Hitchcock’s Rear Window forces the gaze of the audience on Mr. Thorwald in his apartment but only reveals his face at the moment of peak tension, anticipating how Hitchcock addresses gaze at the end of the film. First, the audience is not introduced to Mr. Thorwald at the same time as every other member of the courtyard window group; the opening scene purposefully avoids his apartment. Because Mr. Thorwald is always shown from the distance of Jeffries’s apartment, there are few close shots. It is significantly easier to understand someone when more of their life is shown, but the premise of Rear Window targets exactly that: it is hard to decipher one’s life from the view through one window, and it is impossible to know everything.

Thorwald is projected to the audience as a strong salesman, frequently seen well-dressed wearing a jacket and hat, but his face is relatively concealed. Faces can reveal emotions, but his face remains mysterious, just like the case of his missing wife. When Jeffries and Thorwald make eye contact for the first time, however, we see their gazes meet through the camera lens. This moment is soon followed by Thorwald entering Jeffries’s apartment where the camera focuses tightly on Thorwald’s blue eyes shining through the lenses of his glasses. This change at the climax of the film from a focus on Thorwald’s being through a camera to a screen filled by his eyes switches the tone of the film from one of general observation to a specific focus and foreshadows a change in the direction of Jeffries’s gaze in the film. From the beginning, the film is set on watching Thorwald’s apartment but, at this crucial moment, every other apartment turns to watch Jeffries’s apartment as he struggles against the murderous Thorwald; he suddenly becomes the object of everyone’s gaze, contrasting how he has spent days spying on them.