Why Leave the Door Unlocked?

Rating: 8/10 (2 May 2002)

There are always forced ending climaxes in Hitchcock's films, such as the on-time rescues in North by Northwest and Psycho, and this film is no exception.
In Rear Window, James Stewart has a cast on his leg, but that doesn't mean he cannot move at all. We see him standing up when Thelma Ritter comes to give him a massage. We can also assume that he takes care most of his meals and goes to the toilet by himself. But when the murderer finds out where he is and comes over to teach him a final lesson, Stewart just sits there listening to this guy's footsteps. There's certainly enough time for him to "walk" or crawl over and lock the door of his apartment.
I do admire Hitchcock's cinematic ability to handle a story about a character who is confined to the wheelchair, but it seems that he never paid his attention to the logic of the plots too much.