Artist Rear Window

In its perfect fusion of popular entertainment and high art, Alfred Hitchcock’s Rear Window easily ranks among his best films, and serves as a compelling metaphor about the voyeuristic qualities of movies themselves. Hitchcock plants laid-up photojournalist James Stewart in a wheelchair facing a courtyard of open windows. Confined all day to his stuffy two-room apartment, he passes the time by peering into his neighbors' private lives, a growing obsession that doesn't please his "too-perfect" girlfriend, played by Grace Kelly. But the suspicious behavior of a salesman (Raymond Burr) who may or may not have killed his wife convinces the pair to do some sleuthing. Did they really see something or are their minds making connections that aren’t real?

Updated 07/19/2010