Rear Window, Alfred Hitchcock’s 1954 thriller, captured many of the social anxieties of the Cold War era: paranoia, suspicion, surveillance. But it also ventured, on celluloid, into controversial territory: voyeurism, a daring subject for such sensitive, censorship-laden cinematic times. When most movie studios were making musicals and melodramas, Hitchcock crafted a suspenseful film about the thrill of spying on others. And though a grandiose Hollywood set was necessary to bring the auteur’s vision to life, the main character never leaves his apartment.
The movie stars James Stewart as a photojournalist named Jeff, who, housebound by injury, takes to spying on the neighbors from his Manhattan apartment’s windows. As cabin fever and the summer heat set in, Jeff starts to suspect one man in his sights has murdered his wife. Jeff’s glamorous girlfriend, Lisa (Grace Kelly), is then recruited to help set up a sting and get to the bottom of the macabre mystery.
Much of the film’s critical acclaim can be attributed to Hitchcock’s magnificent set, a Manhattan cityscape created on the Paramount studio lot in California. Not only did the narrative’s now-iconic backdrop look entirely authentic, it also proved an ingenuous play by the director to minimize concerns about Rear Window’s lurid themes.
Below, AD relives the cinematic masterpiece through behind-the-scenes snapshots and details from a new book on the Rear Window set.
To fashion the quintessential NYC set, Hollywood was the only way to go
Hitchcock briefly considered shooting on location, but the filmmaker soon realized his vision would conflict with the bedlam of the Big Apple. “Greenwich Village’s authentic chaos, with its car horns, tricky lighting and logistical constraints would have made intricate cinematography difficult,” explains culture journalist Jennifer O’Callaghan, author of the new book Rear Window: The Making of a Hitchcock Masterpiece in the Hollywood Golden Age. Thus, the team opted to stage their ambitious urban set on the studio lot.
Hitchcock was determined to recreate an authentic architectural appearance of New York—whatever the cost. “The voyeuristic concept demanded precise camera angles, synchronized lighting changes from day to night and the ability to capture intimate interior shots across multiple apartments simultaneously,” says O’Callaghan.
After the studio relented to Hitchcock’s requests for a faux Manhattan, ground was broken at Paramount’s Stage 18. The final product involved a number of apartment buildings (the tallest being 40 feet high), a 70-foot courtyard, and 31 apartment units—a dozen of which would be furnished.
It was based on 125 Christopher Street
Greenwich Village, the bustling brick quarter of Manhattan, served as the complex’s architectural inspiration. In particular, the building at 125 Christopher Street was favored by Hitchcock. “Production manager Doc Erickson traveled to New York in September 1953 to photograph the actual 125 Christopher Street building (still standing today) that would inspire the set,” explains O’Callaghan. It was photographed extensively—in night and daytime, rain, and sunshine—to assist the Hollywood team in fabricating a version as close to real life as possible.
For the eye-watering cost of $72,000 (almost $900,000 today), the colossal project saw Hitchcock’s crew spending six weeks to realize a facsimile Greenwich Village. The pedantic director meticulously oversaw the entire construction, from perfecting the lighting in each apartment to testing the complex drainage system that collected the fake rain.
For close observers: The main building was rendered in a faux Federal brick, an architectural style that followed the American Revolution and one common to Greenwich Village, marked by red brick and symmetrical façades.
Rear Window’s set—billed as a character in the film—cost more than Jimmy Stewart
Many would think either Stewart, an A-list star, or Kelly, who was experiencing a meteoric rise in Hollywood at the time, might cost the studio the most for Rear Window. But the set proved the most significant budget expense, draining a quarter of the film’s budget. “Not since Cecil B. DeMille’s Samson and Delilah had Paramount greenlit such an elaborate design,” says O’Callaghan.
With the spectacle of this true-to-life film set playing such a vital role, the studio publicity team made posters showcasing it in their advertising. “The 1954 marketing campaign prominently featured the set itself, with trailers opening on Hitchcock contemplating the Greenwich Village replica rather than the stars,” says O’Callaghan. After Stewart and Hitchcock, it was a key sell; one promotional poster shows the many characters dotting the mammoth studio building—among them, neighbors Jeff nicknames The Newlyweds and Miss Lonely-Hearts—as the notion of playing voyeur takes center focus. “This approach acknowledged that…the set wasn’t a mere backdrop, but a living, breathing character essential to the film’s experimental tone,” says O’Callaghan.
Hitchcock used the set to manage Rear Window’s censorship risk
Hollywood productions were once policed by the Hays Code, a set of self-censorship rules for cinema that operated from the ’30s until 1968. A film preoccupied with voyeurism and spying naturally caught the attention of censors. Hitchcock was, however, determined to reassure authorities that his picture would not offend popular tastes with its sensational themes. “When censors saw the magnificent 40-foot-high, 185-foot-long set firsthand, they immediately understood Hitchcock’s vision,” explains O’Callaghan. The gargantuan set of interlocking apartments, and Hitchcock’s roving but distant camera, helped mitigate the threat that Rear Window would be more salacious as its script suggested. Emphasizing to censors that the camera would keep its distance—and not telescope too deeply into characters’ private apartments—ensured production could go ahead.
“The sheer distance between Jimmy Stewart’s apartment and the ‘objectionable’ activities across the courtyard (like Miss Torso’s sexy dancing)…demonstrated that voyeuristic elements would be minimized by geography and camera angles,” says O’Callaghan.
The set’s apartments were entirely livable
Rear Window’s units were made fully operational and self-sufficient. “The set’s 31 apartments were fully livable with running water and electricity,” says O’Callaghan. The actor who played Miss Torso even claimed to have almost lived in her apartment while making the movie.
Hitchcock, a stickler for authenticity, had some apartments kitted out with upholstery and furniture, given his camera would peek inside. For the likes of the Songwriter and Miss Lonely-Hearts, the director asked set directors, Sam Comer and Ray Moyer, to match the character of their occupants to their bespoke interior designs.
Operating such an enormous apartment complex did also cause headaches, most notably around the lighting. “Over 1,000 giant arc lights were needed for overhead lighting,” O’Callaghan says. “The heat was so intense it triggered sprinkler systems across the stages, drenching the set mid-scene while Hitchcock calmly requested an umbrella.”
