You’ll be hard-pressed to find a film on TV today that’s better than The Courtyard Window. Alfred Hitchcock’s crime novel plays with an everyday situation: What happens when curiosity about the lives of your neighbors gets the better of you – and you see something that wasn’t intended for you? Repeatedly copied and unrivaled, The Window to the Courtyard is a classic that has not gathered a single grain of dust.
The window to the courtyard tells of a suspected murder
In the 1954 color film, James Stewart (Vertigo) plays the photographer Jeff, who is stuck at home with a broken leg after an accident. A heatwave hits New York City as he turns bored into the lives of his neighbors in his backyard apartment. One night he hears a scream and sees how the inconspicuous Thorwald (Perry Mason actor Raymond Burr) behaves extremely suspiciously. Did he murder and dispose of his wife? With the help of his girlfriend Lisa (Grace Kelly), Jeff wants to get to the bottom of the matter.
Universal
The window to the yard
Alfred Hitchcock unfolds the story in a small space and in an astonishingly realistic studio setting. The perspective is mostly limited to Jeff’s apartment. So the audience always receives the same level of information as he does. This only increases the excitement once the murder suspicion comes into play. At the beginning there is omnipotence, when the photographer stalks the neighbors through his lens. However, the feeling turns into helplessness when Lisa snoops around in the apartment across the street and Jeff has to watch idly.
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Why the film is considered one of the best of all time
The window to the courtyard turns into an enjoyable torture, which is full of wit and elegance and puts a strain on our nerves. Even 70 years apart, every second of the film seems perfect.
But it is also considered one of the best films of all time because of its scope for interpretation. The Window to the Courtyard delights as a crime thriller, but can also be viewed as an examination of film-watching itself. He deals with Alfred Hitchcock’s role as a director (Jeff is his alter ego) who captures his obsessions on screen for millions to see, and for us to enjoy. Generations of academics worked on this film, which fuses entertainment and depth with ease.
This is how you can watch the classic with James Stewart and Grace Kelly
The window to the courtyard is today Broadcast on January 7th from 8:15 p.m. on Arte. Repeats will run on January 8th and 18th at 2:15 p.m.
The station will then show the documentary Grace Kelly – film star and princess. Rear Window (as the film is originally called) is also available to buy and rent from Amazon, Apple and other providers.