Classy, gentle excitement with nice subtexts within the enjoyably tense main story

Rating: Null/10 (28 March 2005)

Jeff Jeffries is an adventure photographer for a major newspaper who, thanks to an attempt to get an action shot during a motor race, has found himself in a plaster cast spending his days and nights in a wheelchair. His only visitors are his carer Stella and his beautiful, but pressurising girlfriend Lisa and the majority of his time is spend staring out the window into the courtyard area of his apartment complex. It is during one typically hot night that he spots something funny going on inside one of the apartments opposite his  the woman of the house seems to be gone and the man is acting suspiciously; from the confines of his chair, Jeff keeps watch, with the case becoming increasingly clear to him and his friends.
Despite having themes in common with many Hitchcock films, this stands out as being one of a couple of his movies that are accessible and entertaining to a wider audience. Using voyeurism as its central theme, the film takes us into a fairly straightforward mystery that is well told but also laced with subtexts and other windows to stare through. To me this makes it a better film because there is much that intrigued me about the characters and the neighbourhood while also providing me with an engaging mystery. Modern audiences who have seen this film copied and referenced countless times will doubtless struggle to see what the fuss is about and perhaps they are right as the story doesn't have the twists and turns that are considered the norm now in a lot of thrillers; but it is still strong enough to keep the interest. The voyeuristic nature of the characters is interesting  with them changing throughout the film; meanwhile the many lives on display in the other flats provide other things to be interested in as well.
Of course a massive part of it working is the cast. Stewart plays his usual "aw-shucks" personae to good effect but crosses it with a certain lack of ethnics and a less than wholesome character who spends his nights with a young girl who he doesn't want to commit to and an unhealthy habit of staring at his neighbours. Kelly is sexually innocent and seductive with it  unlike Hitchcock I tend to find blonde princesses all a bit dull and obvious but she worked here. Stealing most of her scenes is sterling support from Thelma Ritter, not that different a performance from some of her others but still very well timed and blessed with some really great lines. Burr is rather stiff but at a distance it doesn't really matter and he does well enough. The various other neighbours each works well with their mini-stories that barely exist within the film but do add to the layered effect of the film.
Overall the film is classy and the rich colours and ordinary setting are nicely in contrast with the action of all the main characters. The mystery is well delivered and engages in a gently dramatic fashion while the starry cast are impressive and interesting throughout. For my money not as pound-for-pound entertaining as North by Northwest but still one of Hitchcock's more widely accessible films if not quite one of his best.