Rear Window (1954)
12-month trend
12-month trend
Monthly article views
2025-09 to 2026-08
A bedridden man becomes convinced his neighbor is a murderer after observing suspicious behavior through a window.
The story
In the mid-1950s, photojournalist L. B. "Jeff" Jefferies, recuperating from assignment-related injuries, is wheelchair-bound in his Greenwich Village apartment. His mid-floor rear window looks onto a courtyard with small garden plots, surrounded on four sides by apartments in adjoining buildings. Jeff is regularly visited by Stella, a nurse, and his couture-clad girlfriend, Lisa Fremont, a model and socialite. During a heat wave, Jeff watches his neighbors through open windows, including a newlywed couple, a professional dancer, a songwriter, a spinster, and a traveling costume jewelry salesman. One night, Jeff hears a woman scream, followed by the sound of breaking glass. Later that night, he observes the salesman, Thorwald, making repeated excursions carrying his sample case.
Full plot (contains spoilers)
While recovering from injuries in a Greenwich Village apartment, photojournalist Jeff watches his neighbors through a window. He becomes suspicious of his neighbor, Lars Thorwald, after hearing a scream and seeing Thorwald's erratic behavior. Jeff becomes convinced Thorwald has murdered his wife and shares his suspicions with his nurse, Stella, and his girlfriend, Lisa. After a detective finds no evidence, Jeff's suspicion is reinforced when a neighbor's dog is found dead and Thorwald is seen acting furtively. Jeff lures Thorwald away to allow Lisa and Stella to investigate his garden, but Lisa enters his apartment alone and is attacked by Thorwald. Jeff calls the police, and during the ensuing scuffle, Lisa reveals she is wearing the victim's ring. Thorwald is apprehended and confesses to the murder. In the aftermath, the neighborhood returns to normalcy, and Jeff remains in his apartment, while Lisa is seen in casual attire.
- First release year
- 1954
- Runtime (minutes)
- 112
- Production countries
- United States
- Original languages
- English
- Directors
- Alfred Hitchcock
- Writers
- John Michael Hayes · screenplay
- Cast and characters
- James Stewart · L. B. "Jeff" Jefferies; Grace Kelly · Lisa Fremont; Wendell Corey · Lt. Thomas "Tom" J. Doyle; Thelma Ritter · Stella
- Genres
- mystery; thriller
- Themes
- voyeurism; scopophilia; male gaze
- Tone and mood
- tense; suspenseful
- Setting
- A Greenwich Village apartment overlooking a courtyard in the mid-1950s.
- Premise and plot tags
- mystery; thriller; suspense
- Source material / true-story basis
- Cornell Woolrich's 1942 short story "It Had to Be Murder"
- Reception
- Widely acclaimed as one of Hitchcock's best films and one of the greatest films ever made, it is noted for its masterful use of suspense and its exploration of voyeurism.
- Reported review scores
- Rotten Tomatoes · score: 99% · scale: percentage · review count: 134; Metacritic · score: 100 · scale: 100 · review count: 18
- Production trivia
- The film was shot almost entirely from within one room.; It was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry in 1997.; The film was remade as a TV movie in 1998 starring Christopher Reeve.
Film metadata comes from the open sources listed in Credits & Contact. Catalogue details may be incomplete.
Your lists
Loading your lists…