Line #45 Film/RearWindow


1	[[quoteright:310:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/rear_window_poster.jpg]]
2
3	->''"I'm not much on rear window ethics."''
4	-->--'''Lisa Fremont'''
5
6	''Rear Window'' is a classic 1954 thriller film directed by Creator/AlfredHitchcock, starring Creator/JimmyStewart and Creator/GraceKelly.
7
8	L. B. "Jeff" Jeffries (Stewart) is a photojournalist who broke his leg during a dangerous assignment. He is confined to his small [[BigApplesauce Greenwich Village]] apartment while recuperating, and out of boredom begins to spy on his various neighbors across the courtyard. He sees one of the neighbors, Lars Thorwald (Creator/RaymondBurr), acting suspiciously, and eventually becomes convinced that Thorwald killed his wife Anna (Irene Winston), a bedridden invalid who has gone missing. Jeff's girlfriend, Lisa Carol Fremont (Kelly), doesn't believe him at first, but soon changes her mind. After trying--and failing--to convince Jeff's police detective friend Tom Doyle (Creator/WendellCorey) of the crime, Jeff, Lisa, and Jeff's nurse Stella (Creator/ThelmaRitter) come up with a plan to catch the killer themselves.
9
10	Adapted from Creator/CornellWoolrich's 1942 short story "It Had to Be Murder," this is widely regarded as one of Hitchcock's very best films. It was remade in 1998 as a MadeForTVMovie starring the late Creator/ChristopherReeve, who [[DisabledCharacterDisabledActor was actually paralyzed from the neck down.]] The 2007 film ''Film/{{Disturbia}}'' with Creator/ShiaLaBeouf is a modern day retelling, and it's [[RearWindowHomage far from the only one.]]
11	----
12
13	!!Tropes used in ''Rear Window'':
14	* AcousticLicense: The audibility of sounds from across the courtyard varies widely for dramatic weight. Some sounds carry, while others that would be just as loud or louder aren't audible. For example, some conversational words are clearly audible, while shouted speech in other situations is just a faint muffle. Early in the film, Jeff is awoken by the sound of a door closing from a hundred feet away.
15	* ActorAllusion: One photo in Jeff's apartment is him standing in front of a bomber during UsefulNotes/WorldWarII. James Stewart had been a pilot during the war.
16	* AdaptationExpansion: The film is based on Creator/CornellWoolrich's short story "It Had to Be Murder," which didn't have the characters of Lisa and Stella.
17	* AdaptationTitleChange: As noted above, the source material's original title was "It Had to Be Murder," which was presumably renamed to give the movie a more memorable title and to keep the audience guessing about [[spoiler:Thorwald]].
18	* AgeGapRomance: There's a 21-year age difference between James Stewart and Grace Kelly. It's never acknowledged in dialogue. Stella even calls Jeff a "young man" when discussing his relationship with a "young woman," though she might be being facetious.
19	* AntiHero: Jeff has no particularly heroic traits. He's obsessed with snooping on his neighbors and is a fairly lousy boyfriend to his "perfect" girlfriend. His interest in solving the murder is more about being right than seeking justice. In the climax of the film, he even prioritizes his own safety over that of Lisa's by continuing to hide in the shadows and remain silent while watching her be attacked.
20	* AntiVillain: Thorwald is not a particularly nefarious villain. He's a HenpeckedHusband who seems to treat his wife well, serving her dinner in bed with a flower on the tray and fluffing her pillows, in spite of presumably carrying on an affair. When the neighbor's dog starts snooping around the garden the first time, he gently shoos it away rather than hit or yell at it. [[spoiler:When Jeff confronts him about the murder, Thorwald seems to want to talk Jeff out of blackmailing him at first, and he makes no threats]]. Ultimately he comes across as a rather ordinary man who crossed a moral line.
21	* AuthorAppeal: Grace Kelly is one of many blond leading ladies for Hitchcock.
22	* AwfulWeddedLife: The two scenes of the Thorwalds before Mrs. Thorwald vanishes make it clear their marriage is this. The newlyweds also descend into bickering by the end of the film.
23	* BigApplesauce: Jeff's apartment is in Greenwich Village, and at one point he says that Lisa "belongs to the rarefied atmosphere of Park Avenue" to convey to idea that she is wealthy and upper-crust.
24	* BinocularShot: At several points we view things through Jeff's binoculars and/or telephoto lens.
25	* BlindingCameraFlash: Jeff uses his camera's flash to temporarily stall Thornwald.
26	* BottleEpisode: The action rarely leaves the perspective of Jeff's apartment, which means that the action is limited to Jeff's home, what he can see in the courtyard of the residential complex and the windows of other apartments. The only time that the movie leaves this limited perspective is when Thorwald pushes Jeff out of his window. While the effect is similar, ''Rear Window'' was the opposite of most TV {{Bottle Episode}}s, shot to save money: The entire courtyard was constructed on a sound stage; one of the largest in film history at the time. This gave [[Creator/AlfredHitchcock Hitchcock]] precise control over lighting and camera angles -- on the enormous courtyard set he often had to give actors direction via radio while he was shooting from the opposite side.
27	* BridalCarry: The newlyweds first enter their new apartment normally, getting everything settled with the landlord. Then they walk out just so he can carry her in this way.
28	* BookEnds: The film begins and ends with Jeff resting in his wheelchair, except in the end, ''both'' of his legs are in casts.
29	* BuryYourDisabled: It appears that Mrs. Thorwald is an invalid and implied that the stress of caring for her led her husband to adultery and murder.
30	* ChekhovsGun: The flashbulb (from the camera) that Jeff initially plans to use to signal Lisa to leave Thorwald's apartment comes in handy when [[spoiler:Thorwald comes to ''Jeff's'' apartment. He uses the flash to stall Thorwald just long enough before Doyle and Lisa arrive to see what's happening.]]
31	* ClosedCircle: Jeff can't leave his apartment because of his broken leg.
32	* ColorCodedForYourConvenience: Miss Lonelyhearts wears a ''dark'' green dress on an especially bad night for her--she brings a man home, but he tries to rape her. She wears a ''light'' green one at the film's conclusion as she and the composer are hitting it off.
33	* ComeBackToBedHoney: At the beginning of the movie, a newly wed couple moves into an apartment close to Jeff's. They close their blinds and are not seen for a while. After a few days, the man is seen leaning out of the window, and his wife calls him back.
34	* ConvenientPhotograph: L.B. Jeffries just happens to have a photograph taken across the apartment courtyard, revealing that [[spoiler:the shrubs in Thorwald's garden have been disturbed, another indication Thorwald may have murdered his wife.]]
35	* CreatorCameo: Hitch is seen tinkering with the clock in the songwriter's apartment.
36	* DeadpanSnarker: Stella and Jeff.
37	* DidntThinkThisThrough:
38	** Despite knowing full well that Thorwald's seen him and knows who knows his secret, Jeff's nurse ''leaves him alone'' in his apartment--with the door unlocked!--while she goes to bail Lisa out of jail. Jeff's just damn lucky everyone returned when they did.
39	** Thorwald gets blinded by Jeff's flashbulbs four times in a row. After the first time, you'd expect that he'd know what was about to happen when Jeff swaps out a new bulb, slaps his hand over his eyes, and holds up his camera. Instead, Thorwald stops, winces, adjusts his glasses and waits for his eyes to recover each and every time - likely blinded, as the flash would have killed his night vision each time.
40	** The mere fact that Thorwald is coming to kill Jeff in the first place. Despite the fact that he must know that the cops are already suspicious of him, he's trying to do something that would undoubtedly get him caught.
41	* DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything:
42	** Unable to see into an apartment with a pair of binoculars, Jeff picks up a telescopic lens--in other words, ''longer''--and is visibly satisfied now that he can see better. An analysis of the film outright describes this as "an optical erection." Plus the fact that voyeurism is already a sexually deviant activity (even though this isn't the reason Jeff is spying on his neighbors), it's pretty obvious this is typical of Hitchcock's style.
43	** Also, at the beginning of the movie, after watching Miss Torso dance around in her underwear, he reaches into his pants and... relieves an itch with a wooden backscratcher under his cast. The look of relief on his face is amazing.
44	* DrowningHisSorrows: The struggling songwriter comes home drunk and scatters the sheet music off his piano in frustration, much to Jeff's amusement.
45	%%* ExploringTheEvilLair
46	* FailedAttemptAtDrama: When Jeff tells Lisa that their lifestyles are too different and their relationship can't work, she's about to leave:
47	-->'''Lisa:''' Goodbye, Jeff.\
48	'''Jeff:''' You mean, 'Good night.'\
49	'''Lisa:''' I mean what I said.\
50	'''Jeff:''' Well, Lisa, couldn't we just, uh, couldn't we just keep things status quo?\
51	'''Lisa:''' Without any future?\
52	'''Jeff:''' Well, when am I gonna see you again?\
53	'''Lisa:''' Not for a long time... At least not until tomorrow night.
54	* FireForgedFriends: [[spoiler: At the end, Miss Lonelyhearts and the Songwriter get together after his music gets her out of her suicide attempt and after Jeff's successful yet perilous run-in with Thorwald (where the neighbors were rushing out to the courtyard)]].
55	* FourthWallPsych: When Thornwald finally locks eyes with Jeff, he is also staring at the audience.
56	* TheFourthWallWillNotProtectYou: Jeff becomes a victim of this InUniverse: after Thornwald catches Lisa's signal to Jeff, he immediately detects Jeff observing him through the camera and follows up on his threat by calling Jeff's phone before invading the apartment.
57	* FreeWheel: The photographs seen in the opening credits indicate that this is how Jeff broke his leg: being struck by a flying wheel while photographing a crash at a motor race.
58	* FriendOnTheForce: Doyle to Jeff.
59	* TheGhost: Thorwald's lover, whom he speaks to on the phone long-distance.
60	* GirlFriday: Lisa to Jeff. The trope is even discussed by them:
61	-->'''Lisa:''' 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.\
62	'''Jeff:''' Well, is she the girl that saves him from the clutches of the seductive showgirls and the overpassionate daughters of the rich?\
63	'''Lisa:''' The same.\
64	'''Jeff:''' That's the one, huh? It's funny, he never ends up marrying her, does he, huh? That's strange.\
65	'''Lisa:''' Weird.
66	* GoryDiscretionShot: A scream and the sound of breaking glass is all we and Jeff hear of Mrs. Thorwald's murder.
67	* HeatWave: The film takes place during a heat wave, which explains why everyone has their windows and drapes pulled wide open for easy viewing.
68	* HenpeckedHusband: A running theme. Jeff notes that the Thorwalds across the street consist of a nagging wife and her husband. He claims that all women inevitably start nagging when they get married, and he fears that Lisa will do the same should he marry her. Doyle seems perpetually unenthusiastic about returning home to his wife. When he wryly claims that modern women don't "nag," they "discuss," it sounds like he's repeating something his wife told him. In the end, we see that the young newlywed wife across the way has already started nagging her husband. [[note]]Granted, he apparently quit his job before they married and didn't tell her, which would give her a valid reason to be cross.[[/note]]
69	* HeroicSeductress: Lisa pretty much defines the trope phrase "not every sexy girl in fiction is evil." She feels ashamed about their suspicions:
70	-->'''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. Whatever happened to that old saying: "Love thy neighbor"?
71	* HiddenDepths: At the beginning, Jeff is considering breaking up with Lisa because he thinks she isn't intrepid enough to keep up with him. By the time she slips Thorwald the note, it's safe to say he's beginning to revise his opinion.
72	* {{Hypochondria}}: Implied in the case of Anna Thorwald. She languishes in bed all day, waited on by her husband, who serves her dinner in bed after fluffing up her pillows. However, when she hears him on the phone, presumably to his mistress, she seems perfectly capable of getting out of bed, confronting him and laughing derisively at him. Her hypochondria is presumably what drove the couple apart.
73	* ITakeOffenseToThatLastOne: When Jeff is trying to convince Lisa that she couldn't adapt to his lifestyle:
74	-->'''Jeff:''' Did you ever get shot at? Did you ever get run over? Did you ever get sandbagged at night because somebody got unfavourable publicity from your camera? Did you ever... Those high heels, they'll be great in the jungle and the nylons and those six ounce lingerie...\
75	'''Lisa:''' Three!
76	* InUniverseCamera: This occurs when Jeff uses his camera to get a better look at his neighbors.
77	* InUniverseSoundtrack: Most of the background music comes from the apartment of Jeff's neighbor, a songwriter playing the piano. At one point, Lisa [[LampshadeHanging acknowledges]] that the neighbor's music conveniently sets the mood of her dinner with Jeff.
78	-->'''Lisa:''' It's almost as if it were being written especially for us.
79	* IncriminatingIndifference: Jeff and Lisa have begun to have doubts about Thorwald's guilt until they notice his reaction--that is, ''none at all''--to the woman hysterically shrieking about her murdered dog--everyone else comes to their window to see what the fuss is all about while he continues to smoke in his dark apartment.
80	* InsatiableNewlyweds: The newlywed couple close the blinds to commence lovemaking and aren't seen again for some time.
81	* InsistentTerminology: When Jeff says that wives inevitable start nagging, Doyle replies that modern women don't "nag," they "discuss." Jeff counters that from where he's sitting, "discussing" looks a lot like "nagging."
82	* InterruptedSuicide: Miss Lonelyhearts sets a fistful of pills beside a glass of water by her bedside, sits down with a Bible, and later can be seen writing something out at her desk. Stella doesn't fully catch on until it's almost too late and has Jeff call the cops. [[spoiler:Luckily, she's inspired by the Composer's music to call it off]].
83	* KickTheDog: Subverted. Jeff and the neighbors fear for the dog because it messes with Thorwald's flowers, and he's a murderer. When he first encounters the dog digging in his flower bed, however, he gently shoos it away. [[spoiler:The dog later turns up dead, however, and Jeff immediately identifies Thorwald as the killer from his reaction -- or, specifically, his lack thereof]].
84	* KuleshovEffect: Used extensively. Stewart actually complained that Hitchcock used the editing of the film in general to create a different performance than the one that was given.
85	* LapPillow: Lisa holds Jeff's head in her lap [[spoiler: after Thorwald throws him out of the window.]]
86	* LastNameBasis: Everybody calls L. B. Jeffries "Jeff."
87	* LingerieScene: Lisa has one. She calls it "preview of coming attractions."
88	* LogoJoke: The Creator/{{Paramount}} logo appears on Jeff's blinds as they close during the end of the movie.
89	* TheLoinsSleepTonight: Jeff's inability to pop the champagne cork on the bottle Lisa brings him has been deemed by film analysts as symbolic of his impotence.
90	* LoveEpiphany: Jeff, about Lisa, after she leaves Thorwald the note. She runs back to the apartment, breathlessly asking what his reaction was, and Jeff's look seems to fit in with this trope.
91	* MaybeEverAfter: Jeff and Lisa are a couple at the end - the question is whether they are going to last. Early on, Jeff says that their relationship can't work out, because their lifestyles are too different. Lisa can't really counter this, but they still remain together. The ending scene shows the ambiguity of their future; Lisa is wearing a shirt and pants instead of her earlier, impractical high fashion outfits, and she reads a book called ''Beyond the High Himalayas.'' However, once she notices that Jeff has fallen asleep, she trades the book for a fashion magazine and smiles, suggesting that she hasn't quite given up on her fashionista lifestyle.
92	* MetaTwist: Unlike many other Hitchcock movies, the plot is entirely straightforward.
93	* MissedHimByThatMuch: Lisa just barely escapes detection by Thorwald after slipping him the note. She isn't as lucky the next time when she sneaks into his apartment.
94	* MoodKiller: When Lisa is making out with Jeff, he kills the mood by rambling on about the suspicious things going on in Thorwald's apartment. Lisa eventually pulls away and gets upset, but once she sees something suspicious herself, she's ready to actually hear him out.
95	* MsFanservice: One of Jeff's neighbors, "Miss Torso," is a ballet dancer, who dances around in her bra and panties.
96	* NaughtyBirdwatching: Jeff watching "Miss Torso" with his binoculars.
97	* NoNameGiven: Jeff's first name is never revealed, and neither is Stella's last name. Aside from Thorwald, none of the people living in the apartment are given names either, only nick names such as "Miss Torso" or "Miss Lonelyhearts."
98	* NosyNeighbor: Jeff, though only because he's bored.
99	* NotSoAboveItAll: Jeff thinks Lisa is super-snobbish and wealthy because she has on a designer dress and eats lobster for dinner. She tartly informs him the dress is on loan and the food was free to press, and she cooks her ''own'' meals, thank you very much.
100	* OhCrap:
101	** Thorwald ''and'' Jeffries when Thorwald finally notices Jeffries watching him. It's quite an experience watching this scene with an audience.
102	** Jeff's reaction after he picks up the phone and starts babbling to Doyle... only to be greeted with dead silence and realize that it wasn't Doyle calling him, but Thorwald.
103	* OnlyKnownByInitials: L. B. "Jeff" Jeffries.
104	* PairTheSpares: [[spoiler:Miss Lonelyhearts and Songwriter, who spent the whole movie bemoaning their lack of luck at love,]] meet and fall in love at the end.
105	* ThePeepingTom: Jeff entertains himself for weeks by watching his neighbors from his rear window. And by extension the viewer.
106	* PhallicWeapon: The telescopic lens that Jeff uses to spy on people, especially since it's visibly longer than the binoculars he was using.
107	* PoliceAreUseless: Jeff is forced to do his own investigations after Doyle, an NYPD detective, gives up on the case.
108	* PunctuatedForEmphasis: Gently, as Lisa turns on some lamps after waking up Jeff:
109	-->Reading from top to bottom, Lisa... Carol... Fremont.
110	* PutOffTheirFood: Stella's musing over murder methods put Jeff off his breakfast.
111	-->"Now just where do you suppose he cut her up?"\
112	''(Jeff stops just before putting some bacon in his mouth)''\
113	"Oh -- Of course! In the bathtub. That's the only place he could wash away the blood."\
114	''(Jeff puts down the bacon)''
115	* RealityHasNoSoundtrack: With the exception of music coming from the composer's apartment or what people are playing on their own radios, there's no music in the film.
116	* RearWindowInvestigation: The TropeNamer. Lisa sneaks into Thorwald's apartment while he is out to look for evidence to prove Jeff's theory.
117	* RearWindowWitness: The TropeNamer. Jeff is laid up with a broken leg and sees enough to make him suspect that his neighbor has murdered his wife. Later, he can only watch as the might-be killer returns to the apartment while his girlfriend is searching it.
118	* TheReasonYouSuckSpeech: The woman whose dog gets killed is so distraught that one of her neighbors is likely responsible that she directs an angry rant at the entire apartment block:
119	-->WHICH ONE OF YOU DID IT? WHICH ONE OF YOU KILLED MY DOG? You don't know the meaning of the word 'neighbors'! Neighbors like each other, speak to each other, care if somebody lives or dies! BUT NONE OF YOU DO!
120	* RedheadInGreen: Miss Lonelyhearts has auburn hair and tends to wear green dresses in the film.
121	* {{Remaster}}: By 1997, the original negative had deteriorated so badly, the scene where Lisa wakes Jeff had a green tint. Robert A. Harris and James Katz fixed the colors by creating a new technique of restoring a film's yellow layer.
122	* RightPlaceRightTimeWrongReason: Jeff discovers the murder because of his voyeurism.
123	* RunningGag: Lisa awkwardly waves at Jeff whenever she's "on assignment" in his view.
124	* ServileSnarker: Stella.
125	* ShadowArchetype: Miss Torso and Miss Lonelyhearts are this to Lisa, and she draws a comparison between them. Many of the movements Miss Lonelyhearts makes are similar to Lisa's in the same scene, and Lisa empathizes with Miss Torso fending off advances of "wolves."
126	* ShotgunWedding: When Stella is asking about Jeff's trouble with Lisa, she asks if Mr. Fremont is "loading up the shotgun" and quips that the world's happiest marriages happened under a shotgun.
127	* SlipIntoSomethingMoreComfortable:
128	-->'''Lisa:''' (removing jacket) Why don't I slip into something more comfortable?\
129	'''Jeff:''' Oh, by all means.\
130	'''Lisa:''' I mean like the kitchen and make us some coffee.
131	** Later, she does put on a sexy nightgown.
132	-->'''Lisa:''' Preview of coming attractions.
133	* SomethingElseAlsoRises: Jeff using a telescopic lens for his voyeurism has been described as an "optical erection"--note how satisfied he is now that he can see better with it than the binoculars he was using.
134	* SourceMusic: All of the music is diegetic.
135	* StayInTheKitchen: A subversion -- Lisa is proud she can cook for herself, and not rely on anyone else.
136	* {{Subtext}}:
137	** One interpretation of the movie is that it is a commentary on the institution of marriage, and the story is ''really'' about Jeff and Lisa more than it is about Thorwald. The fact that the once happy newlywed couple has begun to bicker also raises the ominous hint that they might end up like the Thorwalds.
138	** More often, it's viewed as a commentary on the medium of film itself and the window it gives the audience into other people's stories.
139	* TitleDrop:
140	--> '''Jeff:''' I wonder if it is ethical to watch a man with binoculars and a long focus lens. Do you, do you suppose it's ethical even if you prove that he didn't commit a crime?\
141	'''Lisa''': I'm not much on rear window ethics.
142	* UglyGuyHotWife: The pretty ballet dancer who has spent the film fending off the advances of several male model types is seen happily welcoming home her chubby, bespectacled lover at the end of the movie.
143	* UnlimitedWardrobe: Lisa, even lampshaded.
144	-->'''Jeff:''' Is this the Lisa Fremont who never wears the same dress twice?\
145	'''Lisa:''' Only because it's expected of her.
146	* TheVoice: Gunnison, Jeff's editor at the magazine (voiced by Creator/GigYoung).
147	* WeaponizedCamera: The BlindingCameraFlash that Jeff uses to temporarily stall Thorwald.
148	* WindowWatcher: The film revolves entirely around this trope.
149	* WorldOfSnark: Jeff, Lisa, Stella and Doyle all get in some stinging one-liners.
150	* YouBastard: Jeff is a [[ThePeepingTom Peeping Tom]] who secretly observes his neighbors for entertainment as he has nothing better to do. It's almost as if Jeff is watching a movie.
151	* YourDoorWasOpen: Her dialogue isn't very clear, but this seems to be one of the excuses Lisa gives Thorwald for being in his apartment.

Context Film / RearWindow