Primal Fear on Film: Rear Window
Alfred Hitchcock's 1954 voyeuristic and unsettling masterpiece stars James Stewart and Grace Kelly.
Alfred Hitchcock's 1954 voyeuristic and unsettling masterpiece stars James Stewart and Grace Kelly.
Confined to a wheelchair with a broken leg, photographer L.B. "Jeff" Jeffries (Stewart) whiles his days away helplessly looking out his apartment window and peeping into his neighbors' lives. Not even his fashion-model girlfriend, Lisa (Kelly), can turn his head. His neighbors' routines unfurl before him, day in and day out, like so many silent movies. But, when one suddenly becomes a murder mystery, Jeff enlists Lisa to investigate across the courtyard. Before long, those being watched start to look back. Claustrophobic in form and setting, Rear Window is a single-location masterpiece showcasing Hitchcock's ability to make the most of the least, wringing drama, pleasure and terror from the simple act of looking.