Rear Window (1954) Review

June 9, 2025.

Jimmy Stewart: the rugged, adventurous action photographer. Grace Kelly: the elegant, fashionable socialite. Their relationship is stunted by the broken leg L.B. Jefferies (Stewart), leaving him wheelchair bound and unable to ‘get up’-so to speak. Forced to look out his window for entertainment, Jefferies noticed his neighbor acting suspicious and the couple reconnects through solving what they believe to be a murder. 

The film is set in New York’s Greenwich Village, inside of Jefferies apartment. His room overlooks the courtyard, giving him a view into the private lives of his neighbors. The courtyard was based on the real apartment building of 125 Christopher St, although the film was shot entirely on stage 17 at Paramount Studios in Los Angeles. The nearly 40 feet tall, 185 feet long constructed set was so massive it required the crew to dig into the basement as well as install a drainage system for the scene in which it rains. 

L.B. Jefferies is introduced through a series of photographs across his apartment. Daring shots of explosions, high speed cars, and a smashed to pieces camera on a table below them. Jefferies sits in his chair with both his legs in full casts, an autograph reads, “here lie the broken bones of L.B. Jefferies”. It is with this that his nurse arrives, played by the hilarious Thelma Ritter. It’s not often “the nurse was my favorite” is said by audiences as they leave the theater but Ritter's wisecracking remarks as Stella makes this commonplace. That night Jefferies is visited by his elegant, 5th Ave socialite girlfriend, Lisa Fremont, brought to live by legendary actress (and princess of Monaco) Grace Kelly. 

Rear Window has many defining qualities that rightfully earned it the 40th spot in 2022s Sight and Sound poll for The British Institute of Film. A standout feature is the work of costume designer Edith Head. She stated, “There was a reason for every colour Grace wore, every style, and he was absolutely certain about everything. Hitch wanted her to appear like a piece of Dresden china, something slightly untouchable.” The elegance of Lise Fremont is a performance that can only be achieved by Kelly, accompanied by the six outfits she wears in the picture. 

Kelly's first appearance comes at night as Jefferies sits in his wheelchair and a shadow covers him. A close-up of Kelly takes over the screen as the two kiss. As she turns on the lights her and her outfit are highlighted in dialogue as well as camera blocking. She wears a monochromatic dress with floral patterns, a black low-cut, off the shoulder top, red lipstick, a pearl necklace, accompanied by white gloves and a white stole . The two argue about their future together, her dressed like the window models at saks, him in pajamas. As she storms out, Jefferies returns to looking across his courtyard, only to hear a woman scream. The next morning, he tells Stella (Ritter) what he saw and she scoffs at him. That night as he and Lisa kiss, he is preoccupied with what he believed to have seen. Lisa wears a black, see-through top and black dress, again with pearls. She, of course, thinks he's gone mad, until they see the neighbor backing a large trunk, possibly containing the mangled corpse of his wife. The next day Jefferies continues to watch his neighbors through binoculars and a telephoto camera lens. The private lives and relations he intrudes upon remind him of his own relationship with Lisa. He watches a young and attractive woman, a newlywed couple, a heartbroken aging woman, and of course a man who is suspected of murdering his wife. That night Lisa returns in a light green suit on top of a white halter top. She matches this with a pillbox hat, which was a popular style at the time, and a pearl and gold bracelet. They work through the murder and Lisa suggests spending the night. Although this is nothing explicit by today's standards, the hays code was still in full effect at the time of the film's release, making it a risque request. For their sleepover she dawns a silk negligee which is fancy enough to be an evening gown. The next day the two of them, including Stella who is beginning to believe their accusations, come closer to figuring out the truth. Lisa wears a white dress embroidered with gold flowers and again, red lipstick and a pearl necklace. It is in this outfit that she sneaks into the neighbor's apartment, as Jeffiers sees him return home from across the courtyard. Once all is said, the camera pans across Lisa, laying on Jefferies bed. For the first time she wears a much more casual pair of black penny loafers, blue jeans, and a red button-up. She reads a travel book about the Himalayas, only to switch to an issue of Harper's Bazaar once Jefferies falls asleep. She's missing her signature red lipstick and pearls, demonstrating her adjustment to Jefferies lifestyle.

Hitchcock has been subject to scrutiny over his treatment of leading females, both their characters on the screen and the actor portrayed the role. In this picture, it has been suggested that Lisa is submissive and reliant on Jefferies, despite her being the one actually put in danger while he sits in his wheelchair. The moment she decides to enter the suspected murder scene while Jefferies watches is her crossing over into his life of action and danger, something he claimed she was incapable of. Stewart said of Kelly: “Everybody just sat around and waited for her to come in the morning, so we could just look at her. She was kind to everybody, so considerate, just great, and so beautiful." She had a "complete understanding of the way motion picture acting is carried out."

The picture can be perceived as a commentary by Hitchcock on film itself. Stewart’s eyes are the camera and his window is the screen. The audience sees only what Stewart can see, as his reactions are dispersed throughout his gaze. By this, Hitchcock intentionally uses “The Kuleshov Effect”. What is now taught to students on the first day of film school was the lesser known film editing technique demonstrated by Russian filmmaker Lev Kuleshov throughout the 1910s and 20s. Hitch described this to Fletcher Markle in 1964 as “Pure Cinematics. The assembly of film and how it can be changed to create a different idea”. He goes on: “let’s assume [a man] saw a woman holding a baby in her arms. Now we cut back to his reaction to what he sees and he smiles. He’s a kind man, he’s sympathetic. Now let’s take the middle piece of film away but leave his two pieces of film as they were. Now we’ll put in a piece of film of a girl in a bikini. He look, girl in a bikini, he smiles. What is he now? A dirty old man. That’s what film can do for you.” This exercise in editing is what drives the film through the quiet, draw-out moments of Jefferies looking out his window. These peaceful moments of reflection tell us about the character without words, but expressions. As he sees his young and beautiful neighbor dubbed “miss torso” get dressed, he smiles. As he sees “miss lonelyhearts” cry over her failed relationship, he sighs. It’s a masterclass in acting through micro-beats and facial expressions from Stewart, which combined with Hitch’s directing and longtime editor George Tomasini creates one of the great American motion pictures. With every picture, Hitch set out to achieve something new. He viewed reusing elements and themes as self-plagiarism, so Rear Window was an opportunity to create a challenge for himself to overcome, and overcome he did.