This week's Hitchcock: Rear Window/Man Who Knew Too Much

I'm doing a vertical run (vertical as in films in timeline order--as opposed to horizontal which be films from one year, etc) of Jimmy Stewart's work this week and next. I began with Rear Window (and Winchester '73 dir. Anthony Mann). I noticed this viewing how much Window works in connection with Vertigo. Stewart plays a photojournalist in RW; a detective in Vertigo. RW ends with a fall; Vertigo begins with a fall. Jeff is tormented over a relationship with a beautiful blonde--you get the idea.


I ran Winchester '73 at the same time on an iPad. Stewart plays very claustrophobic, weighed down characters throughout his career. Compare his posture on a horse (or in a chair) with John Wayne. Stewart seems crushed by his environment--hunched over, neck bent, slouched stance. He is never comfortable in his environment. John Wayne, just as contrast, is the complete opposite. Even his very solid, balletic moves give the impression of control and mastery. Even in the westerns of Stewart, the big sky country seems to oppress him and most of his scenes are played interior--think Man Who Shot Liberty Valance.

Later in the week, I ran Stewart's The Man Who Knew Too Much.

Here Stewart's "fish out of water" nature defines the film. The scene at the Moroccan restaurant is both comic and telling: here is a man who never quite fits in. Even the title suggests that idea--the man who knows too much. Just what does Stewart know too much about? There is a plot answer for this film, of course, but I suggest that his screen presence from Mr. Smith Goes to Washington through to Vertigo indicates that Jimmy Stewart is an everyman who has deeper understanding of the darker nature of man.



It is this Stewart that we see in all his pain and anxiety in next week's film:

Vertigo.