Rear Window

Alfred Hitchcock’s Rear Window keeps most of its tension in one cramped apartment and the view from it, where Jeff watches his neighbours with a mix of boredom, suspicion and mounting unease. Into that confined setting comes Lisa Carol Fremont, immaculate and self-possessed, carrying the sort of object that says as much as a line of dialogue. Among the film’s most memorable accessories is her black Mark Cross Rear Window Overnight Case, a neat, polished presence in a room otherwise ruled by binoculars, windows and restless looking. It fits Lisa’s elegant precision exactly, and gives the evening visit a small but telling flash of glamour.