I consider it a privilege to have always been curious and also to have lived in a time when obtaining information was difficult, demanding a desire to know and the possibility of having access. I say this because I knew that Alfred Hitchcock was a genius, everyone told me so, but I discovered how much more through my experience of discovering his films without knowing all the details in advance. Today, avoiding spoilers is impossible and in the case of his films, it takes away much of what he is most skilled at doing: making us anxious, shouting where we are to a screen, unable to help anyone. I saw Psycho for the first time when I was 10 or 11, but without knowing anything. Rear Window, too. And I confess: I screamed, despaired, and ended up exactly as he wanted.

I have mentioned several times that my favorite film by the director is North By Northwest, but it is difficult to choose “one”. Certainly, in my top 5 is Rear Window, which will be 70 years old in 2024.

In times before the true crime or voyeurism craze, Hitch created a simple story: photographer L.B. Jeffries (James Stewart) suffered an accident and is “stuck” in a wheelchair for months. With nothing to do and being an active man, he begins to observe his neighbors through the window of his apartment, following their encounters, disagreements, and their daily lives until one hot summer night, when he believes that a possible murder has occurred.

Unable to leave where he is, he convinces his fiancée Lisa Fremont (Grace Kelly), an elegant model and dress designer, and his nurse, Stella (Thelma Ritter), to help him decipher what he thinks he has witnessed and I swear, the tension is unbelievable. That’s because we’re stuck with it too, and thanks to Hitchcock, it’s an even bigger risk.

Alfred Hitchcock’s genius, as he admitted, was to create suspense, but not surprise. Although he surprised us too. As he explained, “A bomb under the table goes off, and that’s a surprise. We know the bomb is under the table, but we don’t know when it’s going to go off, and that’s suspense.” Simple, right? And so perfect.

In the case of Rear Window, the script was written by John Michael Hayes, based on Cornell Woolrich‘s 1942 short story It Had to Be Murder, and filmed entirely at Paramount Studios, with a set that included a replica of a building’s courtyard in Greenwich Village, New York. All the details took six weeks to complete, and even today, 70 years later, they’re still perfect. Years later, Hitchcock admitted that the film was loosely inspired by a true story, the case of the American doctor, Dr. Hawley Harvey Crippen, who lived in London, poisoned his wife and cut up her body, claiming to the police that she had moved to Los Angeles. He was caught when his secretary and lover were seen wearing the deceased’s jewelry and a family friend unsuccessfully searched for Mrs. Crippen in California. Crippen and his lover fled England under false names and were arrested on an ocean liner after the police found parts of Mrs. Crippen’s body in his basement.

Those who know the film understand every reference and that is also why it is legendary. It was the director’s second film with Grace Kelly, following Dial M for Murder (also from 1954), and thus immortalized the beauty and talent of the actress at her peak. In a personal joke, James Stewart, who made four films with Hitchcock, joked that being in a wheelchair was the director’s good-natured response to his request after standing up in the uncut film Rope when he wanted to sit down. Should you be careful what you ask for?

Rear Window is perfect because the stars are aligned, a perfect production, and where “simplicity” (there is no other word) is where the genius lies. So much so that in the interview he did with François Truffaut, he acknowledged that his creativity was at its peak. Interestingly, at the time of its release, there were criticisms regarding the hero’s voyeurism. We know that this is total hypocrisy. And for this very reason, it has stood the test of time, completing seven decades and still being one of the favorites of all film fans. It is always worth watching again!

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