Hitch In Top Form

Rear Window (1954)
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Starring: James Stewart, Grace Kelly Directed by: Alfred Hitchcock Rating: PG Genre: Classics Other

Review Hitchcock changes pace with this delightful comedy of manners in which Jimmy Stewart stars as a "vertically-challenged" quadraplegic whose fiancee (scrumptuous Grace Kelley) discovers a plot to kill bad guy Alan Hale (McHale's Navy) by cutting his body into pieces and sending them off to San Francisco by bus. Forget the grisly plot - Stewart is a comic revelation here, mumbling and grumbling his way through hot oil massages and Kelley's seductions before toppling out of the eponymous window (great stunt work reputedly done by the actor himself!) Nice to see Hitchcock stop brooding and enjoy himself with this top-notch dismemberment comedy. DVD extras include commentary by the gaffer and catering staff.