Hitchock was a master. A technical innovator who found ways to stretch the what he was given beyond what anyone found possible.
In Rear Window, not only was the setting, plot and premise singularly unique, but the actual set and filming was unlike anything that had ever been attempted. The set, the largest that had ever been constructed, necessitated excavation of the Paramount soundstage floor. All shots but the shot of Jeff on the ground at the end originate from within the primary setting of the film, the apartment. Hitchcock directed only from the apartment; the actors wore earpieces for direction.
On the surface, and in the short story on which the film is based, the story revolves around Thorwald. On closer analysis, the story is really about the relationship between Jeff and Lisa. The events of the movie serve, in their own twisted and Hitchockian way to mirror the interplay between the lead couple.
It also helps that Grace Kelly was one of the most beautiful women ever.
Hitchcock could and did do better; though very, very rarely.
Rear Window is one of my favorite Hitchcock and Jimmy Stewart movies. I was well-pleased when the restored version DVD came out and bought it immediately. The documentary shows the trials they had what with stripped color layers and the rest. One small complaint: When Lisa first shows up and leans in to kiss Jeff, there was something about it made me say, “Whoa, what was that?” I step-framed the shot and it was double printed (i.e. each frame was printed twice before going to the next). Nothing was mentioned in the commentary about it. Does anyone know wha’ happen?
I think this movie has more charming little anecdotes about it than any of Hitchcock’s others, like Georgine Darcy (Miss Torso) living in her set apartment between takes to stay in character and Hitch giving the fire escape couple conflicting instructions to cause the confusion when it starts to “rain.”
One bit of trivia: The Songwriter was played by Ross Bagdasarian of Alvin and the Chipmunks fame.
It’s a film term. If I’d read that definition outside of the context of Hitchcock, Orson Welles Touch of Evil - particularly the opening scene, would come to mind.
::knocks his glass off the ledge - it shatters three floors down, crushing the zither player::
The one thing that’s not clear to me from that definition is whether or not Diegetic Sound has to be recorded from the source at the time of filming or if it can be recorded in Post-Production and/or by Foley Artists.
So as not to entirely hijack I’ll say something about Rear Window.
One of my all-time Favs.
It makes me feel trapped in a tiny cluttered apartment. Wait a minute. . . I’m guess that’s where I am when I usually watch it, maybe Hitchcock doesn’t deserve much credit at all. Perhaps it is my landlord who is the true genius.
I’ll have to rethink this.
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This is my favorite of Hitchcock’s movies. The pacing is wonderful, I still get on the edge of my seat at the very end even though i know the outcome. Jimmy Stewart was one of the greatest actors ever. The set was amazing in design.
This is my favorite Hitchcock too. It’s the one I can watch repeatedly, following the different stories going on behind each window, and seeing something new nearly every time. I also enjoy the ongoing argument between Grace Kelly and Jimmy Stewart about how/where they are going live together if they get married. And that black and white dress of hers is the loveliest thing.
The DVD I have has a short documentary on the incredible set and how Hitchcock directed the actors in the various windows.
One of my top, say, five Hitchocks. Navelgazing Joycefreak that I am, I love that it’s so much more about movies than about anything else. Verhoeven took some subtle but brilliant vocabulary from Rear Window to add some interesting layers of meaning and perspective to Hollow Man.
I didn’t realize the actors wore earpieces for direction. Cool factoid. I really love this film and think it is one of the reasons Hitchcock earns his reputation as Master Of Suspense. I usually prefer a book over the movie, but in this case I like them equally well. Thank you for the recommendation Dex, sounds like a great read.
That’s not my experience. I found the film to be a total revelation in the cinema, having seen it first on TV- all that detail in the apartments opposite came totally to life for me, in a way that it hadn’t before - but then maybe I just have a small TV.
I love this film. It’s definately my favourite Hitchcock, and one of my all time favourite films, full stop. I don’t care so much about the suspense elements as about the wonderfully portrayed relationship between Grace Kelly and Jimmy Stewart, and all the great mini dramas playing out through the lens of Jimmy’s camera.
It’s one of those films that causes you to exclaim “they don’t make 'em like that anymore!” (which is really weird coming from someone like me- a 25 year old who only got into watching “old” films in the last few years.)
Certainly ‘diegetic’ sound-effects can - and usually are - done in post-production. So of course that includes foley stuffs, shattering glass, car crashes and so on.
I reckon Ilsa_Lund meant, when she said “diegetic soundtrack” that the music we hear is “really” from neighbours apartments - record players, radios. The characters hear all of this, just as we do.
(OTOH, Janet Leigh’s character Marion does not hear the ominous dah-dahn-dah score in the shower scene)
I just got the re-edit DVD of ‘Touch of Evil’ which nixes the “soundtrack” in favour of sounds from car radios, bands, conversations and such. In the original release, there was a conventional orchestral score playing.
The obvious effect is we, the audience, feel like we are there.
