Jeffries, a photographer who is confined to a wheelchair while recuperating from a broken. Hitchcock made a career out of indulging our voyeuristic tendencies, and never better than in rear window. The recently restored version of alfred hitchcocks glorious rear window is a separate issue because it is a. In the film jeffs photographs that we see surrounding him replace the books. John michael hayes screenplay was based on cornell woolrichs with penname william irish original 1942 short story or novelette, it had to be murder. If i do not get distracted with other things beforehand. I saw the movie really long time ago, so i hope ill watch it this weekend to compare it with the book asap. After the curtains rise, hitchcock does a slow counterclockwise pan of the courtyard. What is the difference between the movie version of rear. Rear window is a 1954 american technicolor mystery thriller film directed by alfred hitchcock and written by john michael hayes based on cornell woolrichs 1942 short story it had to be murder. Rear window flirts with the romance genre as well, in the person of the lovely lisa. We only know as much information as jeff knows, and hitchcock deftly reveals. Comparison between it had to be murder and rear window. Hes in a full leg cast thats definitely cramping his style.
Fear of marriage and voyeurism in rear window in alfred hitchcocks 1954 classic thriller rear window, jimmy stewart stars as l. Originally released by paramount pictures, the film stars james stewart, grace kelly, wendell corey, thelma ritter, and raymond burr. Strangers on a train, vertigo and, most obviously, rear window. Rear window 1954 is an intriguing, brilliant, macabre hitchcockian visual study of obsessive human curiosity and voyeurism. While the film rear window is based on the short story it had to be murder, there are several differences between them. Hitchcock had a rather concrete opinion of how men and women fit into society in the 1950s, particularly as was represented in film. Rear window is my alltime favorite hitchcock movie, so when i discovered it had been based on a short story, i knew i had to read it. Analysis of themes in rear window essay 1436 words.
One of alfred hitchcocks very best efforts, rear window is a crackling suspense film that also ranks with michael powells peeping tom 1960 as one of the movies most trenchant dissections of. After reading it had to be murder and later watching alfred hitchcocks movie rear window, i must say that although the movie was based on cornell woolrichs short story, there are definitely some differences between them. Its a point rear window does, after all, make with a bit of humor when miss torsos true love is revealed to be a short, nerdylooking soldier. Rear window, american thriller film, released in 1954, that is considered one of alfred hitchcocks most suspenseful movies. Flashes on paper and film in rear window mit alumni. Yet there is a certain effectiveness to it all, even in the earlier scenes, that holds an edge over imitators. Life after death experience nde with steve gardipee, vietnam war story one of the best ndes duration. The book grace kelly is reading at the end of rear window is a final wink. Rear window 1954 is the first of the current package of hitchcock rereleases. Supersummary, a modern alternative to sparknotes and cliffsnotes, offers highquality study guides that feature detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, quotes, and essay topics.
Woolrichs protagonist, jeff, is a mysterious, intelligent character whose perceptiveness and tenaciousness solves a murder in a highly unorthodox way. Whereas the movie has the many subplots of the other windows, i. Rws rear window series ebooks adults only koolworld. Further assessing rear window i have discovered that it is far from a pure story. A short, balding man is standing near the window, shaving, using a small bowl of water. Hitchcocks rear window 1954 builds a distinct view of the world and how, in the directors opinion, men and women fit in it.
This rear window collection of stories 2001 by cornell woolrich contains stories from 1969 and earlier. It is a 16 block 4 throughline story on relationships the guardian composer, whose music touches hearts and minds. In the final scene of rear window, lisa is seen reading the book beyond the high himalayas by william o. A man in a cast looking out his back window solving a mysterious. This movie helped pinpoint some recurring elements about men and women present in all three films that we concentrated on for this exhibit. Now sir alfred has passed away, the estate has been settled, and the movie is back in. David finchers 1999 movie fight club is based on chuck palahnuiks book by the same name, which came out just three years before.
Rear window is a fantastic alfred hitchcock classic, definitely one of his best films. The opening scene of rear window is perhaps the best opening of any hitchcock film. What is the meaning of the ending of rear window, the. It hasnt been seen anywhere in the world legally, at least in more than 10 years, because hitchcock pulled it off the market to increase its eventual value to his estate. I would argue that in the long term context of film histor. Rear window is a 1954 american technicolor mystery thriller film directed by alfred hitchcock. In the movie version, wendell corey played the role of nypd det. Jeff jefferies james stewart has been stuck in a wheelchair in his greenwich village apartment. By filming rear window from jeffs point of view, hitchcock places his viewer in jeffs voyeuristic mindset. We only know as much information as jeff knows, and hitchcock deftly reveals jeff.
Alfred hitchcocks film, rear window, brings cornell woolrichs short story, it had to be murder, to life in a visual sense and adapts the storyline for a different medium film. In his suspense masterpiece, hitchcock utilizes all of his favorite gender roles for his male and female characters. Rear window by john michael hayes based on a short story. Finn on what makes his woman in the window different from. Hitchcock long ago explained the difference between surprise and suspense.
Written in 1942, this story is surprisingly fast paced. In between playing jeffs gal friday and trying to get him into the sack, she and jeff talk about the differences between them, the challenges to being together, and the fact that they really do make a great couple. The whole of the movie seems to play out in the same manner you have talked about here. Perhaps rear window doesnt have an iconic scene in the way that north by northwest and psycho do, but it does have several scenes that are worth taking a closer look at. Jeffries, a world traveling magazine photographer accustomed to living a fast pace active lifestyle. Ending spoiler for rear window 1954, plus mistakes, quotes, trivia and more. As a filmmaker, alfred hitchcock was always acutely aware of the communal experience of moviegoing. Full of tension and suspense, standout performances from james stewart and grace kelly make this film a. He gouged a trough out of it just wide enough to take her body, put her in it, mixed fresh cement and recemented over her.
Lisa wants to continue, even taking things to that next level whereas jeff thinks that she is a ho. Alfred hitchcock frequently began his movies with a scene that introduces the viewer to both character and setting in an understated, economical way. The camera moves on into the open, and brings nearer to us a room with a large studio window. In his book, alfred hitchcocks rear window, john belton further addresses the underlying issues of voyeurism which he asserts. Without criticizing or supporting these roles, rear window puts every gender stereotype in play in one neat package and offers them for observation on a platter. Many of his characters are voyeurs, like psychos norman bates and, of course, l.
This level of danger and suspense is so far elevated above the cheap thrills of the modern slasher films that rear window, intended as entertainment in 1954, is now revealed as art. Bored by immobility and equipped with an arsenal of binoculars and telephoto slr lenses within. In rear window, jeff james stewart, a photojournalist, is confined to a wheelchair after breaking his leg shooting a car race. Now he recuperates in his greenwich village flat, getting occasional visits from his gorgeous modelgirlfriend lisa grace kelly and putting up with a visiting nurse. Rear window may have become dated for some moviegoers, particularly since the theme has been played on by other movies and tv shows like the simpsons for example. This onepage guide includes a plot summary and brief analysis of rear window by cornell woolrich. Confined to his new york apartment, he spends his time looking out of the rear window observing the. The essential hitchcock addresses the film rear window starting p.
After breaking his leg running out on a racetrack to get an action shot, photographer l. Disturbia did not steal rear window plot, judge rules film the. Existential space in cinema states that in hitchcocks films north by northwest, rear window, vertigo, psycho and the birds, for instance buildings have a central role. Jeff jefferies, a photojournalist stuck in his apartment thanks to a broken leg. The movie follows the same plot as the book, uses similar terminology for example, all of the fight club and project mayhem rules are straight out of the book, and has the same characters. Jimmy stewart in alfred hitchocks rear window 1954. Jeff jefferies breaks his leg while getting an action shot at an auto race. Cornell woolrichs short story rear window reads, at times, like a film script or an. With james stewart, grace kelly, wendell corey, thelma ritter.
The question originally asked if rear window is overrated. For instance, i felt that it had to be murder takes you on a trip to the main characters. Cinematic introduction of the main character in rear window. When jefferies injures himself taking a risky picture he is. One movie stars shia laboeuf as a compulsive voyeur, confined to his home, who becomes convinced that his neighbour is a killer.
Some will be classic films, others obscure and occasionally fun. Underneath the polished look and hitchcockian perfection of the film, however, lies the framework of the short story. It starred hitchcock favourites james stewart and grace kelly. As summarized on the website the museum of film history, men are shown as damaged and needing. In addition to the title story, there are an twelve stories, primarily from his best years when his stories appeared in detective fiction weekly, argosy, and black mask among others. The hero of alfred hitchcocks rear window is trapped in a wheelchair, and we re trapped, tootrapped inside his point of view, inside his. The importance of set design in hitchcocks rear window. Harper lee used both heros journey and 4 throughlines to write to kill a mockingbird that is why that book is the gold standard. How does hitchcock use rear window to define gender. This essay will try to give an overview of two interpretations of rear window, both of which focus on the gaze and voyeurism of the movie, and both of which can be situated to a greater or lesser extent within a psychoanalytic context. A book that will become its own movie, like gone girl and the girl on the train.
Remember that the central personal conflict between jeff jefferies, james stewart, and lisa fremont, grace kelly, is about their relationship. A wheelchairbound photographer spies on his neighbors from his apartment window and becomes convinced one of them has committed murder. And one of the stories was actually the template of a woolrich novel i read, night has a thousand eyes the novel is much better than the short story. Rear window, originally published in 1942 in dime detective magazine under the. The one i chose is the scene in which the little dog is discovered dead.