Alfred Hitchcock’s Rear Window

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Alfred Hitchcock’s Rear Window

In Alfred Hitchcock’s Rear Window, L.B. Jeffries, played by Jimmy Stewart, becomes completely obsessed with spending all of his waking hours watching his neighbors from his wheelchair. He even uses a camera to better his view and thus enhances his role as both a spectator and a voyeur. This contributes to the creation of a movie being played right outside Jeffries’ window. In this “movie within the movie” his neighbors’ lives become the subject for the plot. Each window represents a different film screen, each which is focused upon only when Jeffries directs his attention to it. He witnesses both the anxieties associated with the beginning of a marriage and the heartache of relationships ending. The plots that are played out before his eyes become more important than his own personal life. In fact, Jeffries renounces the idea of marriage due to the scenes he witnesses from within his apartment. This is displayed by his initial rejection of the beautiful Lisa Freemont, played by Grace Kelly. She is unable to divert Jeffries’ attention from the window even with the most forward flirtations. It is not until she puts herself on the other side and into the “movie” that he becomes interested in her. Lisa finally becomes the subject of the gaze and only then does Jeffries show any sexual attraction towards her. When Lisa breaks into Thorwald’s apartment, Jeffries does not see the same Lisa he saw when she stood by him and sat in his lap. He now looks upon a “guilty intruder exposed by a dangerous man threatening her with punishment” (Mulvey 207). He is aroused by this new spontaneous side of her. From this scene we see that Lisa Freemont cannot become a part of the movie until she becomes a character in the “movie within the movie.” This creates a new perception of Lisa for Jeffries and clears away many of his marriage anxieties, providing closure to their dispute and foreshadowing a relationship and eventually a marriage between the two.

Each window Jeffries observes contains a plot which portrays a different view of marriage. At first, the newlyweds show a relationship full of joy and happiness with much hope for the future. The husband is shown as he carries his bride over the threshold as they enjoy their first moments together in their new home. Then the blinds are pulled and thus sexual relations are implied. As ti...

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...s in the other relationships across the block. The newlyweds are at odds again. We hear a very unhappy wife scream, “I wouldn’t have married you if I had known you would quit your job” (Rear Window). We also see the formerly lonely “Miss Lonelyhearts” find companionship with the composer upstairs, whose beautiful music saved her from suicide. A reversal occurs in Jeffries’ life as well. This is represented symbolically when we see Jeffries finally with his back to the window. Although he remains in his wheelchair, now with two casts, his affection for Lisa is stronger than ever. As she sits beside him reading travel accounts we are to assume that they will embark on worldly excursions together. We also see that Lisa did not sacrifice her lifestyle in her winning of Jeffries. When Jeffries falls asleep Lisa begins reading an article from Bazaar. This final scene shows the two of them finally at peace and happy with one another.

Works Cited:

Mulvey, Laura. “Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema.” Narrative Apparatus Ideology. Ed. Philip Rosen, (New York: Columbia UP, 1986), 198-209.

Rear Window. Dir. Alfred Hitchcock. Perf. James Stewart, Grace Kelly. MCA. 1954.

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