Rear Window (1954)

In REAR WINDOW, Jimmy Stewart plays a photographer who is in a wheelchair in his New York City apartment with a broken leg. To pass the time, he spends his days looking out the window at his neighbors with a telephoto lens on his camera. His imagination starts to run wild, and he suspects murder when he notices that a man’s bedridden wife has disappeared. Grace Kelly plays Jimmy’s neglected girlfriend who wishes he would focus on HER instead of all his neighbors. REAR WINDOW is one of the most iconic mystery thrillers of all time from the master of suspense himself, Alfred Hitchcock. In this episode, James and Lara talk about what screenwriter John Michael Hayes did to capture the essence of who Grace Kelly really was, Hitch’s silent film roots, and how a shirtless Jimmy Stewart getting a massage left Lara feeling confused. We also discuss REAR WINDOW’s Oscar nominations, Alfred Hitchcock’s cameo, and the effectiveness of the sound design. Open up your windows and blinds, uncap your telephoto lens, and get ready to wonder what’s going on behind closed doors in a film that has been called the best example of classic Hitchcock cinema.