Critic Reviews

Rear Window lovingly invests in suspense all through the film, banking it in our memory, so that when the final payoff arrives, the whole film has been the thriller equivalent of foreplay.

Flawless, essential viewing that would earn more than its five stars if only Empire would allow it.

The film leaps off the screen with a thrilling immediacy.

As much as I admire all of these, especially "Vertigo," I can't imagine that any one of them will top the feelings of exhilaration that are prompted by Rear Window, this most bittersweet of Hitchcockian suspense-romances. Make no mistake about it: Rear Window is as much of a romance as it is a brilliant exercise in suspense.

Hitchcock confines all of the action to this single setting and draws the nerves to the snapping point in developing the thriller phases of the plot. He is just as skilled in making use of lighter touches in either dialog or situation to relieve the tension when it nears the unbearable. Interest never wavers during the 112 minutes of footage.

What's extraordinary, for a film that works on these different levels, is that it also manages to be a riveting thriller.

Simply put, Rear Window is a great film, perhaps one of the finest ever committed to celluloid. All of the elements are perfect (or nearly so), including the acting, script, camerawork, music (by Franz Waxman), and, of course, direction. The brilliance of the movie is that, in addition to keeping viewers on the edges of their seats, it involves us in the lives of all of the characters, from Jefferies and Lisa to Miss Torso. There isn't a moment of waste in 113 minutes of screen time.

A superb example of suspense filmmaking, especially when one considers the technical limitations of its single set.

Everything from the masterly opening sequence to the ambiguous final shot indicates that this is the work of a prodigiously talented director.

In its perfect fusion of popular entertainment and high art, Rear Window ranks among Hitchcock's best.