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The 1950s were an era of both prosperity and great conflict. After World War II, the United States and the Soviet Union engaged in a series of conflicts collectively known as the Cold War. The Soviet Union began the Space Race with the launch of Sputnik 1, while Fidel Castro became the first Communist leader in the Western hemisphere. The landmark Brown v. Board of Education court decision ruled that racial segregation in public schools was unconstitutional, and the Civil Rights Movement was born. Joseph Stalin died, the Vietnam War began, and Elvis Presley turned rock 'n' roll into the most popular music genre in the world.   (from left to right) Replica of Sputnik 1; Fidel Castro; the Vietnam War; Elvis Presley.   The 1950s changed Hollywood as well. As a result of the introduction of television, studios were desperate to attract audiences back to the theatres and resorted to such exotic techniques as CinemaScope and 3D film. The Cold War era zeitgeist translated into a ren...

This week on «Film Friday» I want to tell you a little but about my favourite Alfred Hitchcock film so far. Coincidentally, this also happens to be the first Hitchcock film I ever saw, as well as the first time I saw James Stewart in colour. Directed by Alfred Hitchcock, Rear Window (1954) follows L.B. «Jeff» Jeffries (James Stewart), a professional photographer confined to his Greenwich Village apartment after breaking his leg while on a job assignment. During a summer heat wave, Jeff passes the time by watching his neighbours from his apartment rear window. He observes a skilled dancer he nicknames «Miss Torso» (Georgine Darcy), a single middle-aged woman he calls «Miss Lonelyhearts» (Judith Evelyn), a couple of lecherous newlyweds (Rand Harper and Havis Davenport), a lonely middle-aged songwriter (Ross Bagdasarian), a female sculptor with a hearing aid (Jesslyn Fax), and Lars Thorwald (Raymond Burr), a travelling jewellery salesman with a bedridden wife.    James Stewar...