a classic in the true sense of the word

Rating: 10/10 (18 May 2005)

"Rear Window" begins with some curtains opening in front of a window, as though the curtain in front of a movie screen is opening. Then, in several shots of the apartment, we learn through some photographs that reporter L.B. "Jeff" Jefferies (Jimmy Stewart), the apartment's inhabitant, is wheelchair-bound due to an accident. Jeff passes time looking at the various goings-on in the surrounding apartments. Currently, his only true companion is his neighbor Lisa Carol Fremont (Grace Kelly). Then, after observing some unclear incidents, Jeff begins to get suspicious that one of his neighbors, Lars Thorwald (Raymond Burr), may be up to something.
Whether or not Thorwald did anything is not really the movie's point. "Rear Window" is almost like several movies within one: Ms. Lonelyhearts, the Musician, the Dancer, and others (the opening scene reinforces the movies-within-a-movie theme). Hitchcock uses the ingenious trick of giving the audience Jeff's POV shot (that's point-of-view, for non-movie buffs), particularly when Jeff looks through the camera lens. Of course, Hitchcock would later famously use voyeurism in "Psycho", but here, it is essentially part of the plot.
Aside from camera angle, the characters are important. Jeff is the main character, but Lisa takes an unusual approach. She introduces herself as: Lisa (she turns on a lamp)...Carol (she turns on a second lamp)...Fremont (she turns on a third lamp). This not only makes her more imposing, but it figures in the question of who "wears the pants" in this apartment (which comes up again in the movie's final scene).
I guess that "Rear Window"'s overall point is that no one truly knows anyone else. But, as Hitchcock said in promoting the movie: "If you do not experience a delicious chill while watching 'Rear Window', then pinch yourself. You are most probably dead." I couldn't have said it better myself.