Rear Window

James Stewart plays L.B. Jeffries, a photographer confined to his wheelchair in his Greenwich Village apartment and out of sheer boredom takes to spying on his neighbors during a summer heat wave.  Soon, to his amazement and our utter delight, he thinks he has witnessed a murder.  Grace Kelly plays the luminous Liza Fremont, girlfriend of Jeffries who's ready to settle down, but is he?  Thelma Ritter rounds out the cast as the insurance nurse sent to check up on Jeffries.  Does L.B. just have an overactive imagination, or is he onto something much more sinister?

"Rear Window" is my all-time favorite movie.  And I would go on record as saying that it's Alfred Hitchcock's most perfect movie.  Everything about this movie is right.  It works. If I were to leave only one movie in a time capsule to epitomize the fabulous 50's, it would hands down be "Rear Window".  I first saw this movie when I was 13 years old- I was spending the night with my favorite cool aunt and "Rear Window" was on "The Late Show" that night.   We popped some popcorn, sat down and started the movie.  From the opening scene, I was riveted... and to this day I still get the same effect.  

This is exactly what movie-making is all about- the film should be required viewing in Hollywood.  Besides the direction, which is obviously incredible, there's that dream of a cast. The acting is nothing short of magnificent- James Stewart, Grace Kelly, Thelma Ritter, Wendell Corey, and Raymond Burr all sparkle with crackling dialogue that seems absolutely, 100% natural.  As if they weren't enough, the neighbors that we get to spy on with James Stewart are all so thoroughly entertaining, I've always felt that they all deserve their own movies!  I have always wanted to know their names and stories- that alone is a testament of how good this movie is. 

 Grace Kelly is stunning as always, and you just can't beat the sassiness of the always-great Thelma Ritter. "Rear Window" is such a rich movie- it's at times witty, wistful, and suspenseful.  I can't stop raving about this movie.  Widely considered one of Hitchcock's finest films and ranked #48 on AFI's 100 Years, 100 Movies...  Also added to the United States Film Registry in 1997.  A classic murder mystery from 1954 that only gets better with each viewing.