Rear Window
I watched it last night
This was the second time I've seen
Rear Window and I had forgotten everything about it, so I'm glad this was on the Hitch watch list.
So some of you think the ending was weak. The ending worked for me because it seemed to flow out of the previous scenes and happened quite naturally. It never felt tacked on or rushed. I liked it.
Though my favorite scene was the establishing shot starting in the apartment - with the blinds up, the blinds go down - the camera zooms out the window, peeping into the lives of the other apartment's rear windows...finally the camera comes back in and we see it's hot! Stewart is sweating bullets! and the mercury in the thermometer is rising, really rising! Then we see Stewart frantically trying to itch his leg in the cast.
That's all brilliantly done as it gives us the feeling of what it's like to be trapped in an apartment, stuck in a wheel chair, bored as hell, while sweltering in the heat...This then drives the story forward and sets the tone, which tells us that being a peeping-tom voyeur is not a healthy hobby! Which is the theme of the movie.
James Stewart is perfect in this role. He's one of my all time favorite actors and is cast well here. And big kudos to a great actress, Thelma Ritter. I loved the scene they shared together at the start of the movie. This is when we learn of Stewart's philosophy on marriage and life. It's a very well written script too. And I just got through watching a short interview with the script writer John Michael Hayes.
I liked Grace Kelly in this, OK. She's better here than in Dial M for Murder. Even the scriptwriter John Michael Hayes, said she was stiff in Dial M. She's certainly pretty and very fashionable too. I'd say her best quality is her poise. You guys will probably kick me out of the Hitch Club
but I think she was the weak point in the movie.
I'm not a fan of Hitch's trick photography, like the glowing effect of the bulb or the blue screen fall of James Stewart. I think that takes away from the rest of the film. Hitch is the master of entertainment films, but the more I watch and rewatch his films, I realize they were the blockbuster CG movie of his day. Now I'm really kicked out of the club