Midterm Essay

Queenie Chau

Film Lit Midterm

Course 2400, Section 0552 (Prof. Scanlan)

October 2020

Rear Window & It Had to Be Murder FINAL DRAFT 

The film masterpiece “Rear Window” by the late film director Alfred Hitchcock is adored and presented by teachers across the nation. Hitchcock based it on Cornell Woolrich’s “It Had to Be Murder,” the short story obviously being impressive enough to influence a Hitchcock film and also be relevant for seventy years. Although “Rear Window” is supposed to be a parallel of the short story, Hitchcock created his rendition with his own touches to cater to his audience, thus there are similarities but also stark contrasts. Due to the personalized style but unchanged settings and overall plot, “Rear Window” is a traditional translation of “It Had to Be Murder.” Both plotlines star an observant man who spends his time watching neighbors through the window, which eventually leads him to suspecting one of murder. I will be analyzing Woolrich’s characters, settings, and plotline to Hitchcock’s execution in his film.

The start of both pieces involved the same setting of Jeffries looking out the window in a peeping tom fashion. The story explained his critique of his neighbors and fast stream of thoughts that changed from neighbor to neighbor. In the film, the viewer is given a perspective similar to his, the camera quickly focusing at each neighbor for him to analyze. “Rear Window” L.B. Jeffries had much to reveal such as his occupation, reasoning of his injury and isolation, and more of his outward personality. “It Had to Be Murder” Hal Jeffries’ name was barely revealed with his injury unknown until the end, and occupation kept a mystery. The protagonist is seen going through character development in the film as his distant attitude with his girlfriend gradually dissipated after she revealed her capabilities of her reliability. Lisa had a great impact on Jeffries’ growth and strategic thinking, whereas in the story, she was not even a character. The closest reflection of Lisa’s role from the film would be Sam,  Jeffries’ caretaker. Though both played part in aiding Jeffries’ missions, Sam did not give the fresh perspectives that Lisa provided Jeffries. Furthermore, L.B. Jeffries had a caretaker named Stella who along with Lisa, provided him a support system. Hal Jeffries worked on his own with Sam practically acting as his servant. This shows more eminent character growth within the film due to the influence of the women around him.

In the beginning, Cornell Woolrich wrote in great detail of Hal’s observations of the Thorwalds prior to any suspicion. This to me had shown foreshadowing of the message from the title. Because Hal did not spend as much time monitoring the other neighbors, it led me to believe that the Thorwalds held more significance than the other bordering people living in the building. On the other hand, Alfred Hitchcock directed the camera to pan around the subjects with ample amount of time for each. He took wide shots of each window to showcase the subject(s) inside their apartment. If the subjects walked across a larger area than the camera could capture, it would follow the subject’s movements and pan to wherever they went. It did not feel as though the camera, which was L.B. Jeffries’ point of view, spent too much time was spent on the Thorwalds, thus no suspicion was placed on them until further on. The distinct difference of bringing in the suspicion of Thorwald is clear between Woolrich and Hitchcock. However, similarly, when the build up of solid suspicion arose, both Jeffries jumped to the conclusion quickly, but doubtfully. 

The build up to the capture of the murderer Thorwald were both portrayed well for the reader and viewer to feel the suspense. In the film, Hitchcock provided purely diegetic sound. The sound of the telephone ringing, the frantic movements of Jeffries’, the footsteps of Thorwald approaching the doorway; they all contribute to the tension. Furthermore, the lighting in the scene was tremendously dark, this adds to the feeling of anxiety and danger. In the story it was described as, “Suddenly, death was somewhere inside the house here with me. And I couldn’t move, I couldn’t get up out of this chair.” The way Woolrich explained how Jeffries came to that realization gave me a clear grasp of the fearful situation, in which I believed Hitchcock portrayed very well in that scene. This further shows me how the rendition of “It Had to Be Murder” was traditioinally translated.

“Rear Window” and “It Had to Be Murder’s” masterminds behind both had represented the plot well. Jeffries was more quiet and conserved in the narrative, however it fits well with the text as the reader can see his thought process with his every action. Hitchcock took this version of Jeffries and applied character development so that he had opened up in the film. This provides an equally good plot since movies need more verbal attention and without his warming up, Jeffries would’ve left the viewer to wonder. Although it contrasts the running theme of film Jeffries becoming more communicative, the scene with Jeffries waiting for Thorwald only contained background audio. On the other hand, the text was filled with his racing fearful thoughts: “I proceeded to breathe adenoidally, like someone in heavy upright sleep.”  I believe Hitchcock translated this scene into film perfectly because even through the silence, Jeffries’ panic was captured loud and clear. Alfred Hitchcock encased Cornell Woolrich’s “It Had to Be Murder” perfectly through traditional translation.