Transcript
Hi, I'm Harry Marks and this is Let's All Go to the Lobby—your introduction to the film you've decided to watch. Up next is one of Hitchcock's best, about a man with a broken leg and a lot of time on his hands, who witnesses a murder in his apartment complex.
It's Rear Window, starring Jimmy Stewart and Grace Kelly, released by Paramount in 1954.
Adapted from a short story by Cornell Woolrich, Rear Window marked the second of four times Stewart would work with Hitchcock, the first being Rope in 1948, The Man Who Knew Too Much in '56, and Vertigo in 1958.
In fact, Stewart loved working with Hitchcock so much, he signed onto the film without having read the script. He even waived his salary, choosing to take a percentage of the profits instead.
Rear Window was originally supposed to be filmed in New York's Greenwich Village, but Hitchcock chose to build a set instead. An entire block of 31 apartments was constructed around a massive courtyard on the Paramount lot.
The set, designed by Hal Pereira and Joseph MacMillan, took six months, 100,000 dollars, and a team of 50 people to build. They even tore out the soundstage floor to accommodate the full set, which meant building an entire floor of apartments in the soundstage basement.
12 units were fully furnished and had working lights and running water. Georgine Darcy, the 24-year-old actress who played Miss Torso, apparently loved being in her apartment set so much, she only left when she absolutely had to.
Meanwhile, another neighbor—the piano player—was portrayed by actual composer Ross Bagdasarian. Bagdasarian would eventually be known by his stage name, David Seville: the creator of Alvin and the Chipmunks. Bagdasarian went on to win three Grammys for his annual holiday classic, "The Chipmunk Song" or "Christmas Don't Be Late."
But you won't hear any helium-infused voices in tonight's presentation. Only the panicked pleading of Jimmy Stewart and Grace Kelly in Alfred Hitchcock's taut…and voyeuristic thriller, Rear Window.