Perfect Things Which Are Perfect. "Rear Window" Edition
Tuesday, July 3, 2018 at 4:50PM by Nathaniel R
This past weekend Jason and I went to a big screen showing of Hitchcock's masterpiece Rear Window (1954). Or one of his masterpieces that is; has more than his share, that one. We went just because it was playing (bless you rep scene) and it was the absolutely best thing to see during an actual heatwave in NYC because it's set during one yet it's its own air-conditioning. It's utterly cool...
I love that so many characters in the picture but especially LB (Stewart), eternally in pajamas and broken leg cast, come across like the heat is wearing at their nerves, temper, and clothing. Except Grace Kelly as Lisa Carol Fremont, who just floats onto the screen in a cocktail dress, in slomo no less in one of the cinema's all time greatest entrances. Lisa always looks like she is immune to common people concerns like the weather. This only benefits the film because it plays deliciously to L.B.'s (James Stewart) conflicted perception of her as somehow both above the mortal world but also too fragile for it. He thinks his rough and tumble travelling photographer existence too much for her. But isn't the rich dichotomy of the film that she's actually braver than he is when all the dangerous seeds the picture so gleefully places, eventually bloom?
I've seen Rear Window several times but somehow I always forget big chunks of it. Like that it was set during a heatwave -- how did I forget that? But the heatwave ready to melt me again once I left the theater is beside the point. As I sat there totally engrossed and then delighted and then tense and then elated, I was reminded of a simple fact: Oh riiiiight, this perfect thing is perfect.
COMMENT PARTY ☛ So my spread-the-good-vibes question to you is this. When was the last time you saw an old favorite only to be surprised anew at its total perfection?
Reader Comments (27)
If not for The Country Girl- does Grace Kelly still get nominated and win for this movie?
P.S. How did Thelma Ritter NOT get nominated? Seriously Academy? How can you profess love and then not nominate for her top 3 performances?
i saw rear window for the first time one a big screen at the TCM festival two years ago. i never quite realized the degree to which the set is its true star, but thelma ritter does walk away with the whole shebang stashed in her great big handbag. she stole the movie with that performance
also saw red river on the big screen for the first time at the same festival. it was a revelation. seeing the film at the proper scale made me see westerns from that era and john wayne in particular in an entirely new way. that film is perfect.
Prof Miller -- uff. love Red River too but I've never seen it on the big screen.
" Rear Window" is a perfect movie and yes classic films that we are used to seeing on tv can change dramatically when we experience them in a theater.
Was Grace Kelly the most beautiful woman to ever grace the big screen? She is simply beyond words here!
I really wish that I lived in NY to go the movies with Nathaniel and Jason...
Gooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooool
USA não tem mundial
I'm always afraid that "bro-culture" has ruined Taxi Driver for me, only to be relieved after each viewing that it's still a masterpiece. The more I watch it, the more I wonder if any of those macho dudes who profess their love for it have actually even seen it.
My rewatch of Sunset Boulevard a couple of years ago just reaffirmed its total brilliance. There's no weak link there.
I also saw Rear Window on the big screen. It's been several years ago now, but while the picture is always a pleasure to see that big ol' silver screen really pulls you in. I also wonder how Academy darling Thelma Ritter was passed over for this and yet received one for Birdman of Alcatraz?
Even further back I went to see The Man Who Knew Too Much (the Jimmy Stewart/Doris Day version) during a brief theatrical run after it had been remastered and though I had always liked it I really found so much more in it during that viewing with a packed audience.
One of the best parts of the whole experience was as we were leaving a guy and his girlfriend in front of us were talking and he said "If you had told me I was going to see a Doris Day movie and actually like it I would have called you crazy but that was cool."
I watched 2001: A Space Odyssey again recently after a dozen years and it floored me. I admired so many elements and little touches I hadn't noticed before. HAL is, especially, perfect.
Most recent rediscovery of a perfect film still being perfect? McCabe and Mrs. Miller (from the hot town heatwave of NY to the blowing snow flurries of Presbyterian Church)
And, agree with Cash: There is no weakness to Sunset Boulevard.
I love Rear Window.
Two other films that come immediately to mind as renewing their perfection on repeat viewings: Casablanca and The Godfather.
Rezr Window is a gem, it's humour and suspense. Yes - perfect is a fair adjective.
I have seen both Casablanca and Gaslight on the big screen, and Ingrid Bergman in her prime would be Grace Kelly's equal for beauty on the screen. Hitchcock cast her in 4 of his films -so he obviously agreed,
And I too wish I could take in a film screening with Nathaniel, any chance you could visit Vancouver?
It's just ridiculous how many perfect movies Hitchock made in his career. Rear Window is one, but then he also made Strangers on a Train, Vertigo, North by Northwest, Psycho and Notorious. That's six movies I wouldn't change a frame of. I can't think of a single other filmmaker who comes remotely close, bar perhaps Billy Wilder.
Two other films that come immediately to mind as renewing their perfection on repeat viewings: Casablanca and The Godfather.
I’m in the midst of a Kubrick chronological retrospective and am up to Dr. Strangelove, which I’m watching tonight. So far, The Killing has crept extremely close to perfection - it may be my favorite heist movie.
Paths of Glory is perfect, in every way - it’s in contention for my all-time top 5. Just beautiful. I can name scene after scene (Douglas’ whistle, the trial, “I dont want to die!”, Menjou’s offer to Douglas, the German sing/hum-along, and on and on) that are among the best cinema has to offer.
In case you were wondering, Spartacus and Lolita are far from perfect, but have a lot to like (Ustinov in Spartacus and Sellers in Lolita are all-time supporting performances). Fear and Desire and Killer’s Kiss are both interesting, but only because we know what Kubrick would become. The documentary shorts are wonderfully shot, but quite pedestrian.
I did this with the Coens, Scorsese, Wilder, and Spielberg, so far (I think I’m doing Bogdonavich next). Here are there perfect films: Fargo, The Man Who Wasn’t There, No Country, Taxi Driver, King of Comedy, Goodfellas, Double Indemnity, The Apartment, Jaws, E.T. and Minority Report (I’m serious- that movie is so wonderfully strange!).
On to Strangelove!
I re-watched Brief Encounter recently, which I hadn't seen for a few years.
I'm always floored by how perfect the film itself is, but more so Celia Johnson is a perfect thing that is perfect.
Clueless. It's still a wonderful comedy, perfectly written and cast.
Happy July 4th - try watching "His Girl Friday" - now that's a perfect comedy. Should cheer anyone up.
I recently rewatched Cinderella Liberty for the fourth time and was stunned at how well Marsha and James' performances were still so affecting. Great dialogue, character development and atmosphere. Underrated and underseen.
"2001" is a film made for IMAX it should be experienced in the biggest possible screen
Funnily enough, I just moved into a new place last week with a view that constantly reminds me of Rear Window, so I loved hearing your well-timed take on the film!
@Tom G: If Thelma Ritter had been nominated for this film, it would have been her fifth consecutive nomination. It is particularly baffling considering the inclusion of Katy Jurado for Broken Lance and Jan Sterling for The High and the Mighty. They came in last in the 1954 Best Supporting Actress Smackdown!
You mention Ritter was not nominated for her best 3 performances. Which are they, in your opinion? I would say Rear Window, The Misfits, Boeing Boeing if she had received 3 additional nominations.
Trivia: Hitchcock based Steward's character on renowed war photographer, Robert Capa n Kelly's on Ingrid Bergman.. A wink wink to their secret luv affair...Capa had followed Bergman back to Hollywood when she was making Notorious for Hitchcock..so he was in on their affair...
Bergman went into a scandalous affair w Rossellini after her affair w Vapa ended n was banished fr Hollywood for yrs before returning w Anastasia in 1956, which netted her, her 2nd Oscar.
Capa, sadly die in a landmine accident in 1954, same yr Rear Window was released!
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