Rear Window (1954)

The Master of Suspense ratchets up the tension while dishing out insights into obsession, urban living and the dangers of the gaze.

“Few filmmakers can tap into our dark and perverse sides as Alfred Hitchcock can. In Rear Window he opens the shutters of our voyeuristic tendencies as we follow a photographer, wheelchair-bound from an injury, who gets his kicks from peeping into other people’s apartments. Fantastic lensing and brilliant use of image-sizing in the POV shots come together in a witty, romantic and sexy edge-of-the seat thriller that sees the director at his very best.” Karan Bali

“This film is an everlasting masterclass in how to develop an emotional conflict within a murder investigation thriller. The main story is hidden in several supporting subplots; many viewers do not even recognise them and still they feel thrilled and engaged. The film is full of psychological finesse.” András Bálint Kovács

“The perfect movie: it works as a romantic drama, as a thriller and as a comedy. It’s Hitchcock at his finest.” Jorge Ignacio Castillo

1954 USA
Directed by
Alfred Hitchcock
Produced by
Alfred Hitchcock
Written by
John Michael Hayes
Featuring
James Stewart, Grace Kelly, Wendell Corey
Running time
112 minutes

Ranked in The Greatest Films of All Time poll

Sight and Sound

Who voted for Rear Window

Critics

Abbas Baharloo
Iran
Karan Bali
India
Maria Bonsanti
Italy
Stefan Borsos
Germany
Josephine Botting
UK
Gian Piero Brunetta
Italy
Jorge Ignacio Castillo
Chile / Canada
Joaquín Chazarreta
Argentina
Godfrey Cheshire
USA
Rich Cline
UK
Guillermo Franco
Argentina
Ryan Gilbey
UK
Katie Goh
UK
Adam Gonet
UK
Molly Haskell
USA
Philip Horne
UK
Caryn James
USA
Lisa Kerrigan
UK
András Bálint Kovács
Hungary
Amir Labaki
Brazil
Benjamin Lee
USA
Emmanuel Levaufre
France
Andrei Liimets
Estonia
Katie McCabe
UK
Ben Mitchell
UK
Christian Monggaard
Denmark
Raya Morag
Israel
Brogan Morris
UK
Ian Nathan
UK
Marko Njegić
Croatia
Michał Oleszczyk
Poland
Óscar Oliva
Spain
Jan Olsson
Sweden
Nanna Frank Rasmussen
Denmark
Jonathan Rigby
UK
David Rooney
USA
Shelagh Rowan-Legg
Canada
Martin Rubin
USA
Sheila Schvarzman
Brazil
Adam Scovell
UK
Jerónimo Silvio Iglesias
Spain
Eloísa Solaas
Argentina
Janet Staiger
USA
Michelle Swope
USA
Arthur Tennøe
Norway
Muriel Tinel-Temple
UK
Maria Ulfsak-Šeripova
Estonia
Susan Vahabzadeh
Germany
Miguel Valverde
Portugal
Sanjeev Verma
India
Christian VIVIANI
France
Meg Walters
UK/Canada
Damon Wise
UK

Directors

Jack Bond
UK
Tom George
UK
Richard Kelly
USA
Jim McBride
USA
Ezequiel Yanco
Argentina