Murder Mystery

So the theme for the 2015 Flower Show is...well, still something about the movies and Hollywood but no title has yet been announced. But I can't wait any longer to reveal what I am doing and to hint at what our other exhibitors have up their hardworking sleeves. As you may have read in my blog about the connection between gardens and movies, I think this is a great theme for miniaturists to explore. What gardens, movies, and miniatures have in common is that they tell a story by inviting you to enter a world that is different from your everyday existence. Sound too philosophical for you? It is the basic concept that we have been promoting in Miniature Settings ever since Ron Hoess (the Chair) and I (as Vice-Chair) have been organizers-in-chief. I plan on continuing this theme when I am chair and hope it becomes the basis for all our future work. With that said, I plan on continuing my exploration of Hitchcock landscapes by replicating in fine detail the Greenwich Village courtyard in Rear Window. First a summary of the movie:

L.B. "Jeff" Jeffries is an adventurous photographer who is stuck in his Greenwich Village apartment with a broken leg. Five weeks into his six week confinement, he continues to watch his neighbors through their windows, most of which are open because of the extreme heat. His attention is divided between the little melodramas played out in his neighbors' apartments and his own. Jeff is being pressured by his gorgeous girlfriend Lisa to take a job in the city and give up his travels. His neighbors, in many ways, demonstrate to Jeff what would happen to him if he did this. He watches Miss Torso, a dancer, who is endlessly on the move, especially when she is fighting off suitors. Miss Lonelyhearts, an older single woman, desperately pantomimes having invisible beaus for dinner. A hard-of-hearing Sculptress makes her bizarre creations on her back patio while a childless couple lowers and raises their precious little dog to the yard. A Songwriter struggles with his compositions while Newlyweds right next door keep their shades closed most of the time. The most intriguing neighbors become the traveling salesman, Lars Thorwald, and his bedridden and nagging wife, Anna. After an argument that Jeff witnesses, the wife disappears when he is asleep and while Jeff suspects foul play, it takes a while to convince others of this idea. It isn't until the little dog who digs in Thorwald's garden is strangled that Jeff's girlfriend and his nurse begin to believe him.

  The movie lends itself perfectly to the intersection of gardens and movies. Each window of "Jeff" Jeffries neighbors displays a mini-movie that in many ways comments on the murder mystery. And it is Thorwald's garden that finally gives him away. Some of the characters:

MISS TORSO

MISS LONELYHEARTS

THE SCULPTRESS

THE SONGWRITER

THE NEWLYWEDS

THE COUPLE WHO HAVE THE LITTLE DOG AND SLEEP ON THE FIRE ESCAPE

THORWALD AND HIS WIFE

THORWALD AND THE DOG IN THE GARDEN

  My intent will be something like this:

Lars Thorwald: traveling salesman, gardener, and murderer? That’s what photographer “Jeff” Jeffries thinks as he watches the melodramas played out in his neighbors’ windows, including the sudden disappearance of Thorwald’s nagging wife. What’s in that trunk in Thorwald’s apartment? And why is that little dog digging in Thorwald’s garden?