One of Alfred Hitchcock's greatest thrillers, Rear Window, airs on BBC4 tonight (Sunday) at 8pm. The 1954 psychological thriller stars James Stewart, Grace Kelly, and Raymond Burr, and earned four Academy Award nominations, including Best Director.
The film is based on Cornell Woolrich's short story 'It Had to Be Murder' and is shot almost entirely from one room. It follows a bored photographer, recovering from a broken leg, who passes time by watching his neighbours and begins to suspect one of murder.
Widely considered a masterpiece, Rear Window holds a 99% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes. Critics have praised it as 'tense and exciting' (The New York Times) and 'one of Alfred Hitchcock's better thrillers' (Variety). Roger Ebert noted it 'develops such a clean, uncluttered line from beginning to end that we're drawn through it effortlessly'.
Viewers have also been effusive, with one calling it 'what cinema should be' and another describing it as 'a unique masterwork of pure thrill and profound intrigue'. The film was added to the US National Film Registry in 1997 for its cultural significance.
