Stunning. And the aesthetic of her outfits is one major part of why Rear Window is so awesome. Hitchcock loved costumes and Grace in Rear Window was a fashion dream. About 12 years ago I was privileged to see a dye-print transfer of the film projected on a big screen, and when Lisa first appears in Jeffrey's apartment with those bright red lips and that dress I was basically hypnotized.
Ingrid Bergman also looks stunning in Notorious, another worthy mention.
On a previous thread, I argued that femininity was all but dead in today's media.
I used Grace Kelly in Rear Window as a baseline for my argument.
Very pretty with a horrible voice!
shareShe was so beautiful that it was difficult to take seriously, the Stewart character’s reluctance to marry her. It was also pretty hard to accept a woman like that would have to cajole him to let her spend the night.
shareMaybe it was Hitchcock's own romantic view of someone so beautiful being that interested in someone maybe seen as out of their league, so to speak, considering he was not exactly the most attractive of people himself. I mean he plays on this as well with the pretty dancer, who we discover at the end is mad about some short unattractive guy from the army, as a sort of joke.
shareI think you’re definitely on to something here.
shareThis is my biggest complaint with the film, the idea that a woman who is THAT beautiful, and intelligent and brave and self-confident, would allow a man who is that much older and that much less attractive to treat her so badly. I mean I can see that she's tired of the sort of rich dullards that everyone expects her to marry, and is interested in Jeff because of his adventurous lifestyle... but it doesn't come off.
I mean, she's written as brave, adventurous, and clever, and shows it later in the movie, right? So early in the movie, when she's brought Jeff a fabulous dinner and done everything she can to make a lovely date night and he repays her with verbal abuse... she just wilts. Which is ridiculous, a woman as beautiful and acute as she is knows better to take that kind of abuse, she'd know that the right way to deal with that sort of thing is to say good night, pick a rich dullard from the horde that are always after her, and take a stroll through the courtyard where she knows Jeff is watching with his binoculars. There are ultra-feminine ways of standing up for yourself, and paying back unpleasantness, and a gal like her *would* use them.
Do keep in mind that we're seeing Jefferies at one of the worst points in his life. He's cooped up, going stir crazy, spying on people, miserable with his busted leg, and feeling all kinds of pressure from several places. I suspect that Lisa is aware of this.
She's intelligent and thoughtful enough to know that Jefferies isn't "himself" just at that moment, probably both remembering his former glory, and looking forward to his future return to form. She might not be wilting, so much as picking when to fight which battles.
She might pay back the unpleasantness later, but I think she was going to try to use charm, wisdom, and patience to draw Jefferies out of his funk first.
FYI I broke the shit out of my leg this spring and spent a couple of months almost completely housebound, and I never took my unhappiness out on the people who helped me.... so I get to totally dump on Jeff for doing so! He was an asshole to Lisa.
And the thing about a relationship is that even when your partner's having a rough time, it's a very bad idea to smile weakly and forgive them if they're an asshole to you because of something that isn't your fault, because if you let them get away with that... it becomes part of the relationship and they will do it again. Lisa is a very clever girl who is very focused on her relationships, she'd know that, and the person she showed herself to be in the last act would find a non-confrontational way to let Jeff know not to behave like that again.
Fair enough, and you're right to say that having a bad break (literally or figuratively) is no reason to be a jerk. It's present in Rear Window because of the all-important character arc. He has to stop snooping on others, live his own life, as well as stop seeing the worst in the people out there and start behaving better; it's part of the film.
I was just saying that this was probably not the only side of Jefferies we see, so I still buy Lisa as an intelligent character who isn't a pushover. I think she probably "reformed" a lot of that out of Jefferies.
Actually, I'd say that the main character arc of the film is Jeff learning to appreciate Lisa, not Jeff getting a life. If he stopped spying on his neighbors it's because his leg healed and he could go back to work, not because he realized the spying was wrong. In fact, he can't possibly think it was wrong, because if he hadn't done it, a man would have gotten away with murder! Seriously, some critics say this movie is an outgrowth of Hitchcock's interest in voyeurism, and that he liked to spy on his real-life neighbors with a telescope, and I do find it interesting that the film is probably pro-spying in the balance.
As for Lisa, I'm sure she got very good at controlling Jeff's actions without him realizing she was doing so, but I can't imagine she was gloriously happy being Mrs. Jeff. After a few years of adventure she found herself stuck at home with the kids, and maybe she realized that if she wanted adventure, she should have taken off to have her own adventures, not married an adventurous man and expecting him to provide her with excitement. But that's how girls were raised then, if they wanted to do something, they were told to marry a man who did it.
Very interesting. Good points on voyeurism.
As for Lisa and Jeff, I personally think they wound up pretty happy together, and probably grew to be that couple where she's vivacious and he's a little crotchetty, but they just fit somehow. That's just me, though.
@Otter: “verbal abuse”? What are you talking about?
shareI tried to be like Grace Kelly, but all her looks were too sad.
share