1. By Ray Roberts

2. General Information

 Rear Window is a suspense film
directed by Alfred Hitchcock. It
was written by John Michael
Hays and based on a short
story, “It Had to Be Murder” by
Cornall Woolrich.
 The film was released on the 1th
August 1954 in America.

3. Synopsis

 Photographer L.B. “Jeff” Jeffries
breaks his leg working at a race
track. Being confined to a wheel
chair in his New York
apartment, he spends his time
looking out of the rear window
observing the neighbours. He
begins to suspect that the man
opposite may have murdered his
wife. Jeff enlists the help of his
girlfriend Lisa Fremont and his
nurse, Stella, to investigate.

4. Technical Information

 The film was filmed in colour
(Technicolor)
 Aspect Ratio 1.66.1 Spherical
 Running Time: 112 minutes
 It was all filmed in production
studio Paramount Pictures.

5. Cast


James Stewart - L B "Jeff" Jeffries
 Grace Kelly - Lisa Carol Fremont
 Wendell Corey - Lieutenant Thomas J Doyle
 Thelma Ritter - Stella
 Raymond Burr - Lars Thorwald
 Judith Evelyn - Miss Lonelyheart
 Ross Bagdasarian - Songwriter
 Georgine Darcy - Miss Torso
 Sara Berner - Woman on fire escape
 Frank Cady - Man on fire escape
 Jesslyn Fax - Miss Hearing Aid
 Rand Harper - Newlywed man
 Havis Davenport - Newlywed woman
 Irene Winston - Mrs Anna Thorwald
 Alan Lee - Landlord
 Anthony Warde - Detective

6. Main Crew

 Directed by Alfred Hitchcock
 Herbert Coleman - assistant director
 Produced by Alfred Hitchcock
 Written by John Michael Hayes
 Photographed by Robert Burks
 Music by Franz Waxman
 Edited by George Tomasini
 Costume Design by Edith Head
 Production Design by: J McMillan
Johnson
 Hal Pereira - art director

7. Brief Analysis of Voyeurism in
Rear Window

 The MacGuffin plot device in Rear Window is the murder
of Thorwald’s wife and to some extent, so is Jeffries’
obsession in spying into the lives of his neighbours. The
macguffin allows the the story of the romantic
relationship begin Jeffrey and Lisa to develop.
 The characters use the opposite windows similarly to
cinema screens. They partly to identify with other
people, to compare their lives, to use these lives to talk
about their lives.
 The majority of the film is in the subjective view of
Jeffrey. There are times where the camera shows us
something which Jeffrey doesn’t see to build suspence.

8. Reception

 The film earned $5.3 million in rentals
at North American box office in 1954.
 With a $36,764,313 total from the box
office from a budget of $1 million.
 Time magazine called it “just possible
the second most entertaining picture
(after the 39 Steps) ever made by
Hitchcock”.
 Rotten Tomatoes gave it a 100%
certified fresh rating, based on 61
reviews.

9. The End
