Alfred Hitchcock’s Rear Window: Scene 14

To me, it’s just not Halloween without a Hitchcock marathon of all of his movies.

Currently Watching The Killer, Lars Thorwald from Rear Window

I was Thrilled to Find this Game Online

For those of you that know my love of board games, especially any version of CLUE, I was very happy to have found this Rear Window game online.

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Rear Window Slate

New York City

Take 1, Scene 14

10/22/22

Alfred Hitchcock

Cannon Manfrotto

(Cannon Manfrotto is an inside joke with Gordon and myself.

Perhaps one of you can figure it out.) 🙂

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Our Rear Window ‘Scene 14’ Set

L.B. Jeffries Apartment

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Everything Here Represents Something From The Movie

Playing The Game

The Handbag, The Jewelry, The Rope and Saw, The Heavy Trunk…

Gordon and I Reviewing the Game Instructions

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If you have never seen the movie Rear Window with Grace Kelly and Jimmy Stewart, along with Raymond Burr, and Thelma Ritter, then you will probably not understand what we are doing here.

Rear Window is my most favorite movie ever!

I found the game online and knew it would be great here with our Halloween theme.

Follow The Footsteps

(I found them online and knew they would be perfect here.)

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If you have ever seen the movie, Rear Window, then you recognize our props in these photos.

The Red Handbags

(Mrs. Thorwald’s)

Gordon Did Such a Great Job on our Pumpkin

The Wooden Trunk w/ the Heavy Rope, Represents Lars Thorwald’s Trunk

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Our Modern Day Ham and Cheese Sandwiches

(We made these because L. B. Jeffries has a Ham and Cheese Sandwich in the movie with some milk. His sandwich from the 50’s was very plain, we jazzed ours up a bit.)

We also made some Microwave Potato Chips to go with our Sandwiches, along with a side of Olives.

(Recipe Down Below)

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Game And Dinner

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Gordon as L. B. Jeffries

Jimmy Stewart’s character of L. B. Jeffires (Jeff), is in a leg cast because he got in the way of a race car on an automobile racetrack to get a unique shot, and injured himself in the process. Jeff is a successful photographer for a prestigious magazine. He travels the world to “hot spots” to take photos of current events. He is an adventurer, that gets paid for his photos.

Gordon of course, isn’t in a cast, we just wrapped a white towel around his leg and even wrote on it, ‘Here lies the broken bones of L. B. Jeffries.’

Because the movie takes place in the 50’s, I set out my vintage and antique’s that worked here, in addition to some modern day things.

Gordon Making a Phone Call

Me, as Lisa Freemont watching Lars Thorwald’s apartment across the way.

Gordon Writing The Letter To Lars Thorwald

“What Have You Done With Her?”

We think that Lars Thorwald is guilty of killing his wife.

The Dogs Crashed Us! 🙂

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Getting Ready to Carve the Pumpkin

Gordon is a natural artist. Untrained, but spot on!

Whatever Halloween theme we have in mind, he will carve a pumpkin to compliment it. Gordon has the mind of an athlete, which enables him to defy odds. Really! And this is in all aspects, not just pumpkin carving. He knows how to choose the most perfect pumpkin for the design, he saves the seeds for us to roast or put into other Halloween recipes. He makes our Halloween more special because of his pumpkin carving skills. Once again, he did not disappoint here.

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Pumpkin Carved….

As Always, Gordon Did a Wonderful Job….

Halloween Treats of Toy Cameras

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L. B. Jeffries Watching Lars Thorwald 🙂

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My Rear Window Shelfie in our Bedroom

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I LOVE This Camera!

(I would kill for it! Actually, I would just shove someone and grab it and run.) 🙂

L. B. Jeffries Camera/Lens and his Ham and Cheese Sandwich w/ Milk

The premise of the story is that Jeff believes that he has witnessed a murder by his neighbor across the way from his Rear Window of his apartment. Therefore, he becomes obsessed with proving it. Having that cast on his leg gives him reason to look out the window all day, and sometimes, all night long.

We love to recreate the foods in movies that we love.

There isn’t a lot of food in this movie, but we do our best to recreate it regardless. 🙂

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Here, we recreated the very simple Ham and Cheese Sandwich.

The candy in the vintage dish is vintage candy from that time.

Our Simple Ham and Cheese Sandwich

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SCENE 14

I love this scene because this is where Jeff falls in love with Lisa.

Lars Thorwald Going Through His Wife’s Jewelry in her Favorite Handbag

Thelma Ritter, Grace Kelly, Jimmy Stewart

Grace, (Lisa) Looking Through a View Finder

“It’s just a picture of the backyard.” Lisa Freemont

Our Characters Debating How to Get into Lars Thorwald’s Apartment for Evidence

It’s so impressive to think that everything here was built in a studio in Hollywood.

Jeff, Writing a Note to Thorwald to Get Him out of the Apartment

Lisa, Going to Slip the Note Underneath his Door

WHAT HAVE YOU DONE WITH HER?

Lisa, Slipping the Note Underneath the Door…

…and Barely Getting Away.

Lars Thorwald Panicking, Reading the Letter

“What was his reaction?”

Lisa, Excited at What She Did!

Jeff, Falling in Love

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Our Scene 14

Me and Gordon, Trying our Best to Channel Grace Kelly and Jimmy Stewart

Me, Looking Through my Grandmother’s Slide Viewer

The Dogs Are Always a Welcome Crash

‘When it gets a little darker I’m going over there to dig up that flower bed and see what’s buried there.’

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From a Director’s Point of View

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Jeff’s Apartment

We did our best to try and recreate Jeff’s Apartment in the movie. At least certain aspects of it. You never have to have anything totally accurate. You just want to do an impression that will portray your idea.

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Just a Few “Notes” From the Scene

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Our Harvest Fountain

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Pumpkins and Vintage Candy

I Wanted Our Candy to Reflect the Era

Vintage Hard Candy, Toy Cameras, Big Hunk Candy Bars, Sugar Orange Slices, Mary Jane’s, Caramel’s, Ginger Mints, etc.

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Pumpkin Carving Starts Here

My T-Shirt

Grace Kelly and Jimmy Stewart, Rear Window

Carving The Pumpkin

(Write up by Gordon)

Here I am deciding what design I want, or think I can do.

Julie is always pushing me with these in a good way as I doubt my ability to accomplish some of the designs.

I decided to do the picture with Mr. Jeffries in a wheelchair.

I print out the picture then tape it to the pumpkin using painters tape. I also ensure the picture is flat against the pumpkin. In doing this, you may need to crease the paper’s outer edge as you are just trying to get the picture flat against the pumpkin’s surface. Now, using your punch tool, punch small holes barely into the skin of the pumpkin around every defined aspect of the picture. For the thin spokes, simply follow the spokes directly on the line. Get comfortable as this will take some time to do.

Here you see the picture with all the punches, then with the picture removed.

Save the picture so you can use it as a reference.

Now, carve out the sections that you want light to shine through using a small sharp knife.

Taking a needed break for a quick happy snap.

Continue to carve out the sections using your picture as a guide.

Me, with my beautiful support! 🙂

Here Julie was making me a nice sandwich!

Still carving out the design.

Again, posing for another happy snap.

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Jeff Watching Lars Thorwald

Our Version of Jeff’s Sandwich

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Now you can start to see the design come through. Use a V cut to make the thin lines. To do this, place your knife at an angle and cut just outside the line that barely cuts through the pumpkin’s skin. Then, turn the pumpkin around and do the same cut on the other side of the line. This should remove a small sliver of the pumpkin’s skin. Repeat this cut for all the small lines.

Now that I have completed the outside it is time to cut into the top of the pumpkin. Use a thin saw blade tool that comes in the usual pumpkin carving kit and make a steep angled cut. If you don’t do this cut at an angle, the lid will simply fall into the pumpkin. I also cut a triangular wedge in the top so I know where the lid goes when I am done. Continue this cut all the way around the top of the pumpkin until your lines intersect.

Now, remove the top as shown. Here you can see the angled cut I made.

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Use a sharp knife to cut away the bottom of the lid so it looks nice

Stick your hands inside the pumpkin and remove the seeds.

Here I am removing the seed to cook later.

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It is a little gooey, but it is only a vegetable.

Remove a good amount of the inside of the pumpkin so the light will shine through.

Place a strong flashlight inside the pumpkin to help you see where to remove more of the insides.

Be sure not to make it too thin.

I even signed the cast Mr. Jeffries… thought that was a nice touch.

L. B. Jeffries

Vintage Candy and Toy Cameras

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The Recipes

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Pumpkin Beer and Cheese Quick Bread

This is the easiest and tastiest bread recipe in the world!

(Ignore the Baking Powder in the photo above.)

Ingredients:

3 Cups of Self-Rising Flour

1 Cup Shredded Cheese (We used White Cheddar)

2 T. Granulated Sugar

1/4 t. Salt

1 T. Garlic and Herb Seasoning

1 12 oz. Pumpkin Beer

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You want to pre-heat your oven to 350F, and use a cooking oil spray (PAM) to coat your loaf pan.

Here I have Grated All of my Cheese

Place your Self-Rising Flour, Sugar, and salt into a large mixing bowl…

Add your Garlic and Herb Seasoning… Whisk together.

And then your Grated Cheese….

Next, add your Beer

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Place the Beer Battered Bread Mix into a greased loaf pan.

Top with some cheese, if desired.

Cover and bake in a 350F Oven for about 35-45 minutes.

You can remove the foil near the end to give the bread such great color.

Remove From Oven

Let Cool in the Pan for about 15 minutes.

Then, turn out to cool on a wire rack.

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Our Modern Day Ham Sandwiches and Microwave Potato Chips

To make homemade potato chips, you could use a knife to slice the chips thinly, but using a mandolin gives you the uniformity of real chips and is just so much faster. Here, I use three Russet Potatoes as these make the best chips. Place a plate under your mandolin to catch the sliced potatoes.

Wash the potatoes well and pick out some seasoning for them.

You could go with just some salt, but we chose garlic and herb.

Here I am making a small sheet of parchment paper, a good size to fit in our microwave dish so that it will still spin.

Carefully slice your potatoes using the mandolin. You want them thin, but not too thin. Do a test with your potato until you arrive at the right thickness. You can see how nice the slices turned out.

I placed some seasoning on the parchment paper.

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Carefully lay down the potato slices onto the Parchment Paper.

Now, add more seasoning to the top of the potatoes.

Microwave them on high for about 2-3 min. or until they begin to brown and turn crispy.

You could also use a little Chili Powder on the chips, giving them more great flavor.

Here you can see the finished product… so just dig in!

These are healthier than regular potato chips.

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Now For Our Grilled Ham Sandwiches

You can see our Beer Bread in the background, top, and our Microwave Potato Chips.

Gordon slicing some Roma Tomatoes, and removing the seeds.

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Now, slice your onions as thick as you like. I make them about ¼ in thick.

Now that your prep work is done, it is time to head out to the grill. In the background you can see our nice bread, pickles, and mustard we will used for the sandwiches. In the foreground, you can see the ham steaks.

Here is a closeup of the bread and butter pickles, and Honey Mustard we made.

The banana pepper pickles are another great addition to this sandwich.

To start, place your grill on high and let it sit for about 5 min., Then clean off your grill using a wire brush being sure none of the bristles are left behind. I then turn the grill down and spray it with some high temperature cooking spray, or peanut oil.

Set your grill flames to Medium high and place your onions and Plum tomato halves onto the grill and let them sit.

Close the lid and just let them cook.

After about 7 minutes, open the grill and check on them. You want to see some nice black char and grill marks as shown. Turn them over and cook them for at least another 5 min.

Now that your tomatoes are done with just a few onions to finish, place your ham steaks down on the grill and let them just sit.

As your onions become done, add your ham steaks to the grill. These are not very thick so be careful not to over cook them. You really just want the nice grill marks. You could season them with a bit of pineapple juice or more savory items like onion or garlic powder, but we decided to just let the ham flavor shine through.

Here you can see the finished grilled steaks.

Slice your bread using a bread knife.

Time to make the sandwiches. Spread on your mustard of choice,

I like to use Swiss Cheese with ham. Add your grilled onions to the sandwich as well.

Here I sliced the ham in half so it would fit nicely on the sandwich.

Add some nice lettuce and the grilled Plum tomatoes.

Don’t forget the pickles!

It took some careful stacking as well, but it was worth it.

When you are done, top the sandwich with the other slice of bread. You could have also toasted the bread if you wanted.

Here you can see the end results to our Rear Window sandwich.

I am sure Mr. Jeffries would have loved it.

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Now, Back to our Game…

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There is a bit of a comical part in the movie where Jeff has an itch that he cannot get to to scratch, so he uses his back scratcher.

Oh yeah, that’s the spot!

Now, back to spying on Lars Thorwald.

Jeff’s Desk, Phone, Binoculars, and Mont Rachet Wine w/ Glasses

Dialing Lt. Doyle

More of Me, Loving to Impersonate My Favorite Heroin

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The Ending of Rear Window

Lisa and Stella go over to the flower bed to see what Thorwald had buried there, although there was nothing to be found. That is when Lisa got the inspiration to get into Thorwald’s apartment to look for the wife’s jewelry that Thorwald was keeping in his wife’s handbag.

Lisa, excitedly finding the handbag, only to be disappointed that nothing was inside.

Meanwhile, Lars Thorwald is unexpectedly on his way back to his apartment.

Jeff calls the police to report that a woman is being assaulted and for them to hurry!

After a few minutes the police to arrive. Lisa however, doesn’t give away why she was in the apartment to begin with. She waits until they get her safely out of there and she then reveals why she was in there. To find Mrs. Thorwald’s wedding ring…..

…which Lisa slipped on her finger before being arrested. She is signaling to Jeff across the way that she found it.

However, Thorwald see’s it too!

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With Lisa being arrested, and Stella sent to bail her out of jail, Jeff is left alone in his apartment.

He hears footsteps. And then someone enters his apartment.

“Who are you? What do you want? Why didn’t the girl turn me in? Can you get me that ring back?”

Lars Thorwald

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Jeff now has to buy some time. He has Stella and Lisa down at Police Headquarters. He also has his friend Det. Doyle going down there to get Lisa out of jail with no charges. He also has to fend off Lars Thorwald until they all get back.

Jeff, being the smart guy that he is has taken the light bulbs from his camera to use against Thorwald to blind him while he buys some time.

It does work long enough until he spots Lisa and Doyle across the way going to Thorwald’s apartment. He calls their names and they run over to try and save him.

But, not before Thorwald has attacked Jeff, shoving him out of his Rear Window.

Jeff Struggling For His Life

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Jeff, Loosing his Grip and Falling

Doyle, Stella, and Lisa Run to his Aid

Having Officially, Fallen in LOVE

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Spooky in a Basket

I love the scene in the movie where the woman lowers her dog in a basket down to the ground so that it can use the bathroom/roam around, etc. And, then when she calls it, the dog will jump back into the basket to be raised up to the apartment.

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A Happy Ending

When the movie starts out Jeff has one broken leg, but by the end of the movie he has two.

So, why the smile on his face above? He solved a mystery with the help of his beautiful girlfriend that he had underestimated as being some helpless female, who actually helped to foil Lars Thorwald and put him in jail for murdering his wife. Jeff is now happily in love and ready to commit to Lisa.

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Lisa understands his love of traveling to exotic places and she is willing to learn all she can and go with him on these jaunts. However, you cannot take the fashion girl out of the magazines permanently. Which is why she waited until he fell asleep to read her Harper’s Bazaar Magazine. 🙂