Rear Window is a 1954 American mystery thriller film directed by Alfred Hitchcock and written by John Michael Hayes based on Cornell Woolrich's 1942 short story "It Had to Be Murder". Originally released by Paramount Pictures, the film stars James Stewart, Grace Kelly, Wendell Corey, Thelma Ritter, and Raymond Burr. It was screened at the 1954 Venice Film Festival. Recuperating from a broken leg, adventuresome professional photographer L. B. "Jeff" Jefferies is confined to a wheelchair in his apartment in Chelsea, Manhattan. His rear window looks out onto a courtyard and several other apartments. During an intense heat wave, he watches his neighbors, who keep their windows open to stay cool. He observes a flamboyant dancer he nicknames "Miss Torso"; a single woman he calls "Miss Lonelyhearts"; a talented, single, composer-pianist; several married couples, one of them newlyweds; a middle-aged couple with a small dog that likes digging in the flower garden; a female amateur sculptor; and Lars Thorwald, a traveling jewelry salesman with a bedridden wife. Jeff's sophisticated, beautiful socialite girlfriend, Lisa Fremont, visits him regularly, as does the insurance company nurse, Stella. Stella thinks Jeff should settle down and marry Lisa, but Jeff is reluctant due to their disparate lifestyles. One night during a thunderstorm, Jeff hears a woman scream, "Don't!" and then the sound of breaking glass. Later, he is awakened by thunder and observes Thorwald leaving his apartment, carrying a suitcase in pouring rain. Thorwald makes repeated late-night trips carrying the case. The next morning, Jeff notices that Thorwald's wife is gone, and then sees Thorwald cleaning a large knife and handsaw. Later, Thorwald has moving men haul away a large trunk he tied with rope. Jeff shares all this with Lisa and with Stella, who both think he has an overactive imagination, but come to believe him when they observe Thorwald acting suspiciously. Jeff becomes convinced that Thorwald has murdered his wife. Jeff calls his friend Tom Doyle, a New York City Police detective, and asks him to investigate Thorwald. Doyle finds nothing suspicious; apparently, Mrs. Thorwald is upstate, and picked up the trunk herself. Soon after, the neighbor's dog is found dead with its neck broken. The distraught owner yells across the courtyard, wailing about her neighbors' callous disregard. Everyone runs to their windows to see what is happening, except for Thorwald, whose cigar is seen glowing as he sits quietly in his dark apartment. Certain Thorwald killed the dog, Jeff has Lisa slip an accusatory note under his door so he can observe Thorwald's reaction reading it. As a pretext to get Thorwald out of his apartment, Jeff then telephones him and arranges a meeting at a bar. He believes Thorwald buried something incriminating in the courtyard flower bed, and killed the dog to stop it digging there. When Thorwald leaves, Lisa and Stella dig up the flowers but find nothing. Much to Jeff's amazement and admiration, Lisa climbs up the fire escape to Thorwald's apartment and clambers in through an open window. When Thorwald returns and confronts Lisa, Jeff calls the police, who arrive in time, arresting her when Thorwald indicates that she broke in. Jeff sees Lisa's hands behind her back, pointing to her finger with Mrs. Thorwald's wedding ring on it. Thorwald also sees this, and, realizing that she is signaling someone, spots Jeff across the courtyard. Jeff phones Doyle and leaves an urgent message while Stella goes to bail Lisa out of jail. When his phone rings, Jeff assumes it is Doyle, and blurts out that the suspect has left the apartment. When no one answers, Jeff realizes that Thorwald himself called and is coming to confront him. When Thorwald enters, Jeff repeatedly sets off his camera flashbulbs, temporarily blinding him. Thorwald grabs Jeff and pushes him out the open window, as Jeff, hanging on, yells for help. Police enter the apartment as Jeff falls; officers on the ground run over and break his fall. Thorwald confesses to the police soon afterward. A few days later, the heat has lifted, and Jeff rests peacefully in his wheelchair, now with casts on both legs. The lonely neighbor is chatting with the pianist in his apartment, the dancer's boyfriend returns home from the army, the couple whose dog was killed have a new puppy, Thorwald's apartment is being refurbished and the newlyweds are bickering. Lisa reclines on the daybed in Jeff's apartment, wearing jeans, reading a book titled Beyond the High Himalayas. After seeing that Jeff is sleeping, Lisa happily opens a fashion magazine.