Rear Window stands as one of Alfred Hitchcock's greatest comedies of terror. Set in a Greenwich Village apartment and its adjoining courtyards, this urban variation on the backyard-murder story offers both a light satire of modern life and a thorough exploration of voyeurism's allure. The film was a personal favorite of Hitchcock, who owned it outright along with several other works including Vertigo and Rope. His decision to withhold these films from television syndication to preserve their theatrical value meant Rear Window disappeared from public view for 21 years after his death in 1980, when the Hitchcock estate finally negotiated its re-release.
