Hitch on the Hump: Rear Window (1954)

Benjamin Franklin once said “Love your neighbor-- but don’t pull down your hedge.” Tonight’s selection for Hitch on the Hump examines what happens to a man who could have used a hedge or two in his life. James Stewart is L.B. “Jeff” Jefferies, the famous globe trotting, risk taking photographer, who's been sidelined by a broken leg, Left in a two room apartment, he watches his neighbors out his courtyard window, creating his own narrative for their lives and becoming more involved by the day. He only breaks away for visits from the insurance company nurse, Stella (Thelma Ritter), and his girlfriend Lisa (Grace Kelly). Then one night, as Jeff fades in an out of sleep in front of his window, he sees the traveling salesmen across the courtyard acting strangely, making odd trips out and brandishing a saw. The next morning the salesman’s sick wife is gone, and Jeff becomes convinced there has been a murder perpetrated just beyond his Rear Window.

Hitchcock’s film has its roots on the 1942 a short story by Cornell Woolrich. “It Had to Be Murder”, one of eight stories Woolrich’s agent sold for $5000. Woolrich was never perturbed by the money he lost when Hitchcock made a successful film version, but that’s not to say he didn’t get angry at the director. Woolrich griped about not being invited to the New York premiere saying, “He knew where I lived. He wouldn’t send me a ticket.” Rear Window was the first of four adaptations Hitchcock collaborated on with Jon Michael Hayes. They expanded the narrow focus of Woolrich’s original story without diluting the stylistic tones of Woolrich’s work.

Almost every shot of the film originates in Jeff’s apartment, and a major portion of the film is devoted to the audience watching Jimmy Stewart watching his neighbors, but as Alfred Hitchcock pointed out that is only one part of the film. “The second part shows what he sees and the third part is how he reacts. This is actually the purest expression of a cinematic idea.” Jimmy Stewart shined in all the parts his role demanded, delivering another in a line of career highlight roles. I always like it when Stewart played the abrasive jerk over the more earnest roles, and Jeff is definitely not an all around likeable character.

Most of that can be accounted for because of his behavior toward his girlfriend Lisa played by Grace Kelly. She looks breathtaking in this film, and so when Jeff spurns her affections it makes you just want to smack him upside his head. Part of that can be credited to the incredible costuming by Edith Head, but the idea for each piece came directly from Hitchcock. Edith Head recalled, “There was a reason for every color Grace wore, every style, and he was absolutely certain about everything…. He was really putting a dream together in the studio. Hitch wanted her to appear like a piece of Dresden china, something slightly untouchable.” Lisa does appear untouchable, and a radiant light that comes in to Jeff’s dark life.

Apart from Stewart, the most important piece of the film are the people who inhabit the apartments right outside his window. There are dozens and dozens of theories about what these people represent. Some day they are reflections of Jeff and Grace’s relationship, and yet another place said they represent characters in a film, and Jeff the director in his chair. Whatever you want to take away from these characters, it is fascinating to see how Hitchcock used his roots in silent film to aid these scenes. Each of the characters are given distinct personalities, and just like Jeff, the audience joins in on being a voyeur into their lives. The camera is kept at midrange, and this distance gives their lives an impersonal air. These are people who exist just out of the range of detail.

This is how we are introduced to Thorwald, the traveling salesman, played by Raymond Burr. All you can really tell about him is that he looks imposing and mean. By the time Jeff gets a good look at him, it’s not a look he would want to get. The last supporting role that I must mention is Thelma Ritter. I praised with her role in Pickup on South Street, and once again she turns in a supporting role that enhances the hell out of the film.

The one thing that usually stands out in a Hitchcock film is the music, but the create more of an open air feeling to the courtyard, Hitchcock used pop and classical pieces to give it a more organic feel. The opening and closing theme, as well as song one of Jeff’s neighbors writes during the film, were provided by Franz Waxman. However, the musical touches Waxman gave the film don’t compare to how songs such as Nat King Cole’s Mona Lisa and Dean Martin’s Amore will recall scenes from the film. In his second film with Hitchcock, old time favorite Robert Burks returns to cinematography duties, and as impressive as his work is, I have to give it up for the folks who built that courtyard on a soundstage. It gave the setting a vibrant, living feeling that never felt like a soundstage.

Rear Window still works today because we don’t even have to leave the house to see our neighbors now. We can look through the TV and drink in our share of voyeurism through the magic of reality programming. Although in the end, Jeff’s endless peeping leads to the unraveling of a mystery, I think a good lesson can still be taken from him. Sometimes it’s better to pay more attention to those around you than staring out your window all day.

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