1954 Hit Ranked Among 'Best Movies of All Time' Changed Cinema Forever

In 1954, Alfred Hitchcock changed the history of cinema forever with Rear Window.

The film, starring James Stewart and Grace Kelly, tells the story of a nosey neighbor who witnesses a murder through his window and becomes obsessed with solving the crime from his own room.

Rear Window was a massive critical and commercial success, and has since earned its label among the greatest movies ever made. It's currently ranked at No. 4 on Rotten Tomatoes' all-time ranking, just behind movies like The Godfather and Casablanca.

The film was made on a modest budget of $1 million (which equates to $12 million in today's economy), and returned over $27 million (roughly $324 now) at the box office. It became one of Hitchcock's biggest sucess stories, despite landing almost three decades into his career.

Rear Window also scored three nominations at the Academy Awards, including Best Director and Best Adapted Screenplay—but notably not Best Picture. It's still considered one of the biggest snubs in the category; Rear Window also marked Hitchcock's fourth time not winning the Best Director award despite being nominated. It would happen again six years later with Psycho.

Beyond its gripping story and entertaining lead performances, Rear Window gained attention for its visionary filmmaking techniques. The film employs several POV shots from inside Stewart's protagonist's camera, which hadn't been achieved on this scale before. It essentially defined the way that we still create these shots today, with intricate lens construction and massively detailed production design.

Rear Window is widely considered Hitchcok's best movie—but even that isn't easy to agree upon. The director was such an undeniable visionary that each of his works was totally different, and they mostly succeed for different reasons.

While Entertainment Weekly agrees that Rear Window is his best, The Telegraph named Psycho as his magnum opus—and IndieWire has the hugely underrated Notorious in the top spot.

Ultimately, one's favorite Hitchcock movie comes down to little more than a matter of taste—but it's hard to deny that Rear Window had an irrevocable impact on cinema history that's still felt today.