First Draft-Midterm Essay

Riya Chopra 

Professor Scanlan/ENG 2400

“Rear Window” vs. “It Had To Be Murder”

The movie “Rear Window” directed by Alfred Hitchcock, is the visual recreation of Cornell Woolrich’s 1942 short story “It Had to Be Murder”. Here we see the encompassing impact of betrayal of one spouse to the other and how the mere curiosity of a neighbor turned into a full investigation of a possible murder. With a mix of romance and mystery, there’s quite the story being illustrated between a few partners in crime and a man who was caught by chance.

The movie and the story have quite the few similarities and differences ranging from the characters included to the visualization of it all. While the plot of “Rear Window” is similar to Cornell Woolrich’s short story “It Had To Be Murder,” the use of camera movements and angles makes this tanslation radical, according to Linda Cahir’s definition. In order to prove this I will first analyze the use of Jefferies “camera lens,” exploring the use of point of view shots within the film and how this illustrates Jefferies’ investigation. Secondly, I will observe the scenes in which Jefferies observes his neighborhood with the use of pan and tilt shots. Lastly, I will discuss how the importance of close up shots in the film are fundamental in building Jeffries individual character as well as Lisa’s. 

In Woolrich’s short story “It Had To Be Murder,” does not place any emphasis on what profession Jeffries is involved in, which essentially gives a very vague look into his character overall. We know that he is very intuitive and bases his investigation off his habit and practice of observation, through this he is even able to gather the evidence he needs. However in the movies, his camera lens and his profession play a fundamental part in making sure that his case is solved as efficiently and correctly as possible. His camera lens is his way of getting around as he is bound to a wheelchair himself. We witness a P.O.V shot every time Jefferies looks into his lens. It is as he is looking through his lens that he notices the first few unfortunate interactions between Mr. Thornwald and Mrs. Thorwald, this camera movement in essence is composed of point of view shots. Jefferies looks through his lens to observe both characters, something we don’t see in the written story, the animosity between both characters and how Mrs.Thorwald seems to make fun of Mr.Thorwald compared to his obvious dissatisfaction of her humor. We see Jefferies smiling at her behavior and Hitchcock uses this capturing of the characters reactions through P.O.V shots. Hitchcock uses a lot of these shots on characters’ faces, so we as the audience,  know what we should be thinking and feeling with the characters themselves. 

From the beginning of the film we see Jefferies studying his neighborhood down below. Throughout,  it is shown how Jefferries views his neighborhood and how exactly he observes his surroundings. This may be due to pure habit, curiosity or even due to his profession as a photographer. A pan shot moves the camera from side to side on a horizontal axis, providing the sense of looking left to right. We see a variety of pan shots within the movies from when Jefferies observes his neighborhood to the scene where Lisa delivers the letter to Mr.Thorwald and the end of the film where everyone has a happy ending to their own story. These pan shots help us follow the major points in the story, giving us a sense of actually being within the film which in reality would be one of the major differences between the movie and the short story. The pan movement is used when moving from character to character, such as when Lisa and Jefferies are speaking throughout the film. For the duration of the film the camera movement is at a fairly medium pace and only quickens towards the end of the film where we see Thorwald and Jefferies in a physical fight. This quickening of the camera movement builds the suspense and makes it easier to capture the intensity of the scene itself, we as the audience are at the edge of our seats.

The short story does not give any insight into Jefferies’ love life, whereas the film introduces a whole new character named Lisa. Lisa is Jefferies accomplice and his main object of affection and we see the development of their relationship through a variety of close up shots. Hitchcock uses this concept of close ups shots of the characters to show what they are thinking, in this situation to show exactly how Jefferies feels about Lisa. Compared to the beginning of their interaction where Jefferies’ face was almost filmed with curiosity and amusement we see that he himself was not attached to Lisa as a possible love interest. However, as their investigation goes forward so does their love and interest in each other, the investigation is their love language. In one particular scene in the film, we see Lisa deliver the letter that Jefferies had written to Mr. Thorwald’s apartment and we see the fear visible in Jefferies’ face as he is not only scared for her life but her being able to successfully escape.When she rushes back to Jefferies’ apartment we see the camera closing up on Jefferies face gives her this vivid look of admiration. It seems his eyes were glowing in a way that expressed his likingless towards her and how her being able to accomplish such a daring task just made her a woman to desire. We see here that he loves her, as he smiles looking at her and admiring her courage, a clear and definite difference from the story. When a camera is closer to a character than it normally is, it draws attention to whatever is in the frame and here we see the love language between both characters.

Radical translations provide a more wider outlook onto the basic plot of stories, and we see such in cinematic version. Hitchcock’s adaptation establishes a more intricate representation of scenes and the individual characters.