How we cite our quotes: All quotations are from Rear Window.
Quote #4
STELLA: What'll you do if one of them catches you?
JEFF: Depends on which one.
So, morality is flexible, right? It's okay to watch if whomever you're watching is a nice guy who won't pummel you when he finds out.
Quote #5
LISA: Sitting around, looking out a window to kill time is one thing, but doing it the way you are with, with binoculars, and with wild opinions about every little movement you see is … is, is diseased!
JEFF: Do you think I consider this recreation?
LISA: I don't know what you consider it—but if you don't stop it, I'm getting out of here.
JEFF: You'd better before you catch the disease!
Rear Window doesn't totally condemn Jeff's voyeurism because it knows we all share it. Witness Lisa, aghast at her boyfriend's proclivities until she, too, becomes hooked on the sordid little drama unfolding before them. Ain't nobody's hands clean here.
Quote #6
DOYLE: Now, don't get me mad! Even a detective can't walk in anybody's apartment and search it. If I were ever caught in there, I'd lose my badge inside of 10 minutes!
JEFF: Just make sure you're not caught. If you find something, you've got a murderer, and nobody will care about a couple of house rules. If you find nothing, he's clear.
DOYLE: At the risk of sounding stuffy, Jeff, I'll remind you of the Constitution and the phrase "search warrant," issued by a judge who knows the Bill of Rights verbatim. He must ask for evidence.
Professionals are bound by laws and codes of ethics that laypersons don't have to worry about. It's morally questionable, but not illegal, for Jeff to take an unusually close interest in his neighbors' activities. Doyle, OTOH, can't just barge in to any apartment he wants just out of curiosity. Probable cause, etc. What a stickler.