! During the third act, Lisa (and Stella too, but ESPECIALLY Lisa) becomes the main character as she gets out of the apartment and starts doing all the dangerous stuff: leaving incriminating notes under Thorwald’s door, digging for clues in his flower bed, and ultimately climbing into Thorwald’s apartment to search for evidence. These activities are ultimately what it takes to open Jeff’s eyes and fully embrace the love for her that’s been simmering beneath his unflappable surface. What’s extra interesting is how a lot of this action is underscored by a group of musicians in the songwriter’s apartment, working on a recording of “Lisa.” As Lisa and Jeff’s relationship comes into focus, the song comes together, too!
(Still spoilers!)
After the dust clears and everything’s as it should be, we get a final look at the courtyard that we’ve come to know so well, watching as each story gets wrapped up in a satisfying way. The Thorwalds’ apartment is empty, receiving a fresh coat of paint to wipe away any trace of its past. After biding her time, “Miss Torso” finally has a joyful reunion with her boyfriend Stanley (Benny Bartlett), freshly returned from military service. “Miss Lonely Hearts” has gotten together with the songwriter, who plays his completed record for her…
…And Lisa and Jeff have come together, as well! As Jeff happily naps, Lisa lounges nearby, reading a book titled Beyond the High Himalayas. The scene doesn’t end there, though; as Lisa sees that Jeff is asleep, she sets down the travel book and picks up a copy of Harper’s Bazaar. I love that final detail! At first glance, it might seem like Lisa’s playing with Jeff, but I don’t see it that way. Lisa’s already proven that she has a true taste for adventure like Jeff; her actions during the climax make that evident. Instead, I think this is a statement of strength on Lisa’s part! She’s willing to share in Jeff’s globetrotting life, but she’s NOT going to abandon her own interests for the sake of the relationship. It’s an empowering move!
(Okay, spoilers done!)
When we see Alfred Hitchcock’s name on a poster, it’s easy to assume that we’ll be sitting down to a good-to-great thriller with a nice-looking visual style. Rear Window certainly delivers on all those expectations, but the most fascinating thing about the film is what’s going on between Jeff and Lisa, not to mention all the dramas playing out across that courtyard. Rear Window cares about its characters first, and that’s what makes the movie great!
The Vintage Vestibule 