50 Fun Facts About Rear Window

In what year was Rear Window released?

It premiered at a UN benefit at New York's Rivoli Theatre that August and competed for the Golden Lion at Venice.

Who plays the laid-up hero, L. B. 'Jeff' Jefferies?

It was the second of his four Hitchcock films, between Rope and The Man Who Knew Too Much.

Who plays Jeff's socialite girlfriend, Lisa Fremont?

She made three Hitchcock films in two years and retired at 26 to marry Prince Rainier of Monaco.

What is Jeff's profession?

He is laid up with a leg cast from an assignment injury, which is why he has nothing to do but watch the courtyard.

In which New York neighborhood is Jeff's apartment?

The film gives the address as 125 W. Ninth Street, but the set was modeled on a real courtyard at 125 Christopher Street.

Who plays Stella, the plain-spoken nurse who tends to Jeff?

She earned six Oscar nominations in her career, though not for this one; her line about eyes and a red-hot poker skewers Jeff's snooping.

Which future Perry Mason plays the suspected wife-killer Lars Thorwald?

He spent the early part of his career playing villains and later starred as Ironside as well.

What is Lars Thorwald's job?

His sample case is what Jeff sees him carrying in and out on the night of the scream.

Who plays Jeff's skeptical detective friend, Tom Doyle?

Doyle's theory is that Mrs. Thorwald simply went upstate on vacation.

What nickname does Jeff give the professional dancer across the courtyard?

Georgine Darcy, a New York City Ballet dancer, was cast from a publicity photo in a leotard and feather boa and paid $350.

What does the neighbor dubbed 'Miss Lonely-Hearts' do that Jeff watches?

Judith Evelyn played her; late in the film she nearly overdoses before the songwriter's finished tune stops her.

The songwriter with writer's block was played by Ross Bagdasarian, who later created what?

Under the name David Seville he had a 1958 hit with 'Witch Doctor' before the Chipmunks made him rich.

What is the title of the song the songwriter finally completes near the end of the film?

The credited composer wrote only the piano tune and the titles; the rest of the film uses music that drifts across the courtyard.

Where does Hitchcock make his cameo in Rear Window?

It comes during one of the songwriter's parties, visible across the courtyard.

What sound wakes Jeff on the night the crime supposedly happens?

He then watches Thorwald make repeated late-night trips out with his sample case.

What does Jeff see Thorwald cleaning the morning after his wife disappears?

Movers then haul away a large trunk, and Jeff reaches for the binoculars.

Whose death in the courtyard finally convinces Jeff that his theory is right?

Thorwald had chased the animal away from digging in his flowerbed the day before, and is the only neighbor who does not react to the owner's cries.

How does Lisa signal to Jeff that she has found evidence in Thorwald's apartment?

Thorwald follows her gaze across the courtyard and realizes he is being watched.

How does Jeff defend himself when Thorwald finally comes to his darkened apartment?

Thorwald still manages to push him out of the window, and Jeff ends the film with both legs in casts.

According to Thorwald's confession, where did he dump his wife's remains?

He had also moved a hat box containing her head after the dog started digging it up.

In the final shot, what does Lisa swap her book for once Jeff dozes off?

She has been pretending to read a travel-exploration book to fit Jeff's world; the switch is the film's last joke.

Rear Window is based on a 1942 short story by which crime writer?

'It Had to Be Murder' first ran in Dime Detective Magazine; Woolrich also wrote as William Irish.

Who wrote the screenplay for Rear Window?

He wrote four Hitchcock films in the 1950s, including To Catch a Thief and The Trouble with Harry.

Which studio originally released Rear Window?

Under his deal, the rights reverted to Hitchcock after eight years, and he kept the film out of circulation for almost two decades.

Where on the Paramount lot was the film's entire courtyard set built?

The set ran from the basement storeroom to the lighting grid and was the largest of its kind at the studio.

How many interchangeable lighting arrangements did the set have to mimic different times of day?

Morning, afternoon, evening and night; a massive drainage system was also built for the rain sequence.

How long did set designers Hal Pereira and Joseph MacMillan Johnson spend building the courtyard set?

Set decorators later confirmed it was the largest indoor set Paramount had built.

How many takes did the famous uninterrupted 90-second opening shot require?

It took half a day of filming and introduces Jeff, his cast, his broken camera and the whole neighborhood without a word.

Which crooner's voice is heard singing 'To See You Is to Love You' across the courtyard?

Nat King Cole's 'Mona Lisa' and Dean Martin's 'That's Amore' also drift in, mostly borrowed from Paramount's music publisher.

Which composer is credited with the score, though he only wrote the titles and the songwriter's tune?

It was his last score for Hitchcock, who preferred music that came from within the story.

Which costume designer, used by Hitchcock on all his Paramount films, dressed Lisa Fremont?

One of the gowns was copied decades later for a pop star's music video.

Roughly what was Rear Window's budget?

It grossed about $27 million on first release and $5.3 million in North American rentals.

How many Academy Award nominations did Rear Window receive?

It won none; that year's Best Actress went to Grace Kelly anyway, for The Country Girl.

Which 1990 Supreme Court case settled who owned the film rights to Woolrich's story?

Litigant Sheldon Abend ended up credited as a producer on the 1998 remake, and his trust later sued over a 2007 retelling and lost.

Rear Window was among a group of Hitchcock films kept out of circulation for nearly 20 years, known as what?

Vertigo, Rope, The Trouble with Harry and the 1956 The Man Who Knew Too Much were the others; Universal bought them in 1983 for a rumored $6 million.

Which paralysed actor starred in the 1998 TV remake, with the hero in a high-tech assistive home?

It was his first substantial role after his 1995 riding accident and earned him a SAG Award; Daryl Hannah co-starred.

Which 2007 film retold the story with a teenager under house arrest, and was sued unsuccessfully for it?

A federal court ruled in 2010 that Shia LaBeouf's film did not infringe Woolrich's story.

Which director's films Sisters, Dressed to Kill and Body Double borrow heavily from Rear Window?

Body Double and Phillip Noyce's Sliver are cited as direct reworkings of the voyeurism theme.

Which Simpsons episode parodies Rear Window, with a laid-up boy spying on Ned Flanders?

Castle, CSI: NY, Pretty Little Liars and 9-1-1 have all done their own homages too.

François Truffaut proposed a parable in which the courtyard is the world and the reporter is what?

In his reading, Jeff's binoculars stand for the camera and its lenses.

Which singer-songwriter has said the film's voyeurism inspired the storytelling on her album Folklore?

She also wore a dress modeled on one of Lisa Fremont's gowns in the 'Me!' video.

How did Hitchcock get a disgusted reaction from Georgine Darcy when her character finds the dead dog?

He had quietly asked Georgine Darcy which pies she hated, then produced one with 'crude Cockney jokes' on cue.

In 1997 Rear Window was selected for preservation by which institution?

The Library of Congress judged it culturally, historically or aesthetically significant; Metacritic gives it a rare perfect 100.

What was the title of the 1942 Cornell Woolrich short story on which Rear Window is based?

Woolrich's story gave the film its setup but little else; screenwriter John Michael Hayes added Lisa and Stella.

The set copied a real courtyard at 125 Christopher St, but what address does the film itself give?

The set, the largest of its kind at Paramount, even had a huge drainage system built for the rain sequence.

The 1954 benefit premiere at New York's Rivoli Theatre raised money for which cause?

The aid group, set up after the Korean War, was headed by Milton S. Eisenhower, the president's brother.

Roughly how much did Rear Window gross on first release, against a budget of about $1M?

North American rentals alone came to $5.3 million; the figure equates to well over $300 million today.

At which 1954 film festival did Rear Window compete for the Golden Lion?

It later landed at No. 42 on AFI's 100 Years...100 Movies and No. 14 on its 100 Thrills list.

In which year did Universal re-release Rear Window after Hitchcock's estate was settled?

Roger Ebert wrote that watching it was 'not so much like watching a movie, as like... spying on your neighbors'.

Which 1993 Phillip Noyce thriller is among the voyeurism films that reworked Rear Window's premise?

Brian De Palma's Body Double, from 1984, is the other reworking most often cited alongside it.