Viewed: REAR WINDOW

If you want to see how the the king of suspense, Hitchcock plays with comedy, do not miss Rear Window where he seems to be having a lot of fun making the film. 

It's a supremely entertaining flick with social comments layered in, about a man (James Stewart) with a broken leg, who has nothing to do and passes time looking at other people's lives through his rear window; one day he witnesses something suspicious in one of the homes and concludes it's a murder. At first his girlfriend (Grace Kelly) doesn't buy his logic but as she is enamored too, along with his nurse they try to 'crack' the case.

Chiefly shot in one room, with a view to other's homes and windows, Hitchcock shows what he can do in minimal setting and yet deliver so much entertainment and a good dose of social commentary on the human urge to 'peek' inside other's lives, to speculate, to draw conclusions and be governed by them. It's interesting to see him take a dig at the timidity of man, courtesy the lack of action when thrown into a crisis.

It's a must-watch if you want to have good fun, along with enough suspense, great dialogues and a comment on our life. It was made in 1954 and every thing works even today. Hitchcock is in full form!

Based on the story (It Had To Be Murder) by Cornell Woolrich
Screenplay: John Michael Hayes
Director: Alfred Hitchcock

Rating ****

[Max ****]