Lisa Fremont In Rear Window

Writer and film critic Roger Ebert once said that the Hitchcock Blonde, “…reflected the same qualities over and over again: They were blonde. They were icy and remote. They were imprisoned in costumes that subtly combined fashion with fetishism. They mesmerized the men, who often had physical or psychological handicaps…” Much of this is true of Grace Kelly’s character Lisa Fremont in Rear Window: although she is neither icy nor remote, she is very fashionable and must rise to the occasion of the hero given the physical handicap (broken leg) of her man, Jeff to help nab the killer. In Vertigo, the character of Judy fits the description very well, given how she mesmerized Scotty who has the psychological handicap of vertigo.

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In the beginning she tries to prod Jeff into agreeing with the idea of marriage and is willing to use her feminine wiles to persuade him. However, through the course of the film we see the irony that Lisa ends up being the hero and embodying the male characteristics in the plot since Jeff is wheelchair bound. Eventually the tables turn when he convinces her to participate in the caper and allows her to take over in the investigation. During the 50s, films almost exclusively featured women being rescued by the male heroes. Lisa’s character reverses that stereotype and shows a more modern, independent, even scrappy side to this glamorous, elegant woman. Hitchcock’s Blondes broke many stereotypes at the time with their outspoken strength, shocking audiences. As noted by Thomas Leitch in his book “A Companion to Alfred Hitchcock”, "Both dependency and independence in women inspire hatred... it places the woman in a double bind from which she is often unable to extricate herself. For Kelly's characters, the double bind always involves a latent hostility to the very graphic qualities Hitchcock prizes in the actress. Kelly's perfection in Rear Window is, in itself, enough to visit male anger upon