Hitchcock

Hello, Halloween 2011, how are you?  Morbid?  Great.  Scary?  Naturally.  Suspenseful?  Probably not. 

Halloween needs to get cultured

I hate being scared, so I'm not a huge Halloween person.  BUT, I have THE MOVIE for you to watch tonight if you want to be on the edge of your seat and possibly never look out a window of your house EVER AGAIN without casting a suspicious glance at your neighbor. How have you never noticed that Mrs. Hatworth always used a sharp-tipped trowel when weeding her garden?  Why the sharp tip?  Is there a body in the basement?

Rear Window.  Directed by Alfred Hitchcock.  Hands down, his best movie and one of the greatest movies of all time. 

Not only is it in Technicolor!!!!!!, but it is a study in the Art of Suspense. 

The famous quote by Hitchock reveals his genius.  In short (because it is a loooong quote)  he says that Surprise and Suspense are two different things.  If two people are talking at a restaurant and suddenly a bomb goes off, THAT is Surprise. 

But, lets say the audience is in on a little secret.  The audience knows there is a bomb under the table!  They just don't know when it is going to go off. I'll let Alfred take it from here...

In the first case we have given the public fifteen seconds of surprise at the moment of the explosion. In the second we have provided them with fifteen minutes of suspense. The conclusion is that whenever possible the public must be informed. 


I won't give everything away.  But let me tell you why you should hop onto Netflix or whatever Video On Demand service you have or drive 2 1/2 hours to your nearest actual Blockbuster store.

The movie is beyond thrilling, but it all takes place from this view:

The view from Jimmy Stewart's apartment window.  From this window, without getting all of the pieces, the points of view, the dialogue, etc. of all those apartments, we are, nevertheless, given a feast of plotlines to follow.  Some comical, some heart-warming, some achingly sad, and some very very suspicious.

Or, is Jimmy just paranoid?


The other reason to watch:

Grace Kelly.  The voice of beautiful, elegant, statuesque, lovely reason.  I sort of might have an unhealthy girl crush on her.

Her dresses alone are captivating.  She used to be a model and this movie is her cat walk.

Jimmy Stewart broke his leg, which sets up the entire movie and the reason he can only observe the world through his window. His world slowly shrinks to the courtyard of his apartment.

It also means that Grace Kelly has to come and visit to help him out and must sashay into the room every 10 or 15 minutes in another 50s era stunner of an ensemble.

I really love this woman.  This last picture is for free.

I once showed this movie to a guy friend of mine.  He was a total jock whose  typical Halloween movie included chain saws, gore, and zombie babies.  I've never seen a horror movie, but I know that the LAST thing I want to see is a zombie baby.

This guy sat through Rear Window quietly.  I thought he didn't like it.  But then, The Scene of all Scenes occurred.  Its the smallest, tiniest little bit of action.  You have to strain to see, and might have to rewind it once or twice.  But, when my guy realized it, he yelled, "NO!!!!" and threw his pillow at the TV. 

That's good film making, folks.  Do yourself a favor.  Get a little less scary and a little more suspenseful this Halloween.