Rear Window

One of my all time favourite films – Alfred Hitchock's Rear Window – happens to be on TV tonight. It concerns a photographer, stuck in a wheelchair with a broken leg, who spends his days staring out of his window, idly observing the goings on of his neighbours (and discovering that a crime has been committed). The whole story is seen from the flat of the photographer and the film set bears some resemblance to this picture. However, this is London whereas the film is set in New York. But Hitchcock drew on something that was familiar to people everywhere – the curiosity about neighbours and the potential drama that is before us every time we look out of our window. This is the view from a hotel room I was occupying in London, and though there is little drama to be seen here the picture does hold a special significance, lending some inspiration perhaps to Rear Window itself: for one of the upper flats we see the windows of here is the former home of none other than... Alfred Hitchcock! Location: London, England