Rear Window (1954) FULL WATCH ALONG w/Coby
Added 2024-02-14 19:18:43 +0000 UTCCoby watches her first James Stewart Alfred Hitchcock movie and she was not disappointed!
Comments
I have never seen anyone more ambivalent about whether someone was guilty. If you haven't seen the movie 12 Angry Men (1957), you must.
Eddie Perkins
2024-06-19 12:34:47 +0000 UTCDouble Indemnity is a great movie. Anatomy of a Murder is another Jimmy Stewart movie I would love to see her react to.
Eddie Perkins
2024-06-19 12:19:42 +0000 UTCIt is a Perfect Movie. It’s in my All-Time Top 5. So very cool to see Coby enjoy it so much. There are many, many more Classic Films, I’m sure She would like. She seems to have a sense for Great Stories… something there is a plenty of in Classic films. To name a few Crime Mysteries… The Thin Man (1934) The Maltese Falcon (1941) Double Indemnity (1944) Laura (1944) The Big Clock (1948) In a Lonely Place (1950) To name some Mystery Thrillers… Leave Her to Heaven (1945) Niagara (1953) The Prize (1963) Wait Until Dark (1967) To name some earlier Hitchcock Thrillers to definitely check out… The Lady Vanishes (1938) Foreign Correspondent (1940) Saboteur (1942) Shadow of a Doubt (1943) Strangers on a Train (1951) Dial M for Murder (1954)
Larry Darrell
2024-06-10 01:47:09 +0000 UTCWhen Coby mentioned after seeing the opening of Vertigo that she first thought it might be a dream, that made some sense, because how could have Scottie possibly been rescued from that bent gutter? Also, at the beginning of Vertigo, Coby noted the similarity of James Stewart's characters at the start of each film. Both were injured and somewhat immobilized. But, after giving it some thought, Rear Window is the movie that is more like a dream. I'll begin with the obvious. In the first and last scene of the film, we see L.B. Jefferies sleeping. But, in both, we not only see "Jeff," we see all the other dream characters; the tenants in the other apartments. Now when Coby questioned if it was Grace Kelly on the cover of the magazine, I knew that it wasn't but only because I've probably seen the movie 50 times (with 5 or 6 of those times seated in a 1927 Paramount movie palace). Yet somehow it's natural to associate the model on the cover with Lisa Fremont. Particularly in how the image is introduced: the camera glides over it to rest on the stack of magazines; revealing the photograph that was created by the negative, on the cover of a magazine. I never noticed the other stack of magazines right beside the first, obviously all of the same magazine--the one Jeff works for. It seems to be something like Life magazine. The title is either obscured or not there at all... What I always thought was the leaf of a houseplant covering the top of the magazine turns out to be actual strips of film negatives that lie across the top of the cover--again marring the image with a subtle negative connotation. The strips even gently move up and down at the end (so there's either a fan in the room or a slight breeze--thank goodness!)...For some reason, I always thought this was a stack of the same issue of the magazine: all having the model on the cover. As if it was the most recent issue or a recent shot or something he was particularly proud of. The fact that the negative was framed, and the magazine is on top suggests these thoughts...Also, did Lisa get him the assignment? Did Lisa have the negative of the photo framed?... Before, I'd only thought of the negative and magazines as other aspects of Jeff's photography. After seeing the smashed camera, and several photographs capturing danger and violence, we see a whole camera and then a close-up of the negative. (In a way, that camera, with its flashbulb intact, represents danger, since flashbulbs will later be used as a defensive weapon by Jeff.) Yet the model in the image does seem to represent Lisa--both in general appearance, style, and elegance, and, if so, her character is first intimated as a "negative." And a negative is a sort of opposite...The idea that the different neighbors reflect some aspect of Jeff and Lisa's relationship, usually in a negative way, seems also credible, given Jeff's negative view of marriage. The two characters Jeff and Lisa seem to most directly mirror, as their apartment is almost directly opposite, is that of Mr. & Mrs. Thorwald. Remember, this is within the context of a dream, and also that in mirrors, the image you see is always reversed. In any event, the character of Lisa (who wasn't in the original story on which Hitchcock based his film) is foreshadowed first by this negative image, this opposite image. It appears to symbolize the threat she will pose to his work and the danger she might create in his Life (i.e. marriage). This is all tied together brilliantly, in the scenes where Lisa proves her sense of adventure, particularly by entering Thorwald's apartment and finding Mrs. Thorwald's wedding ring; thereby proving herself capable of Jeff's lifestyle. When Lisa draws Jeff's attention to the wedding ring on her left hand (seeming to beckon to him), Thorwald notices it too--then looks up to Jeff...In that moment of horror and discovery, Jeff and Thorwald are most closely mirrored. Jeff sees Lisa wearing a wedding ring--Mrs. Thorwald's wedding ring--almost puts him in Thorwald's shoes. Jeff's greatest fear, marriage, seems almost inevitable. In his dream, Jeff now recognizes he will become as Thorwald. (The wedding ring, don't forget, in this case, is also evidence of a murder, a death.) And all of Jeff's complaints, negative descriptions, and disparaging remarks on marriage will now apply to him, as well. Jeff and Lisa's fate will now be the same as Mr. and Mrs. Thorwald: "Until death do us part." If you need more evidence to be convinced that this is all Jeff's dream about his fear of marriage to Lisa, consider the songs we hear during the movie. Not the score but the songs. During the course of the film, we hear: "To See You (Is to Love You)" (1952) (uncredited) Music by Jimmy Van Heusen Lyrics by Johnny Burke Performed by Bing Crosby Played when "Miss Lonelyhearts" has dinner with her imaginary guest. With the lyrics: "To see you is to love you And you're never out of sight. And I love you and I'll see you In the same old dream tonight." "That's Amore" (1953) (uncredited) Music by Harry Warren [Piano instrumental played under footage of newlyweds] "...when you walk in a dream, but you know you’re not dreaming..." Mona Lisa (1950) (uncredited) Written by Ray Evans and Jay Livingston Sung by cast members during the cocktail party scene in the pianist's studio. "Do you smile to tempt a lover, Mona Lisa? Or is this your way to hide a broken heart? Many dreams have been brought to your doorstep They just lie there and they die there Are you warm, are you real, Mona Lisa? Or just a cold and lonely, lovely work of art? Mona Lisa, Mona Lisa." [Repeats the name "Lisa" as the Composer's song does at the end of Rear Window.] Many Dreams Ago (1954) (uncredited) Music by Franz Waxman Lyrics by Mack David Played when "Miss Lonelyhearts" goes to the restaurant across the street. "I close my eyes and see you in my arms, You cry, 'I love you so.' Oh, how real it seems, Although it happened many dreams ago." "Martha, oder Der Markt zu Richmond" (1847) (uncredited) Music by Friedrich von Flotow Libretto by Friedrich Wilhelm Riese "I live in a dream, A dream that never dies... To awaken the Beloved From his dark, melancholic dream." "Lisa" (1954) (uncredited) Music by Franz Waxman Lyrics by Harold Rome Played as the camera pans over L.B. Jefferies, both legs in new casts, and over to Lisa. "...Dreaming, I know I'll never wake. To dream forever in your arms, oh, Lisa. Lisa"
Christopher Denny
2024-02-22 09:49:07 +0000 UTCMy absolute favorite Hitchcock film. It keeps you unsure all the way through!
Michael G. Munz
2024-02-15 04:48:02 +0000 UTC
