REAR WINDOW A film review by David N. Butterworth Copyright 2000 David N. Butterworth
**** (out of ****)
Quick. Name Alfred Hitchcock's masterpiece. "Vertigo"? "Psycho"? How about "Rear Window"? Yeah, that's it...
Fifteen years after "Rear Window" enjoyed a mini-revival along with four other "long-lost" Hitchcock treasures--"Vertigo," "Rope," "The Trouble with Harry," and the remake of his own "The Man Who Knew Too Much" (the one in which Doris Day warbles "Que Sera, Sera")--the director's most accomplished film returns to theaters in a fully-restored print.
The old-fashioned dying process used to restore the negative has created a film version with richer, denser colors than we see in contemporary film stocks. Whereas these improvements might only be noticeable to a film historian viewing the prints side-by-side, the best thing about this restoration is that it gives moviegoers another chance to see this magnificent film as it was meant to be seen: in the theaters.
"Rear Window" is the one about the newspaper photographer (Jimmy Stewart in one of his best roles) holed up in his Manhattan apartment, confined to a wheelchair with a broken leg. Here he receives daily rubdowns by an insurance company nurse (Thelma Ritter, spouting more one-liners in one film than Arnold Schwarzenegger has achieved in his entire career), and occasional visits from his "perfect" socialite girlfriend (Grace Kelly at her most luminous).
With seven weeks to convalesce and the temperatures in the nineties, Stewart's L.B. Jefferies (Jeff) is given ample opportunity to observe the comings and goings of his neighbors since their blinds, like his, are invariably left up. Neighbors such as "Miss Torso," a well-proportioned young woman who enjoys performing calisthenics in her underwear; "Miss Lonelyheart," a depressed middle-aged spinster who fantasizes about meeting Mr. Right; and an aspiring songwriter who taps out compositions on his piano late into the night.
Most intriguing, however, are the Thorwalds who live directly across the way. Since Mrs. Thorwald is an invalid, Jeff's curiosity is aroused when he observes her husband making three mysterious trips very early one morning. The next day the blinds are drawn in the Thorwald's bedroom and Jeff, now more than a casual voyeur, begins to suspect foul play.
The entire film is shot from the claustrophobic perspective of Jeff's apartment with the only glimpse of the outside world supplied via a narrow alley leading to the street. The suspense unfolds within the red brick confines of the rear of the buildings, with the neighbors' petty dramas spilling out into the courtyard below. Inside, the nosy threesome, now joined by Jeff's old army buddy (played by Wendell Cory), discuss, hypothesize, argue, and intellectualize about the possibility of a crime having been committed.
John Michael Hayes' dialogue--at times crafty, alarming, witty, and never less than sparkling--is masterfully realized by a perfect cast. Ritter is a hoot and the sexual tension between Stewart and Kelly just sizzles. What's remarkable about Stewart's performance is that he spends a large proportion of the film simply observing, reacting--mostly with his eyes--to the things going on outside his window. A lesser actor could have easily overdone this.
With a playful score by Franz Waxman, stunning gowns by Edith Head, and Hitchcock's brilliant direction keeping everything in sharp focus, "Rear Window" is a near-faultless work that is as absorbing today as it was some 46 years ago. Don't be a mug and wait another 15 years to see it.
-- David N. Butterworth dnb@dca.net
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