Rear Window

(1954)

Posters

- click on any image for a larger view -

Cast

      Grace Kelly                      as    Lisa Carol Fremont
      James Stewart                  as    L.B. 'Jeff' Jeffries
      Thelma Ritter                   as    Stella
      Raymond Burr                  as    Lars Thorwald
      Wendell Corey                  as    Thomas J. Doyle

Credits

      director:                             Alfred Hitchcock
      production:                        Paramount
      producer:                           Alfred Hitchcock
      screenplay:                         John Michael Hayes
                                                                  (based on the story It Had to Be Murder
                                                                  by Cornell Woolrich)
      photography:                     Robert Burks
      music composer:                Franz Waxman
      costume design:                 Edith Head

Synopsis

The adventurous photographer L.B. 'Jeff' Jeffries is immobilized in his Greenwich Village

apartment with a broken leg. To pass the time between visits from his chic, glamorous, luminously

beautiful high-fashion-model fiancee Lisa Fremont and the practically spirited nurse-therapist Stella,

Jeff uses his camera zoom lens to enter into the lives of the courtyard neighbours. Soon enough he

focuses attention on the opposite flat suspecting that the quarrelsome resident has murdered his

wife. He alerts Lisa to the situation, who, after initial disbelief, joins Jef in the fascination with the

world from the window and helps him to get the evidence and unravel the plot.

- It was a possibility of doing a purelyy cinematic film. You have an immobilized man

looking out. That's one part of the film. The second part shows what he sees and the third

part shows how he reacts. This is actually the purest expression of a cinematic idea.

- Alfred Hitchcock
The best film ever made.

Quotes & Sound Files

The sound files are in RealAudio format. If you haven't already,
you'll need to download a RealAudio player from www.real.com.

***

hows_your_leg.ra

                    Lisa:    How's your leg?
                    Jeff:   Hurts a little.
                    Lisa:   And your stomach?
                    Jeff:   Empty as a football.
                    Lisa:   And your love life?
                    Jeff:   Not too active.
                    Lisa:   Anything else bothering you?
                    Jeff:   Yes, who are you? ***

lisa.ra

Lisa: Reading from top to bottom: Lisa... Carol... Fremont.

***

Jeff: Is this the Lisa Fremont who never wears the same dress twice?

Lisa: Only because it's expected of her. It's right off the Paris plane. You think it will sell?...

A steal at $1,100 dollars.

Jeff: Eleven hundred?! They ought to list that dress on the Stock Exchange.

***

big_night.ra

Lisa: It's a big night.
Jeff: Well... it's just an old run-of-the-mill Wednesday. The calendar's full of 'em.

***

last_week.ra

Lisa: It's opening night of the last depressing week of L. B. Jefferies in a cast.

***

what_a_day.ra

Lisa: Oh, what a day I've had!

***

nonsense.ra

                        Lisa:   Jeff, isn't it time you came home? You could pick your assignment.
                     Jeff:   Well, I wish there was one I wanted.
                     Lisa:   Make the one you want.
                     Jeff:   You mean leave the magazine?
                     Lisa:   Yes.
                     Jeff:   For what?
                     Lisa:   For yourself and me. I could get you a dozen assignments tomorrow - fashions,
                               portraits. Well now don't laugh, I could do it.
                     Jeff:   That's what I'm afraid of. Can you see me driving down to the fashion salon in
                              a jeep wearing combat boots and a three-day beard? Will that make a hit?
                     Lisa:   I could see you looking very handsome and successful in a dark blue flannel suit.
                     Jeff:   Let's stop talking nonsense, shall we?
                     Lisa:   I guess I'd better start setting up for dinner.

***

perfect.ra

Lisa: It's enchanting. It's almost as if it were being written especially for us.

Jeff: No wonder he's having so much trouble with it.

Lisa: At least you can't say the dinner isn't right.

Jeff: Lisa, it's perfect, as always.

***

Lisa: You - I can't fit in here - you can't fit in there. I mean, according to you, people should be born,

live and die on the same spot.

***

one_thing.ra

Lisa: Well, if there's one thing I know, it's how to wear the proper clothes.

***

dont_have_to.ra

Lisa: You don't have to be deliberately repulsive just to impress me I'm wrong.

***

                            Lisa:   You don't think either one of us could ever change?
                     Jeff:   Right now, it doesn't seem so.
                     Lisa:   I'm in love with you. I don't care what you do for a living. I'd just like to be part
                               of it somehow. It's deflating to find out the only way I can be part of it is to take
                               out a subscription to your magazine. I guess I'm not the girl I thought I was.
                     Jeff:   There's nothing wrong with you Lisa. You've got this town in the palm of your hand.
                     Lisa:   Not quite it seems... Goodbye Jeff.
                     Jeff:   You mean 'Good night.'
                     Lisa:   I mean what I said.
                     Jeff:   Well Lisa, couldn't we just... couldn't we just keep things status quo?
                     Lisa:   Without any future?

***

not_until.ra

Jeff: Well, when am I going to see you again?
Lisa: Not for a long time... at least not until tomorrow night.

***

how_far.ra

                     Lisa:   How far does a girl have to go before you notice her?
                     Jeff:   Well, if she's pretty enough, she doesn't have to go anywhere. She just has to be.
                     Lisa:   Well, ain't I? Pay attention to me.
                     Jeff:   Well, I'm, I'm not exactly on the other side of the room.
                     Lisa:   Your mind is. When I want a man, I want all of you.

***

                     Jeff:   Don't, don't you ever have any problems?
                     Lisa:   I have one now.
                     Jeff:   So do I.
                     Lisa:   Tell me about it.
                     Jeff:   Why, why would a man leave his apartment three times on a rainy night with a suitcase
                               and come back three times?
                     Lisa:   He likes the way his wife welcomes him home.
                     Jeff:   Oh no. No, no, no. Not this salesman's wife. And why didn't he go to work today?
                     Lisa:   Homework. It's more interesting.
                     Jeff:   What's interesting about a butcher knife and a small saw wrapped in newspaper?
                     Lisa:   Nothing, thank heaven.
                     Jeff:   Why hasn't he been in his wife's bedroom all day?
                     Lisa:   I wouldn't dare answer that.

***

too_frightful.ra

                     Jeff:   Well, listen, I'll answer it Lisa, there's something terribly wrong.
                     Lisa:   And I'm afraid it's with me.
                     Jeff:   What do you think?
                     Lisa:   Something too frightful to utter. ***

terrible_job.ra

                     Jeff:   He went out a few minutes ago in his undershirt. He hasn't come back yet. That would
                              be a terrible job to tackle. Just how would you start to cut up a human body?
                     Lisa:   Jeff, I'll be honest with you. You're beginning to scare me a little.

***

diseased.ra

                     Lisa:   Jeff, if you could only see yourself?
                     Jeff:   What's the matter?
                     Lisa:   Sitting around looking out of the window to kill time is one thing but doing it the
                               way you are with binoculars and, and wild opinions about every little thing you
                               see is, is diseased! ***

never_parade.ra

Lisa: A murderer would never parade his crime in front of an open window.

***

start_again.ra

Lisa: Let's start from the beginning again Jeff. Tell me everything you saw... and what...
you think it means. ***

couldnt_have.ra

Lisa: That couldn't have been Mrs. Thorwald... or I don't know women.

***

trade_you.ra

Lisa: I'll trade you: my feminine intuition for a bed for the night.

***

that_song.ra

                     Lisa:   Here's that song again. Where does a man get inspiration to write a song like that?
                     Jeff:   He gets it from the landlady once a month.
                     Lisa:   It's utterly beautiful. Wish I could be creative.
                     Jeff :   Oh sweetie, you are. You have a great talent for creating difficult situations.

***

                     Lisa:    Surprise is the most important element of attack. And besides, you're not up on
                               your private eye literature. When they're in trouble, it's always their Girl Friday
                               who gets them out of it.

***

we_think.ra

Lisa (to Tom): We think Thorwald's guilty.

***

fairy_tale.ra

Tom: Look Miss Fremont, that feminine intuition stuff sells magazines but in real life,

it's still a fairy tale. I don't know how many wasted years I've spent tracking down

leads based on female intuition....

***

exit_lines.ra

Tom: Oh, Jeff, if you need any more help, consult the yellow pages in your telephone

directory.

Lisa: I love funny exit lines.

***

                     Lisa:   I'm not much on rear window ethics.
                     Jeff:   Of course, they can do the same thing to me. Watch me like a bug under a glass
                               if they want to.

***

ghouls.ra

Lisa: Jeff, you know, if someone came in here, they wouldn't believe what they'd see.

Jeff: What?

Lisa: You and me with long faces, plunged into despair because we find out a man didn't

kill his wife. We're two of the most frightening ghouls I've ever known. You'd think

we could be a little bit happier that the poor woman is alive and well.

***

preview.ra

Lisa: Preview of coming attractions.

***

Lisa (to Jeff): What do you think? ... I will rephrase the question...

***

too_much.ra

Lisa: Why would Thorwald want to kill a little dog? Because it knew too much?

***

choice_of_words.ra

Lisa: Oh, Stella, your choice of words!

Stella: Nobody ever invented a polite word for a killing yet.

***

find_out.ra

Stella: Let's go down and find out what's buried in the garden.

Lisa: Why not? I've always wanted to meet Mrs. Thorwald.

***

enough.ra

Jeff (to Tom): You got enough for a search warrant now?

***

Notes

- The whole film was made on one set. With its 31 full scale apartments, the set was the biggest

one ever constructed at Paramount.

- The camera work takes placce either in Jef's apartment or within view of it.

- One of the many elements llinking Lisa Fremont to the other women in the film is the pale green suit,
which is carried forward in the glossy green outfit worn by 'Miss Lonely Hearts' later.

Awards

           Academy Award Nomination: Best Director - Alfred Hitchcock
           Academy Award Nomination: Best Original Screenplay - John Michael Hayes
           Academy Award Nomination: Best Cinematography - Robert Burks
           Academy Award Nomination: Best Sound - Loren L. Ryder
           British Academy Awards: Nominated for Best British Film - Alfred Hitchcock
           New York Film Critics Circle Award: Nominated for Best Direction - Alfred Hitchcock
           Venice Film Festival: Nominated for Competing Film - Alfred Hitchcock