Fingers at the Window (1942) User Reviews (32)

Nice cast, led by Ayres and Day

[blanche-2 · 6/10 · 2 August 2010]

Lew Ayres and Laraine Day star in "Fingers at the Window," a 1942 film which also stars Basil Rathbone. An ax murderer is killing people in Chicago, and the police don't have any leads. A young actor, Oliver Duffy (Ayres) suspects that a woman, Edwina (Day) is going to be attacked after he notices her being followed. Oliver attaches himself to her, sees some activity outside of her window, and also notices a problem with her door latch, as if someone was preparing it to break in. He tries to figure out why she has been singled out, but Edwina, being an airhead, can't come up with anything.

Ayres and Day are delightful, having worked together so well in the "Dr. Kildare" series, and Rathbone is terrific as a distinguished doctor. This was Ayres' last film before the war, during which he served as a conscientious objector (he was a medic on the front lines), something very controversial at that time. MGM washed their hands of him and the "Dr. Kildare" series quickly became the "Dr. Gillespie" series. One of the first "Dr. Gillespie" films concerned a man who had lost a limb during the war - MGM was making a point. Ayres made one too, by winning an Oscar nomination for "Johnny Belinda" in 1948.

"Fingers at the Window" is a little silly with some plot holes, but the cast makes it work. Despite its macabre subject matter, it's directed by Charles Lederer with a light touch to mine the humor. Enjoyable.

Engaging B movie.

[rmax304823 · 6/10 · 3 August 2010]

Lew Ayres is an out-of-work actor who stumbles into a plot by the villainous Basil Rathbone to stir up a bunch of apparently random ax murders in Chicago.

Actually there is madness in this method. Rathbone, a doctor himself, has assumed the identity of a famous neurosurgeon from Europe. There are only seven people in this country -- evidently all of them living in Chicago -- who can identify him as a phony. He hypnotizes (or something) people whose names he copied from a patient file in the hospital and sends them out on their lethal journeys.

I don't want to get into this too deeply because (1) it would take too long to explain the details of the plot and (2) the ending has a couple of surprises in it.

Lorraine Day, with whom I was desperately in love as a child, plays someone so dumb in this movie that she deserves a Darwinian Award for her survival. But nobody has ever gushed with surprise so sweetly. (Is that okay, Lorraine, dear?) Lew Ayres, in what is essentially a comic role, is a horse of a different color. He claims to be able to quote poetry. "And all the while the night was haunted by her smile." I Googled this couplet to death and could find nothing, so I'm compelled to believe the writer, Rose Caylor, thought it up herself. It's in the tradition of Byron and the rest and in fact isn't bad. But then there are literary allusions sprinkled throughout the script. A reporter shouts out "Curfew shall not ring tonight," from Rose Hardwick Thorpe's poem of the 1860s. And Ayres introduces himself with an Irish accent as Steven Daedalus, a character from James Joyce's "Ulysses." There are probably other allusions that I missed. They're not important to the plot. They're just insider jokes. If you get them, great. If you miss them, nothing is lost. The Marx Brothers did it all the time.

I imagine Rose Caylor as a relatively recent graduate of USC or someplace, majoring in English Literature, who decided to write a screenplay and had an agent who was cunning enough to sell it. That's rather neat. Nowadays, all the screenplays seem to be written by people with MBAs and follow a particular formula: If a movie made money, let's copy it. To hell with Steve Daedalus. The fourteen-year-olds won't get it. Smacks too much of homework. (Lorraine, sweetheart, wherever you are in plus time and minus space, I hope you don't think I'm being too harsh on the kids.) But, in sum, I have to say that without Rose Craylor's sometimes comic interjection, what we have here is a B movie from the early 1940s. Ax murderers are at large, and Ayres and Day uncover the method behind them. Both performers, and the little-seen Basil Rathbone, do what they're told. It works out okay.

Not quite the chiller it could be

[russjones-80887 · 6/10 · 19 April 2020]

A struggling actor tries to solve a series of murders, which police believe have been committed by a madman, and finds love in the process.

This starts out as a chiller but fails to live up to its early promise. Despite this it's entertaining enough with good performances from Lew Ayres, Laraine Day and Basil Rathbone.

Positive.

[Svengali-2001 · 7 June 2000]

This is a great little film and Lew Ayres is much under-rated as a leading man because of the Kildare series. he has a light touch that is only overpowered by the classic Basil Rathbone who gives even dross a great deal of class. Enjoy.

She Held The Answer To His Confusion So He Axed Her

[atlasmb · 6/10 · 13 October 2014]

I hesitate to call this film a mystery, because the nature of the murders that are plaguing Chicago is known to the viewer from the very beginning. And although it has some traits common to noir, I found the tone of this film to be too light to firmly place it in that genre.

Lew Ayres (as Oliver Duffy) plays an out of work actor who stumbles into a murder plot aimed at Laraine Day (Edwina Brown). She is rather kooky and he seems unable to string two serious lines together. With his help, they capture the axe murderer who attempts to end Laraine's day.

Ayres develops a theory about the nature of the murders, but the police won't listen. They are buffaloed by the hypothesizing of a psychologist--a common theme in the 40s and 50s when audiences seemed intrigued by the mysteries of the human mind and the simple "explanations" that science seemed to offer. For a superior example of this, see "The Bad Seed" from 1956. Hitchcock liked to dabble in these kinds of stories, as in "Spellbound" in 1945.

But this film does have some appeal. And Basil Rathbone, in his role, provides the intensity that was his hallmark.

Dr. Kildare & Nurse Lamont Reunite

[utgard14 · 7/10 · 31 October 2013]

This is a swell little mystery thriller that reunites Lew Ayres and Laraine Day, who played Dr. Kildare and Nurse Lamont respectively in the Dr. Kildare series of movies (which were great, by the way). However, the characters they play here are much different. Ayres plays an easygoing actor turned amateur sleuth and Day plays a pretty, sweet airhead of a woman targeted by a killer or killers. Also starring is the legendary Basil Rathbone, who never did a bad job in a film in his career (prove me wrong!).

This film is a great treat, especially for fans of the Dr. Kildare series and fans of Rathbone. The cast is pleasant and have lots of fun. The story is crisp and moves along at a nice pace. Director Charles Lederer smoothly juggles the mystery, humor, and romance. It's a real pleasure to find such underrated treasures as this.

Axe mentality

[AAdaSC · 6/10 · 8 October 2015]

There is an axe murderer on the loose and Laraine Day (Edwina) is the next target. Lew Ayres (Oliver) provides the romance despite being a bit of a twit.

We get some tense moments at the beginning of the film involving Laraine Day but Lew Ayres has quite a creepy aspect to his character and this isn't helped by the storyline. The story is pretty stupid. For example, Day returns to her apartment after meeting Ayres ONCE and doesn't freak out by the fact the he's waiting inside for her. He's in her apartment FFS! Err….I think most people would be freaked out by that. The plot has dumb moments like that so you have to just watch it without thinking about it. And this includes the ending which seems a bit rushed and devoid of any kind of imagination. We also don't get enough of Basil Rathbone.

My only encounter with an axe murderer came when I hitch-hiked from Hull to Glastonbury in the 1980s. A friend and I got a lift from this aggressive nutter guy in a van who was on his way to a motorbike convention in Wakefield. My friend and I were both terrified of him and were glad to be dropped off at our next stop. Alive. That was proper scary. And he was definitely some kind of biker Hell's Angel weirdo who had done sinister things. He had a collection of axes in the back of his van. Trust me, an axe murderer is terrifying.

Unfortunately, this film went in the wrong direction and chose humour over suspense. Shame. It's OK, though.

Not a bad B film, coulda been much better

[vincentlynch-moonoi · 6/10 · 13 October 2014]

No question...this is a B movie, but a rather entertaining one.

Like many B movies, the script is not fine-tuned. Loose ends abound. There are some plot holes. And it all ends so suddenly. But these issues are forgivable for a B movie.

There is one serious flaw, however. Laraine Day's character is just plain dumb. Why? Why would Lew Ayres fall in love with such a dummy? If they had made her tremendously naive, it would work much better.

Lew Ayres is pretty good as the actor attempting to solve the mystery of who is controlling the axe murderers and save Day. I just finished watching his performance in the Cary Grant film "Holiday", and Ayres was unquestionably underrated as an actor. I can't believe Laraine Day would want to do this film because of the dummy factor, and I feel it made the role unappealing. We don't see Basil Rathbone much until the end of the film; his role is key, but small; nevertheless, his presence is appreciated.

No, it's not a great movie, but it is sort of fun. Wanna just wind down and not think too much...this one is fine for that, and the premise is interesting (if not well developed). Basil Rathbone

Very neat little mystery

[reve-2 · 8/10 · 27 October 2000]

Laraine Day and Lew Ayers always seemed to have great chemistry between them and this picture carries on that tradition. Ayers is an out of work actor who happens to see Day being followed by a man who is carrying an axe. He manages to save her and capture the would-be killer but it's obvious that there will be further attempts on her life. Ayers tries to solve the mystery of why she is being stalked and manages to get himself in trouble both with the law and with the mastermind of the killings. Basil Rathbone does his usual top job in a role that calls for someone who is both suave and has ice water in his veins. The cast is rounded out with many familiar faces of MGM contract players. All in all, a very good mystery with Ayers and Day providing just the right amount of light interplay.

An enjoyable little murder mystery.

[planktonrules · 7/10 · 10 September 2016]

When the film begins, the streets are empty at night and the city is in a panic. This is because several different axe-wielding maniacs have been striking. So far, six folks are dead and six different killers were found at the scene--all catatonic and clearly mentally disturbed. The police, as usual for these sort of films, are rather dim and think the six cases are all unrelated! Well, also as usual with these sort of mystery films, the guy who is really thinking is a civilian (like this is the case in real life!). An out of work actor, Duffy (Lew Ayres) thinks the killings are all being orchestrated by one man. Soon, after stopping one of these killings, Duffy and Edwina (Laraine Brown) begin investigating on their own and the trail soon leads to Dr. Santelle (Basil Rathbone). So what gives?!

There are a lot of the usual clichés in this film and you must suspend disbelief...again typical for most B murder mysteries. Mind control and murder?! Ha! But provided you do suspend disbelief, you'll enjoy yourself because the acting is quite nice, the mystery strange and intriguing and it's far better than most films in the genre.

Their very nature

[bkoganbing · 4/10 · 26 October 2020]

Right from the gitgo we know it is Basil Rathbone as the mastemind behind all these axe murders, The trick is to see how long it takes the Chicago, PD to catch on. Why is he doing this? Why do any of these movie mad scientists do their thing?

In Rathbone's case he's a psychiatrist with a skill in hypnosis. And while we all know that you can't make folks do something against their nature under hypnosis he picks out certified psychotics as subjects and it is there very nature to do such deeds.

He's foiled here by out of work ham actor Lew Ayres and society girl Laraine Day. As Ayres is called on to don a tuxedo through a lot of this film this must have been a part intended for Franchot Tone at some point. Maybe this is why Tone left MGM.

Ayres also was leaving MGM to serve in the Army as a medic. Ayres and Day co-starred in the Dr. Kildare series. Ayres has two narrow escapes from death in this film because he was getting too close to Rathbone.

Rathbone is his usual sinister self and Ayres is breezy and insouciant. But this is not one of MGM's better B films from the studio where even the B fiilms would be As in another studio.

Dr. Kildare in an alternate universe

[AlsExGal · 8/10 · 27 October 2020]

Lew Ayres' career at MGM was destroyed because he was a conscientious objector to WWII. He actually wanted to be admitted into the service as a medic, but because the Army could not guarantee he would not end up a regular soldier, he chose the objector status. Ultimately he was admitted as a medic, but the publicity hurt him and ended his role in the popular Dr. Kildare series of B movies.

MGM decided to try the popular screen team of Ayres and Lorraine Day in an atmospheric murder mystery in completely different roles with Day as dancer Edwina Brown and Ayres as unemployed actor Oliver Duffy.

In Chicago there have been a series of ax murders. In each case the murderer is an insane person and does not know the victim. Police interrogation gets them nowhere. Oliver Duffy sees Edwina walking home late at night and somebody stalking her. At first she thinks Duffy is a masher, but when it is proven she is being followed he escorts her home and stakes out her fire escape. Duffy sees the guy stalking her approach the fire escape but scares him off. The following night he sets a trap and catches the man, with an ax, who like all of the other perpetrators is insane.

The police put Edwina up in a hotel, and as Duffy is saying his goodbyes, notices that an axe used for fires is missing and chases yet another guy with an axe down the stairs. This proves that somebody is deliberately trying to kill Edwina, and that this is no random attack. But the police don't want to listen to Duffy. From the police he learns that all of the attackers have last names that start with the letter B. In the meantime, Edwina seems to be hiding some deep dark secret from Duffy. So what is the motive of whoever it is going to all of this trouble to kill such a seemingly ordinary girl as Edwina by dispatching seemingly random maniacs to kill seemingly random victims? Watch and find out.

This film was extremely well done. I think I would have believed the immediate chemistry between Day and Ayres even if I had not seen any of the Kildare films. It also has some humor in it as Ayres impersonates an insane person to help catch the killer. Unfortunately his rendition is a bit too authentic for one psychiatrist. It's rare to see a film released and made in 1942 not discuss the war at all, yet this one doesn't. It is a pure murder mystery with lots of twists and turns and maybe it stayed out of mentioning the war to help the film since Ayres was out of favor with the public over his draft status.

I highly recommend this one. Not up to the very end do you really understand everything that is going on. What a shame it is not in the Warner Archive so I can buy a copy and see this whenever I want.

a few too many clueless people

[SnoopyStyle · 6/10 · 12 September 2019]

An axe wielding serial killer is on the loose with six murders in Chicago. A shadowy figure pushes a bird seller to kill with an axe. Struggling actor Oliver Duffy (Lew Ayres) notices the suspicious bird seller stalking Edwina Brown (Laraine Day). After more attempts, he suspects someone is targeting her by hypnotizing different people to commit the crimes.

The basic outlandish premise is possible serial killer hunt material. There is a lot of stupidity coming from the police and media. It's much more than the usual trope. It's not the sharpest crime drama but it is better than the standard during that era. Mostly, I like Duffy and I like Edwina despite some cluelessness. Quite frankly, there are a few too many clueless characters in the movie. It actually gets to be funny. Overall, I like this but it's not winning any awards.

Should be labeled as comedy!

[hemisphere65-1 · 4/10 · 7 April 2021]

Under no circumstances is this a horror or noir flick. Melodramatic mystery? Maybe... It's a pretty amusing, ridiculous movie about axe murdering.

The psychoanalytical mumbo-jumbo is funny by itself, but Ayers and. Day are great together.

Neat, little known mystery thriller...

[Doylenf · 14 May 2001]

Any story about an axe murderer on the loose has to be taken seriously--and this one is no exception, especially since it is given some film noir ambience in lighting, sets and photography--and has Basil Rathbone as the master mind of all the villainy.

Laraine Day and Lew Ayres (usually cast in the Dr. Kildare series) are the stars of this well made B-film that played the lower half of double-bills when released in 1942. They both move capably through a story that mixes romance, humor and suspense--although much of what happens stretches credibility a bit. Attempts on Laraine Day's life provide a few genuine thrills in this somewhat creepy tale about an actor (Lew Ayres) and a society girl (Day) on the trail of a serial killer being masterminded by sinister Basil Rathbone who uses hypnotism to carry out his plans.

Although a minor mystery, it has some chilling moments thanks to the intensity of Rathbone's acting and some atmospheric night scenes with the heroine being menaced and stalked on rainy streets by a killer.

This is just one of the films discussed in my career article on LARAINE DAY that appears in the current Spring 2001 issue of FILMS OF THE GOLDEN AGE.

The evil doctor

[lastliberal · 6/10 · 1 August 2010]

Released the same year as Crossroads, and the last film before Rathbone took the mantle of Sherlock Holmes for a long run. (His first Sherlock Holmes was three years earlier.) Oscar nominee (Johnny Belinda) Lew Ayers leads with a ditsy Laraine Day (Nurse Mary Lamont in the Dr. Kildare films with Lew Ayers as Dr. Kildare before Richard Chamberlain made him popular on TV).

Not a great film, but Basil Rathbone was great as the evil doctor who was not crazy, but a simple thief who was trying to cover his tracks.

Those that enjoy Rathbone will not be wasting their time, just to see him again.

Sort of a Scooby Do feeling film

[HEFILM · 6/10 · 6 January 2015]

There are horror and noir elements but the intention is really like earlier, pre Universal Monster films and horror films of the 1930's. The dark elements--well staged and photographed-- are almost instantly blunted by comedy. The premise of multiple murders with an ax is itself almost immediately made fun of by the police in the film so we are never meant to take it seriously.

And the comedy isn't badly done. The two leads are very good, with the "gal" being almost too stupid for today's politically correct society. Aryes especially helps hold the film together and keep it entertaining. Rathbone is fine as the super evil doctor but the reason I'm writing this review is to say this is, at its heart, a comedy more in line with Abbott and Costello's monster comedy movies than in line with any true Horror film or noir films. I suppose CAT AND THE CANARY should be mentioned as being the type film this one aspires to be--though it is not in the same league as that film.

This well directed film does suffer from a case of split personality and the middle of the film probably does become a little to cutesy--though the stars keep it from ever being flat or dull--even when the script loses its sense of balance between elements.

MGM Playing It Safe

[LeonLouisRicci · 6/10 · 15 October 2014]

B-Movie Auteur Charles Lederer was a Stylist that when Given Enough Freedom Could Make some Kinetic and Interesting Low-Budget Entertainments. But that was Not to be in this MGM Movie about a Serial Axe Murderer.

There was No Way the Haughty Studio was Going to Follow Through on that Lurid Premise. Although Things Begin Rather Well as the Director Uses Night Scenes and a Lot of Shadows and Impressions to Start the Tale with Some Creepy Characters and Enough Edginess to Make it Seem as This is Going to be Something Very Off-Beat.

But All Too Soon the Film Slides Downhill to Respectability with Comedic Interplay and a Light Touch. It Picks Back Up in the End, but the Fluff in the Middle has Made this just Another Routine Picture with the Studio's Reputation Intact.

Worth a Watch for the Better Parts, Especially the Noir First Act, but the Disappointing Mediocre Middle Ruins what Could Possibly have Been a Remarkable and Different Film.

In the medical "profession," the nickname for a doctor's diploma is simply . . .

[tadpole-596-918256 · 7/10 · 27 October 2020]

. . . "A License to Kill." (This is why doctors think they can play the role of James Bond against everyone else.) Whereas bakers' errors are known as oval donuts and butchers' goofs are referred to as missing fingers, a doctor's mistakes are merely dismissed as unlucky stiffs, with such callous phrases as "He died on the operating table" and "Nothing could have saved her." FINGERS AT THE WINDOW traces the career of one such nefarious serial killer, the Sociopath Dr. Ferrari. When this homicidal shrink is not busy manipulating his sickest patients into executing his assassination targets with hatchets, he's roaming the night wards doling out lethal injections himself. FINGERS suggests that EVERY certified physician MUST be surrounded by armed detectives at all times, 24/7/365. So-called "Medical Boards" are notorious for NOT revoking the mountains of fill-in-the-blank Death Warrants every doctor is graced with upon graduation. Coupled with each doc's one-size-fits-all hunting license, it's always open season upon normal people. If grouse and trout are protected by game wardens, humans need to have some sort of bodyguards, too!

Efficient, Scary, and Fun

[Handlinghandel · 8/10 · 4 January 2004]

A tidy, direct, edge-of-the seat romantic thriller. Ayres is good, as always, and Day is fine. The other star-billed player is a bit of cheat, as we don't see him till the final 15 minutes or so; but it's OK.

This movie recalls "The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari" and presages "North By northwest": The supposedly crazy, or at least uninformed, people are the good guys; while the bad guy is the one looked up to by the general populace.

fingers at the window

[mossgrymk · 4/10 · 13 March 2021]

Man, take Chas Lederer away from a typewriter, especially one he shares with Ben Hecht, and things proceed to go south in a hurry, huh? Just a whole lotta lackluster with dull, back lot direction, flat dialogue (even the cynical news boys are flat!) and the three leads pretty much phoning it in, esp. Sherlock H. Give it a C minus.

An actor getting involved with a flippant murder victim who has no idea why someone tries to murder her

[clanciai · 8/10 · 28 March 2020]

Lew Ayres is always an interesting actor, while Basil Rathbone always is superior to anyone, but the remarkable thing with this film is the ingenious story. Someone wálks about in the streets in the dark axing people to death, and each time the murderer gets caught but is totally bewildered and has no idea why he has done what - there gradully grows an assembly of demented axe murderers completely lost to reality. Gradually you are notified that they have all been hypnotized to commit these murders, but why would anyone want to hypnotize simple citizens to lose their minds in committing senseless murders? Especially one girl, Laraine Day, seems to be persecuted by one insistent murderer, who constantly fails in the intendded murder, because Lew Ayres steps out of his theatre. He gets it on his mind to solve these mysterious senseless murders and almost ends up a victim himself, as his activities are objected against by a professor Moriarty-kind of villain, a psychiatrist played by Basil Rathbone. Actually ther intrigue here is very close to the standards of Sherlock Holmes, while there is no Doctor Watson here (although numerous other doctors) but only the inquisitive Lew Ayres. There is nothing very special about the film besides the verý inrtriguing plot, it is a rather casual entertainment, but you are bound to think a lot of the story afterwards, as you will never be able to get away from the impression of that fearfully indomtable villain.

Fingers At The Window

[dukeakasmudge · 2/10 · 3 January 2017]

The 1st thing that caught my eye was the movie title.The 2nd was the description.I expected Fingers At The Window to be a horror flick but it wasn't, it was a mystery movie so I was disappointed but I watched it anyway.If I had known it was a mystery movie I probably wouldn't have watched it at all, just because I'm not into mystery movies.Anyways..... I couldn't get into Fingers At The Window.I found it to be a way to waste an hour & 20 minutes.I would've (Maybe) been into it if it were even a suspense movie & even better, a horror flick.After finding out what the movie was really about (A doctor hypnotizes mental patients to commit axe murders) was different from the description I read (An axe murderer is stalking & killing people in Chicago) I truly lost interest.I should have turned it off & watched something else.More horror & less comedy would've made Fingers At The Window a way better movie

Enjoyable, overlooked film.

[youroldpaljim · 22 November 2001]

For years this film used turn up often on television, but always at around three in the morning on "The Late Late Show." I only saw it for the first time recently on video. To my surprise, this film was an enjoyable light comedy thriller. Lew Ayres is delightful as the actor who teams up with show girl Day to solve a series of axe murders. The scene where Ayres feigns insanity to get into the files at a mental hospital is price-less. Basil Rathbone is in top form as the shady doctor who orchestrates the murders. Its odd that this film being an MGM production with a good cast is almost never mentioned in books on horror films, while minor poverty row horrors from the same period have had gallons of ink written about them.

The film did end with a few loose ends. Why does Rathbone choose an axe as the weapon for his subjects to kill his victims? Also, it is never made clear as to how he is able to control his subjects. Does he use hypnosis? Telepathy?

Fingers at the Window

[coltras35 · 8/10 · 3 December 2023]

During a spree of axe murders in Chicago, Oliver (Lew Ayres) sees a sinister figure following Edwina (Laraine Day), and escorts her home. As he keeps watch, Oliver spots the man with an axe and tries to catch him to claim a reward. Oliver pieces things together while falling in love with Edwina and determines that the murders are all related. Going to the police, Oliver manages only to incriminate himself as the authorities don't buy into his theories.

From the beginning of the first reel high suspense, gritty, tense atmosphere is racked up with the camera lingering on the dark and shadowy streets of Chicago, which are deserted. We learn that the populace fears for its life - a serial axe murderer is on the loose. The feeing of dread is really well done.

Then things change a little as Lee Ayres - who looks a bit like Jack Lemmon - appears, helps Laraine Day, who is the axe murderer's next victim - by this time we know that someone is hypnotising someone to do the hacking - and keeps an eye out for the murderer. Things here switches to a light romantic veneer. Some would criticise this but I personally think it's a fine milieu of light and shade. Lee Ayres' chemistry with Laraine Day is appealing, Basil Rathbone is a scene stealer in a short role - its sort of Scooby-dooish, which I love, and quite enjoyable with some fine twist and turns and edge of the seat moments.