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MPAA Rating: PG Content Advisory: Mild Violence, Adult Situations Movie Release: 1954 DVD Release: 03/06/2001 Format: DVD - Enhanced Wide Screen Letterbox for 16x9 TV Edition: Restored/Remastered,Special Collection Audio Tracks: English, French Subtitles: English, Spanish SwapaDVD Credits: 1 Number of Discs: 1 Run Time: 1 hrs 55 mins Studio: Universal Studios Members Wishing: 68 Genres: Mystery, Thriller, Romantic Mystery, Psychological Thriller See Also: Rear Window [Widescreen] [Special Edition]

Laid up with a broken leg, photojournalist L.B. Jeffries (James Stewart) is confined to his tiny, sweltering courtyard apartment. To pass the time between visits from his nurse (Thelma Ritter) and his fashion model girlfriend Lisa (Grace Kelly), the binocular-wielding Jeffries stares through the rear window of his apartment at the goings-on in the other apartments around his courtyard. As he watches his neighbors, he assigns them such roles and character names as "Miss Torso" (Georgine Darcy), a professional dancer with a healthy social life or "Miss Lonelyhearts" (Judith Evelyn), a middle-aged woman who entertains nonexistent gentlemen callers. Of particular interest is seemingly mild-mannered travelling salesman Lars Thorwald (Raymond Burr), who is saddled with a nagging, invalid wife. One afternoon, Thorwald pulls down his window shade, and his wife's incessant bray comes to a sudden halt. Out of boredom, Jeffries casually concocts a scenario in which Thorwald has murdered his wife and disposed of the body in gruesome fashion. Trouble is, Jeffries' musings just might happen to be the truth. One of Alfred Hitchcock's very best efforts, Rear Window is a crackling suspense film that also ranks with Michael Powell's Peeping Tom (1960) as one of the movies' most trenchant dissections of voyeurism. As in most Hitchcock films, the protagonist is a seemingly ordinary man who gets himself in trouble for his secret desires. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

James Stewart - L.B. Jeffries (Jeff)
Grace Kelly - Lisa Carol Fremont
Wendell Corey - Thomas J. Doyle, detective
Thelma Ritter - Stella, the nurse
Raymond Burr - Lars Thorwald

One of Alfred Hitchcock's greatest films, Rear Window gets the DVD treatment it deserves with this excellent Universal release. This edition features a superb anamorphic widescreen transfer, and the original mono soundtrack comes in Dolby Digital 2.0. There are many DVD extras but the finest is easily a new "making of" documentary. Entitled "Rear Window Ethics," this documentary really helps viewers understand Hitchcock's working methods and his interest in the underlying themes of the movie. Hitchcock loved creating, and then working within, tough technical challenges -- and this documentary lets viewers see how much of a challenge he had on this shoot. Filmed on one intricate, specifically built set, the camera never leaves Jimmy Stewart's apartment, yet the movie still manages to create a whole world for the viewer. Besides interviews with members of the cast and crew ("Miss Torso" is holding up very nicely after all these years), directors Peter Bogdanovich and Curtis Hanson are also on hand to discuss the film and speak of its impact on them. Bogdanovich even gave the filmmakers access to an old interview he recorded with Hitchcock. Other worthy extras include an interview with screenwriter John Michael Hayes and the screenplay. A neat, though nonessential bonus is a gallery of photographs from the production. Viewers may be interested to know that Hitchcock based the central relationship between Stewart and Grace Kelly on the real-life affair between his friend Ingrid Bergman and famed war photographer Robert Capa. This fine DVD proves that incredibly entertaining, crowd-pleasing movies can also be artistic triumphs. ~ Nick Dedina, All Movie Guide