Rear Window : A gaffe, a question of speed and charming bumbling

A gaffe, a question of speed and charming bumbling

Do I rate RW higher than Vertigo? You betcha! Vertgo probably is the better film of the two, but nowhere near that entertaining. I would say RW is indeed a perfectly constructed film with an absolute marvelous ending.

A couple of comments and questions.

1. Although Hitchcock keeps pretty consistent in the timing of Thorwald getting from the street into his apartment, at one time he does not. When Thorwald comes back with suites from the cleaners (when the car horns when he passes the street). We see the camera slowly panning from him in the street, up to miss Torso and than we immediately see Thorwald coming down the hallway. Hmmm, is he training for the OLympics?

2. During the fight between Jeff and THorwald we see several shots of people coming towards the noise while this is speed up. Is this intentional or simply a technical error. I thgought the bluray restoration surely would have corrected this, but to my surprise it was still in there. Anyone any explanation for this?

3. Kelly makes two dialogue errors: one while lying on the couch talking arguing with Stewart and the second one while standing and talking about how people would listen to their conversation they would think they are the most frightening ghouls they'd ever seen. And Stewart makes one error when he says: "You're not going out there and get your own...YOUR neck broken." I like it that Hitchcock has left these in, it's very charming.

4. What does Stewart mean when he says: "Stella was wrong about miss Lonelyhearts"? We see this woman taking a paper and pencil when he says this, so what does Stewart deduce from this? It would be logical to assume that she is about to write a suicide note. So in WHAT way does Stewart think Stella was wrong?

5. This probably wasn't Hitchcock's intention, but when the wife of the newlyweds says "Larry!" when he stands at the window in boxershorts and shirt smoking a cigarette, I always get the impression that she wants him back in bed, while he is getting tired of it. I don't believe this to be the intent of Hitchcock, rather to point out the growing discontent between the two. Still, you CAN interpret it that way, can't you?

The ending I find superior. We see the newlyweds argue: he is annoyed and she is nagging. They have become the Thorwalds edition 2, potentially starting the same cycle all over again. Since Stewart already broke his other leg, perhaps next time a broken arm will be the result?

Re: A gaffe, a question of speed and charming bumbling

One goof was the non-relationship between Jeff Jefferies and Tom Doyle's wife, Tess, and between Lisa Fremont and Tom Doyle.

Jefferies and Doyle were old friends from their World War II service flying in the same reconnaissance aircraft for three years, and lived within minutes of each other in New York City. Yet, Jefferies was so unacquainted with Doyle's wife that he began his phone conversation with her by addressing her as "Mrs. Doyle?" and speaking as though they'd never met; but, in the same call, he quickly calls her "Tess", and speaks in a very familiar manner. And, being such old friends and all living so close to each other, surely Jefferies would have introduced Lisa to Doyle - or at least mentioned the existence of each to the other - some time well before the Thorwald matter.

One of many odd incongruities in the movie.

Re: A gaffe, a question of speed and charming bumbling

As to why Doyle and Jeffries may not socialize a lot--some friendships that are strong weaken a bit over time, and Doyle being married, while Jeffries is still a single man, could also affect the friendship. As people start families, they start hanging out with other couples w/kids. And again, Jeffries' constant travel gets in the way of continuing the friendship easily.

As to why Doyle may not have met Lisa--well, it's not clear how long Jeffries and Lisa have been dating. I guess I've always thought it was maybe a month or two. And throughout the movie, we're made aware of Jeff's ambivalence about his relationship with Lisa--he's not sure how a long-term relationship, or marriage, would work for them. So he may not have mentioned Lisa to Doyle until the Thorwald problem.

Re: A gaffe, a question of speed and charming bumbling

I noticed one of the dialog errors too--could not believe I heard it correctly, but I guess I did! He got his words jumbled. LOL

As for Miss Lonelyhearts, I think he thought she was not going to commit asuicide when he saw her writing a letter. I expected it to be a twist where she'd need more extreme measures to save her because he did not report it in time. But then it did not seem to matter because she heard the music and did not take the pills. Now I think perhaps Hitchcock decided not to go there, because he kept this movie pretty tight. Perhaps they were limited be inability to reshoot smoother scenes when editing things out--all those actors, that huge set...maybe he had to use what they had already shot? Clearly the nurse was right at that point. But if he said she was wrong after the music started, he'd have been correct, the nurse "wrong"....

I'm clueless about the newlyweds....but I read about the speed-ups a few places. You caught that. I already want to watch this movie again. LOL

Re: A gaffe, a question of speed and charming bumbling

To #4 above....Stella had said she'd become fat and alcoholic. Stewart probably figures it is a suicide note, meaning she won't have the chance to.

Re: A gaffe, a question of speed and charming bumbling

It was "Miss Torso" about whom Stella said, "She'll wind up fat, alcoholic and miserable."

About "Miss Lonelyhearts," she was more charitable and optimistic: "Poor soul. Maybe one day she'll find her happiness."

I can understand remembering it the other way; it was "Miss Lonelyhearts" who we saw belting 'em down.


Poe! You are...avenged!

Re: A gaffe, a question of speed and charming bumbling

As for point 5, regarding the newlyweds, I think your gut feeling on those scenes is right. I think this was for comedy. The theme starts when they lower the shade, and Jeff grins (suggesting he knows what will happen next). There is a similar type of humor at the end when the dancer's boyfriend returns; his first comment upon returning from a long leave is that he's hungry and he goes to the fridge.

As for point 2, about the scenes that are sped up, there is another comment on here about that. It seems to be intentional, perhaps to make the scene more dramatic. It stops when some of the neighbors start to run over to Jeff's building.
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