What would others see if they looked into your windows?
A lack of pants? Or worse, would they see you dining on…
CANNED CLAMS?!
Photographer Jeff Jeffries has seen many things through the lens of his camera but now he can only look through his apartment window. After capturing a great shot of a race car about to crash into him, he is confined to a wheelchair with a broken leg.
It is a hot summer in the city, windows are open and curtains are pulled back to allow for the slightest breeze. The children run to catch a spray of water from a street cleaning truck. Kids in New York City still go looking for a cool down in the street from fire hydrants in a similar way.
When it’s hot in the city tempers can rise and passions flare up. Jeff gives the targets of his voyeuristic viewings names that match their lives, like the Newlyweds, the Songwriter, the Salesman, Miss Hearing Aid, Miss Lonelyhearts, and the dancer Miss Torso. While he is consumed with observing the loves and heartbreaks of others he neglects to examine his own romantic entanglement with a wealthy socialite, Lisa Fremont.
During a stormy night something sinister has happened. With a scream in the dark from the courtyard and the disappearance of the salesman’s wife, Jeff is convinced it’s murder. With the help of his girlfriend, his nurse, and a detective friend, this unusual Scooby gang may have a crime to solve.
What is seen through the rear window may tell all kinds of stories to the viewer. But the truth may be found when you step outside and look in on yourself.
Quoting Nurse Stella:
“We’ve become a race of Peeping Toms. What people ought to do is get outside their own house and look in for a change.”
Rear Window stars James Stewart, Grace Kelly, Thelma Ritter, Raymond Burr, and Wendell Corey. Directed by Alfred Hitchcock.
Rear Window is available with subscription on Prime. $3.99 in the usual places. Free on the Internet Archives. (This version is in English with Spanish subtitles.)
To make requests and see the movie lists and schedules, go to WonkMovie.
The cartoon is a Max Fleischer Color Classic, Dancing On The Moon from 1935.
This evening’s countdown and trivia is being handled by guest Movieboss Jenn, a big thank you for her help.
Tonight I am in Indiana for a big celebration. Happy 80th Birthday to my mom, Connie!
