History YMMV / RearWindow

* UnintentionalPeriodPiece:
** Jeff's only entertainment in his apartment is sitting by the window people-watching. Five years later, he'd probably be watching television instead, but [=TVs=] still weren't universal in 1954.
** Later advances in medicine would have required a far more severe injury than a broken leg to confine him to his home - if anything, getting out and staying active would be ''encouraged''.[[note]]The 1998 made-for-TV remake of the film reflects these advances in medicine--the main character, here a former architect named Jason Kemp, was played by Creator/ChristopherReeve, in his first role after the 1995 horseback riding accident that left him a quadriplegic.[[/note]]
** It's scandalous in 1954 for Lisa to stay over at her boyfriend's apartment. It's a big moment for both of them, and they have to keep it a secret from his landlord. When Doyle pieces it together, his disapproval (and perhaps jealousy) is palpable, and Jeff has to warn him twice to not even acknowledge it.
** Thorwald's phone number begins with a [[UsefulNotes/NorthAmericanNumberingPlan telephone]] [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Telephone_exchange_names exchange name]].

** Not to mention, less than three years after this movie, Raymond Burr would become the iconic criminal lawyer Franchise/PerryMason.

** Jeff's only entertainment in his apartment is sitting by the window people-watching. Five years later, he'd probably be watching television instead, but [=TVs=] weren't common in 1954.

* IdiotBall: Both Mr Thorvald and Jeff hold on to this one during the final confrontation:
** Thorvald just realised that his neighbour [[HaveYouToldAnyoneElse told several people Thorvald doesn't know that he suspects Thorvald of murder, distributing his knowledge of incriminating evidence (as well as the evidence itself) to said strangers]], sending strangers to snoop around at the crime scene ''and'' even sicced the cops on him just a few minutes ago, almost getting him arrested for assault. [[IResembleThatRemark Trying to kill his neighbour at this point is probably the most suspicious thing Thorvald could try to do]], though it is justified by the fact that Thorvald is in the middle of a VillainousBreakdown and clearly not thinking straight.
** Jeff, on the other hand, freezes in his wheelchair for an exceedingly long time when he realises that Thorvald is coming for him in his apartment, neither trying to arm himself nor lock the apartment door (a feat that, owing to the broken leg, would be painful, but not impossible).
** When Thorvald confronts him and asks about his demands (clearly under the impression that Jeff is blackmailing him and offering to sell his silence), Jeff doesn't try to play along in order to buy time, but instead infuriates the unstable wife-killer by confessing that the police has ''already'' been informed and that there's nothing he can do about it, practically inviting violent retaliation.
** Eventually, Jeff eventually has to settle for fighting Thorvald off with a camera flash-lamp, which works about as well as expected, though Thorvald still manages to let himself get blinded ''four'' times in a row. Apparently, it does not occur to him that he could simply squint or close his eyes.

** Thorwald's phone number begins with a [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Telephone_exchange_names telephone exchange name]].

** [[spoiler:Jeff falling out of the window looks unmistakably like a chroma key effect.]] Plus, when everyone runs out into the courtyard to see this, it seems pretty obvious that they filmed the scene at normal speed and sped it up in post. In the DVD commentary, John Fawell argues that this scene is not meant to be taken realistically, however, but that it is impressionistic, and meant to convey [[spoiler: the nightmarish qualities of the scene, where the voyeuristic fantasy suddenly intrudes upon reality, and the fall reflects the "vertiginous horror of a fall, the dream or nightmare of a fall".]] Fawell points out that Hitchcock shot many of these kinds of fall scenes, and did not always go for realism in his scenes.

** Thorvald just realised that his neighbour [[HaveYouToldAnyoneElse told several people Thorvald doesn't know that he suspects Thorvald of murder, distributing his knowledge of incriminating evidence (as well as the evidence itself) to said strangers]], sending strangers to snoop around at the crime scene ''and'' even sicced the cops on him just a few minutes ago, almost getting him arrested for assault. [[IResembleThatRemark Trying to kill his neighbour is probably the most suspicious thing Thorvald could try to do at that moment]], though it is justified by the fact that Thorvald is in the middle of a VillainousBreakdown and clearly not thinking straight.
** Jeff, on the other hand, freezes in his wheelchair for an exceedingly long time when he realises that Thorvald is coming for him in his apartment, neither trying to arm himself or lock the apartment door (a feat that, owing to the broken leg, would be painful, but not impossible).
** When Thorvald confronts him and asks about his demands (clearly under the impression that Jeff is blackmailing him and offering to sell his silence), Jeff doesn't try to play along so as to buy time, but instead infuriates the clearly unstable wife-killer by confessing that the police has ''already'' been informed and that there's nothing he can do, practically inviting violent retaliation.

** Jeff, on the other hand, freezes in his wheelchair for an exceedingly long time when he realises that Thorvald is coming for him in his apartment, neither trying to arm himself or lock the apartment door.

** Thorvald just realised that his neighbour [[HaveYouToldAnyoneElse told several people that he suspects Thorvald of murder, distributed his knowledge of incriminating evidence (as well as the evidence itself) to said people]], sent others to snooop around at the crime scene ''and'' sicced the cops on him just a few minutes ago. [[IResembleThatRemark Trying to kill his neighbour is probably the most suspicious thing Thorvald could try to do at that moment]], though it is justified by the fact that Thorvald is in the middle of a VillainousBreakdown and clearly not thinking straight.

** Thorvald, just realised that his neighbour [[HaveYouToldAnyoneElse told several people that he suspects Thorvald of murder, distributed his knowledge of incriminating evidence (as well as the evidence itself) to said people]], sent others to snooop around at the crime scene ''and'' sicced the cops on him just a few minutes ago. [[IResembleThatRemark Trying to kill his neighbour is probably the most suspicious thing Thorvald could try to do at that moment]], though it is justified by the fact that Thorvald is in the middle of a VillainousBreakdown and clearly not thinking straight.

** For Thorvald, trying to kill his neighbour ''immediately'' after realising that said neighbour told several people that he suspects Thorvald of murder, distributed knowledge of incriminating evidence to several other people out of Thorvald's reach ''and'' called the cops on him just a few minutes ago, is [[IResembleThatRemark probably the most suspicious thing Thorvald could try to do at that moment]], but it is justified as Thorvald is in the middle of a VillainousBreakdown and clearly not thinking straight.

** When Thorvald confronts him and asks about his demands (clearly under the impression that Jeff is blackmailing him and offering to sell his silence), Jeff doesn't try to play along so as to buy time, but instead infuriates the clearly unstable wife-killer that the police has ''already'' been informed and that there's nothing he can do, practically inviting violent retaliation.

** Jeff, on the other hand, freezes in his wheelchair for an exceedingly long time when he realises that Thorvald is coming for him in his apartment instead of trying to either arm himself or lock the apartment door.

** For Thorvald, trying to kill his neighbour ''immediately'' after realising that said neighbour told several people that he suspects Thorvald of murder, distributed knowledge of incriminating evidence to several other people out of Thorvald's reach ''and'' called the cops on him just a few minutes ago, is [[IResembleThatRemark probably the most suspicious thing Thorvald could try to do at that moment]], but it is justified as Thorvald is in the middle of a Villainousbreakdown and clearly not thinking straight.