It Had To Be Murder by Cornell Woolrich

4 Stars

 

How did I not know this was a short story????? I’m such a failure!

Nothing in this world makes me happier than a rainy night, warm P.J.s, a bowl full of popcorn and an Alfred Hitchcock movie marathon. While I love the campy wonderment which is The Birds and Farley Granger’s horrible acting in Rope, my all-time fave most definitely is Rear Window. Nowadays my husband and I refer to that moment when you tell yourself you’ll only watch five minutes of a movie and then wind up sucked in until the final credits roll “Getting Shawshanked.” Back in the day it was probably referred to as “Getting Rear Windowed.” When I saw my buddy Dan read this a few days ago I knew I had to get to it pronto. (Sorry buddy read group, but really y’all should already be well aware of the fact that I’m horrible.)

Call it my bias coming through because although I’m not a huge fan of the shorty-short I really enjoyed this one. For only being fourteen pages long, it really packed in the suspense and provided quite a full story to inspire the film. Of course, since this was only fourteen pages, it was missing some of what made the film so much fun. Mainly the neighbors. Of course, a certain couple was very much still a part of the story . . .



But the humor that was delivered by others - mainly . . .



And . . .



The unforgettable score provided by . . .



As well as the Debbie Downer which could be found in . . . .



Was most definitely missing.

But in all actuality? The real important stuff was still there . . .



Kudos to Cornell Woolrich for being able to pack such a wallop into such a little package and kudos to the Master of Suspense for giving it life on the big screen. Today is my Friday and it’s supposed to rain tonight. I think a trip to the video store might be in order . . . .