Movie Review: Rear Window

I haven't done one of these in awhile. I've been too tired and honestly I fall asleep or don't pay attention to half the movies we rent.

I love old movies. I'm not sure why. I think it could be because my parents used to make us watch them growing up. Or maybe my love of Audrey passed over to other movies in her generation. Whatever the reason, I flooded K's Netflix with classic movies (lets be honest here the new movies recently have not been that good).

So the first one to arrive was Rear Window with James Stuart and Grace Kelly. The brief summary would be: Jeffries (Stuart's character) has broken his leg and spends his time looking out the window of his apartment into the lives of all his neighbors. What a concept - I mean who hasn't at one point or another "spied" on their neighbors. Be it listening to your upstairs neighbor on the phone or looking out the window as your neighbors scream at each other across the street. There's something so deliciously naughty about the concept and the fact that most likely you won't get caught.

Jeffries comes to believe that one of his neighbor's has been murdered by her husband. And I'll leave it at that. I don't want to give it away!

It's not my favorite movie and it's not even what I expected. I was thinking more along the lines of hiding under a blanket scary. The movie is a suspense. Did the neighbor kill his wife? Is Jeffries going to be found out? But that being said I liked it.

I will say I thought Kelly was a bit stiff. Maybe it was the character. I never fully believed that she and Stuart were meant to be together or in love. I'm not sure Jeffries even believed - he spends part of the movie trying to break up with her. I also never believed she'd give up her plush apartment to traipse around the world with Jeffries (who was a struggling photographer).

I will say I was surprised that Kelly's character talks about spending the night with Jeffries. The movie was made (according to Netflix) in 1954. I would have thought "good girls" were not spending the night at their boyfriend's apartment in the fifties. You never actually see them in bed together (sleeping - get your mind out of the gutter!) but she tries on a nightgown for him and says she's staying over. Who knew the 50's were so risky.

Interesting tidbit: Hitchcock (the director) always has a cameo in his movies. Look for him near the begining in the piano player's apartment. He's dusting a clock on the mantel and turns towards the camera for a moment.

So overall, 3 stars out of 5. I know I'm probably in the minority - people all over Netflix were rating it all fives. I think it's one of those movies you have to see but I wouldn't say it was my favorite "classic" movie.