Rear Window story
Rear Window is a 1954 American mystery thriller film directed by Alfred Hitchcock and written by John Michael Hayes based on Cornell Woolrich's 1942 short story "It Had to Be Murder". Originally released by Paramount Pictures, the film stars James Stewart, Grace Kelly, Wendell Corey, Thelma Ritter, and Raymond Burr. It was screened at the 1954 Venice Film Festival.
17 total · 1 choice · 6 major · 10 minor
| Theme | Level | Motivation |
|---|---|---|
| what if I became witness to a crime | choice | The premise of the story is that two people become witnesses to what they think may be a murder, and they must seek conclusive proof without getting noticed by the killer. |
| boyfriend and girlfriend | major | Jeff and Lisa are the two protagonists of the plot, and an item. |
| coping with being ill and indisposed | major | Jeff nearly developed cabin fever while being consigned to a wheel chair in his Chelsea flat. |
| guilt and evidence | major | the story hinged on whether Jeff's mostly circumstantial evidence was enough to arrest the man or search his flat |
| infatuation | major | Lisa was clearly besotted with Jeff, who in turn was somewhat ambiguous. |
| nonconsensual voyeurism | major | Jeff's peeping on his neighbors with a high power lens skirts the line of propriety. |
| spouse murder | major | The story centered around a man who had murdered his abusive wife. |
| coping with getting dumped | minor | It seemed briefly that either Jeff or Lisa had dumped the other, Jeff having discussed doing so earlier. |
| coping with the death of a pet | minor | A woman screamed in distress when she saw her dog had been killed. |
| crime against property | minor | Lisa was arrested for trespassing. |