Classic Hitchcock thriller Rear Window to screen as $5 film at the Panida

By Zach Hagadone
Reader Staff

Few directors are more iconic than Alfred Hitchcock, and few of his films are as iconic as Rear Window. Now it’s coming to the big screen Sunday, March 30 at the Panida Theater (300 N. First Ave.).

Released to audiences in 1954, the film is a master class in claustrophobia, paranoia and voyeurism, as main character L.B. Jeffries (Jimmy Stewart) sits cloistered in his apartment with a broken leg and finds nothing better to do than peep at his neighbors in the apartments across the courtyard.

At first it’s entertainment with a subversive thrill, as Jeffries witnesses the mostly hum-drum comings and goings of his fellow residents. Things turn sinister — or do they? — when Jeffries is awakened at night by the sounds of breaking glass and the screams of the invalid wife of his neighbor Mr. Thorwald (Raymond Burr). 

Throughout the night, Jeffries spies Mr. Thorwald going in and out of his apartment lugging his salesman’s case; and, the next day, Jeffries notices that the bedridden Mrs. Thorwald appears no longer to be in her apartment. Making matters even more suspicious, Jeffries spots Thorwald cleaning a knife and saw.

With his imagination spiralling, Jeffries gets his hard-bitten nurse Stella (Thelma Ritter) interested in the apparent mystery, though his much more well-adjusted girlfriend Lisa Fremont (Grace Kelly) finds his speculation a little tawdry. That is, until she also sees that Mrs. Thorwald is no longer on the scene.

With suspicions running rampant in Jeffries’ apartment, Detective Tom Doyle (Wendell Corey) is called in to investigate, but remains more than a little skeptical. 

Tensions rise, motives are questioned, and audience members are asked again and again whether they can trust their own eyes.

The showings are part of the Panida’s Sunday Cinemas Series, sponsored by Joni MacNeill, DDS, of MacNeill Family Dental; Ben Richards, CPFA, of Merrill; Retro Play Arcade; and SkyRight Roofing and Gutters.

Doors open 30 minutes before showtimes, which are 2 p.m. and 7 p.m. Tickets are $5, available at the door or panida.org.