Oscar Alonzo

English 2400 

October 25, 2020

Mid-term Final Draft

“Rear Window” vs “It has to be murdered” Comparison Essay

“It must be Murder” is a short story composed by Cornell Woolrich, and “Rear Window” is its mirror film by Alfred Hitchcock. Both the short story and the film are clarifying a similar story of a lady that got killed by her husband, yet everyone has their own characters and style. They are both giving the crowds brief criticism of what truly occurred in that area. A portion of the characters of the film are “James Stewart as L.B. Jefferies and Raymond Burr as Lars Thorwald”. There are significant images in both the short story and the film. L.B. Jefferies’ camera is one of the most significant images in the film. Jefferies utilizes the camera for various destinations in the film. For instance, he takes pictures that can assist him with utilizing them as proof since he can’t stand up and go to Thorwald’s apartment. He likewise utilizes it to see plainly what is happening to his neighbor. 

The character Jeff’s individual life wasn’t referenced in the story. In the story Sam was the helper for Jeff and caregiver. In the film adaptation, Sam was replaced by a woman named Stella. The similarities between both the story “It has to be Murdered” and the film “Rear Window” is Jeff’s injury and the reason why he started spying on his neighborhood. Jeff’s witness is murdered by Thorwald. Also. Lisa was Jeff’s helper with investigating and solving the case. 

There are many similarities and differences between the text and the film, one similarity is that Mr.Thorwald murders his wife and Jeff witnesses it by spying on the neighborhood. The second similarities is that Jeff’s injury is the same and reason to spy on the neighbor. The difference is that in the film, Jeff had Stella and Lisa. But in “It has to be murder” Jeff had a man named Sam to help him. Second difference is in “Rear window” he sends Lisa to go investigate Mr.Thorwald’s place. In “it has to be murdered” Mr. Boyne investigated Mr. Thorwalds’ place.

Taking everything into account the thing I have learned is that composed stories can be made as a film adaptation. Both the film and short story are like a mirror with minor changes in them. It shows how parts of the story can affect the mood/tone of the whole film from the text.