50 years ago: Rear Window, Hitchcock's masterful thriller, released

Rear Window Released: September 1, 1954 Studio: Paramount Genre: mystery/thriller Box Office (numbers in millions): Domestic: 36.76 Worldwide: ? Adjusted for Inflation: Domestic: 471.82 Worldwide: ?

Directing: Alfred Hitchcock Screenwriting: John Michael Hayes Starring: James Stewart, Grace Kelly, Thelma Ritter, Raymond Burr Review: This “suspenseful, nail-biting thriller” FS is “Hitchcock’s voyeuristic masterpiece.” FS “Of all Hitchcock’s films, this is the one which most reveals the man.” T95 “Tense script, excellent direction, occasional Hitchcockian gallows humor.” VD “Written by mystery writer Cornell Woolrich, the original screenplay had no love story or neighbors for…James Stewart’s character to spy on. Hitchcock and screenwriter John Michael Hayes changed that.” MSN L.B. “Jeff” Jeffries (Stewart) is a wheelchair-bound photojournalist, confined to his New York City apartment to recover from a broken leg. To amuse himself, he spies on his neighbors through his rear window with binoculars and a telephoto camera. Jeff “experiences all of life’s extremes – a honeymooning couple, dancer Miss Torso, spinsterish Miss Lonelyhearts, and the bickering, intriguing Thorwalds.” FS When he becomes convinced Mr. Thorwald (Burr) killed his wife, Jeff “decides to try to catch the fiend himself.” VD Lisa, his fashion model girlfriend, (“Grace Kelly at her most Vogue-coverish”) T95 “helps with amateur detective work.” A07 “There is suspense enough, of course, but the important thing is the way that it is filmed: the camera never strays from inside Stewart’s apartment, and every shot is closely aligned with his point of view.” T95 “Quite aside from the violation of intimacy, which is shocking enough,” T95 Hitchcock offers disturbing insight into “what it is to watch the ‘silent film’ of other people’s lives, whether across a courtyard or up on a screen.” T95 “That the pathetic view of the human community Hitchcock presents from Stewart’s window does not squelch his or our desire to snoop says everything.” ML Sources: A07 American Film Institute (2007). “AFI’s 100 Years…100 Movies – 10th Anniversary Edition” FS Filmsite.org “100 Greatest Films” MSN MSN Entertainment (7/19/2018). “100 Best Movies” by Shahnaz Mahmud T95 Time Out (1995). “Centenary Top One Hundred Films” VD Video Detective (1997). “Top 100 Films of All Time”

Awards/Honors/Lists: Dave’s Movie Database Lists: Dave’s Movie Database Genre Lists: Awards: Oscars: Wins: 0 Nominations: 4, including Best Director, Best Screenplay, Best Color Cinematography, Best Sound Recording Other Lists/Honors: Critics’ Picks: Leslie Halliwell/John Walker First posted 8/24/2019; last updated 5/30/2023.

On the Waterfront released 50 years ago today

On the Waterfront Released: July 28, 1954 Studio: Columbia Genre: crime drama/thriller Box Office (numbers in millions): Domestic: 9.60 Worldwide: ? Adjusted for Inflation: Domestic: 219.90 Worldwide: ?

Directing: Elia Kazan Screenwriting: Budd Schulberg Starring: Marlon Brando, Eva Marie Saint, Lee J. Cobb, Karl Malden, Rod Steiger Review: “Budd Schulberg’s unflinching account of N.Y.C. harbor unions (suggested by articles by Malcolm Johnson)” LM is a “powerful, gripping drama” VD “that mirrors the political climate of the early 1950s.” A07 “The theatrical trailer promised ‘a story that’s as warm and moving as Going My Way (but with brass knuckles!)’ – as good a description as any for this Oscar-winning morality tale. The characters struggling with pier pressure include an ex-boxer with a soft spot for pigeons, a luscious nun-in-training and a priest with a mean punch.” TV “Winner of eight Oscars…Leonard Bernstein’s music is another major asset. Film debuts of Saint, Martin Balsam, Fred Gwynne, and Pat Hingle.” LM In one of “his most famous performances” VD as a “longshoreman who ‘coulda been a contender,” A07 Marlon Brando is “inarticulate ex-boxer champ Terry Malloy.” FS He “witnesses the murder of a fellow dock worker, a victim of gangster union boss Cobb’s oppressive hold over the longshoremen – punished for ‘singing’ to an investigation commission. When Terry begins to fall in love with shy and frail Edie (Saint), the dead man’s sister, his allegiances are challenged.” FS He rebels against his brother Charlie (Steiger), a corrupt mob lawyer, and his world of “union violence, greed, and deceit.” VD “After his brother’s murder, he defiantly stands up against the hoodlums on the waterfront.” FS “Movie mogul Darryl F. Zanuck passed on the script for Twentieth Century-Fox, believing no one would ‘care about a bunch of sweaty longshoremen.’ Elia Kazan and screenwriter Budd Schulberg went to Columbia Pictures. Even then the script went through many drafts, including character Terry Malloy as an investigative reporter before becoming the iconic sweaty longshoreman.” MSN Sources: A07 American Film Institute (2007). “AFI’s 100 Years…100 Movies – 10th Anniversary Edition” FS Filmsite.org “100 Greatest Films” LM Leonard Maltin “100 Must-See Films of the 20th Century” MSN MSN Entertainment (7/19/2018). “100 Best Movies” by Shahnaz Mahmud TV TV Guide (August 8-14, 1998 issue). “50 Greatest Movies on TV and Video” VD Video Detective (1997). “Top 100 Films of All Time”

Awards/Honors/Lists: Dave’s Movie Database Lists: Awards: Oscars: Wins: 8 – including Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor (Brando), Supporting Actress (Saint), Best Story and Screenplay Nominations: 12, including Best Supporting Actor (Cobb), Best Supporting Actor (Steiger), Best Supporting Actor (Malden) Other Lists/Honors: Critics’ Picks: Roger Ebert Leslie Halliwell/John Walker Leonard Maltin First posted 8/24/2019; last updated 6/2/2023.