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A New Look Through "Rear Window" at Hartford Stage

In 1954, Alfred Hitchcock directed two movies. They both star Grace Kelly. They’re both murder mysteries involving a married couple and a boyfriend and a girlfriend. They both take place almost entirely in one room. They both look like plays.

The first film, "Dial M for Murder," in fact was based on the play of the same name.

The second film, "Rear Window," was based on CornellWoolrich’s 1942 short story “It Had to Be Murder” (PDF link). And even though basically all of the story’s action takes place in its main character’s apartment, and even though the story only includes three characters who have any dialogue, no one has ever adapted “It Had to Be Murder” for the theater.

Until now. Until Hartford Stage’s current (nearly) sold out production starring Kevin Bacon.

This hour, we look at all three versions of this story. We talk to film critic David Thomson about Hitchcock’s masterpiece, "Rear Window." And we’ll talk to playwright Keith Reddin and producers Charlie Lyons and Jay Russell about Woolrich’s original story and adapting it into the darker, jazzier, and maybe even more modern version that’s running at Hartford Stage through Sunday.

GUESTS:

  • Charlie Lyons – producer, "Rear Window" at Hartford Stage
  • Keith Reddin – playwright/adaptor, "Rear Window" at Hartford Stage
  • Jay Russell – producer, "Rear Window" at Hartford Stage
  • David Thomson – film critic and the author, most recently, of How To Watch a Movie

Join the conversation on Facebook and Twitter.

Colin McEnroe, Chion Wolf and Betsy Kaplan contributed to this show.

Jonathan is a producer for ‘The Colin McEnroe Show.’ His work has been heard nationally on NPR and locally on Connecticut Public’s talk shows and news magazines. He’s as likely to host a podcast on minor league baseball as he is to cover a presidential debate almost by accident. Jonathan can be reached at jmcnicol@ctpublic.org.

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