Rear Window

In my extremely slow quest to catch up on Hitchcock, I rented this film. It's pretty good, though ultimately without quite the impact I might have expected. James Stewart is quite engaging, and Grace Kelly is gorgeous. The picture is, of course, a directorial triumph, since Hitch manages to make it exciting even though it all takes place in one room. (Though he cheats a bit by letting us look through the binoculars into other characters' lives.) In this sense it reminds me of “Twelve Angry Men,” which took place almost entirely in a jury room. “Rear Window” is a refined, elegant, and carefully studied film. Even the grisly central event is handled with discretion. Surprisingly modern in its attitudes, the film is nonetheless a monument to the days when cool was more than an attitude, and even thrillers could be viewed by the entire family.