In 1950-something New York, an adventuresome free-lance photographer finds himself confined to a wheelchair in his tiny apartment while a broken leg mends. With only the occasional distraction of a visiting nurse and his frustrated love interest, a beautiful fashion consultant, his attention is naturally drawn to the courtyard outside his "rear window" and the occupants of the apartment buildings which surround it. Soon he is consumed by the private dramas of his neighbors lives which play themselves out before his eyes. There is "Miss Lonelyhearts," so desperate for her imaginary lover that she sits him a plate at the dinner table and feigns their ensuing chat. There is the frustrated composer banging on his piano, the sunbathing sculptress, the shapely dancer, the newlyweds who are concealed from their neighbors by a window shade, and a bungling middle-aged couple with a little yapping dog who sleep on the fire escape to avoid the sweltering heat of their apartment. ...And then there is the mysterious salesman whose nagging, invalid wife's sudden absence from the scene ominously coincides with middle-of-the-night forays into the dark, sleeping city with his sample case. Where did she go? What's in the trunk that the salesman ships away? What's he been doing with the knives and the saw that he cleans at the kitchen sink?
AMAZON.COM REVIEWS FOR REAR WINDOW (1954):
:
- Academy Awards, USA
1955
Nominated
Oscar
Best Cinematography, Color
Robert Burks
Best Director
Alfred Hitchcock
Best Sound, Recording
Loren L. Ryder (Paramount)
Best Writing, Screenplay
John Michael Hayes
- BAFTA Awards
1955
Nominated
BAFTA Film Award
Best Film from any Source
USA.
- DVD Exclusive Awards
2001
Nominated
Video Premiere Award
Best Original Retrospective Documentary
Laurent Bouzereau
For 'Rear Window' Ethics: Remembering and Restoring a Hitchcock Classic (2000) (V).
- Directors Guild of America, USA
1955
Nominated
DGA Award
Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Motion Pictures
Alfred Hitchcock
- Edgar Allan Poe Awards
1955
Won
Edgar
Best Motion Picture
John Michael Hayes
- National Board of Review, USA
1954
Won
NBR Award
Best Actress
Grace Kelly
Also for The Country Girl (1954) and Dial M for Murder (1954).
- National Film Preservation Board, USA
1997
National Film Registry
- New York Film Critics Circle Awards
1954
Won
NYFCC Award
Best Actress
Grace Kelly
Also for The Country Girl (1954) and Dial M for Murder (1954).
- Satellite Awards
2005
Nominated
Satellite Award
Outstanding Classic DVD
For Alfred Hitchcock - The Masterpiece Collection.Also for Shadow of a Doubt (1943), Rope (1948), Saboteur (1942), _Trouble With Harry, The (1955)_ , The Man Who Knew Too Much (1956), Vertigo (1958), Psycho (1960), The Birds (1963), Marnie (1964), Torn Curtain (1966), Topaz (1969), Frenzy (1972) and Family Plot (1976).
- Writers Guild of America, USA
1955
Nominated
WGA Award (Screen)
Best Written American Drama
John Michael Hayes