Following a chance meeting with a beautiful young woman, a forty-something professor unwittingly becomes involved in murder and blackmail while his family is away on vacation. Robinson is wonderful as always as the professor who is in over his head because of a moment's indiscretion. Bennett looks stunningly beautiful as the kind of woman who can lead any man astray. Duryea is appropriately slimy as a blackmailer. Lang is at the top of his form in this atmospheric and efficiently made film noir. Some feel cheated by the ending but it is actually quite clever. Interestingly enough, Lang reunited with Robinson, Bennett, and Duryea in his next film, "Scarlet Street."
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kenjha19 August 2007
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The_Void2 February 2006There's no doubting that Fritz Lang made his best films in his native Germany - the masterpieces 'M' and 'Metropolis' ensure that without the need to mention the likes of Doctor Mabuse; but even so, his American films have some gems - and this quality film noir thriller is certainly one of them. Made with the same cast as Fritz Lang's later 'Scarlet Street', The Woman in the Window is a tale of lust and money, wrapped up in the idea of how life becomes less exciting as you approach middle age. Professor Richard Wanley is a middle-aged man bored with how life is treating him. This boredom is soon to dissipate, however, when he and his friends become obsessed with the portrait of a woman in a shop window. On his way home one night, Richard meets this woman purely by chance and ends up going back to her apartment to look at more artist impressions of her. This ends in tragedy, when her boyfriend comes knocking, and ends up discovering our hero in his girl's apartment! A struggle ensues and the boyfriend ends up dead...Richard agrees to hide the body in order to keep the pair of them from spending time behind bars.
Many of the ideas later used in Scarlet Street are present here too, and in that respect; The Woman in the Window serves as an interesting prelude to the later film. The film analyses a murder from the moral point of view, rather than being purely for profit. This idea was better realised by Lang later the same year in the aforementioned noir classic, but through it's inspired plotting and unpredictable atmosphere; The Woman in the Window analyses the same idea in a slightly different way. The cast is put to good use, with the great Edward G. Robinson doing a fine job with the lead role. He portrays his character admirably, and the scenes where the finger of suspicion drifts over him sees Robinson at his best. Joan Bennett plays his female counterpart. This beautiful woman is great as the heroine, and it's her performance that gives the film that golden Hollywood feel. The ending is one that could easily have gone wrong, but Lang makes good of it, and it actually makes sense of little nuisances, such as the fact that Robinson is allowed to accompany his policeman friend to a murder scene early on in the film. I would rate Scarlet Street as the must see film of the pair; but if you enjoyed that one, there's no reason why this one shouldn't go down well also. -
robfollower1 December 2018Edward G. Robinson stars as a happily married psychology professor whose wife and child are away on summer vacation. After discussing with his friends the likelihood that any man can be driven to murder, Robinson strolls by a shop window, where stands a full-length portrait of a beautiful woman. He turns to find the selfsame woman (Joan Bennett) standing beside him...and before the night is over, he has killed the woman's lover in self-defense. Thus begins weaving an increasing tangled web involving Robinson, the woman, and a seedy blackmailer (Dan Duryea). Based on J. H. Wallis' novel Once Off Guard, The Woman in the Window gives us our money's worth with not one but two logical and satisfying surprise twists at the end.
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apocalypse later18 April 2000This wonderfully entertaining "film noir" by master director Fritz Lang is a curiosity, defying all of our expectations as a viewer and basically subverting the "noir" genre barely before it had gotten started. The dark shadows, the femme fatale, the harboiled detectives, the murder... all the elements are in place for a typical outing, but when all is said and done, look back at the motivations, the events, even the "femme", and what we have is not a world of evil (the typical "noir" stance) but a world of innocence darkened by a few petty thugs. Like the more obviously subversive (and equally wonderful) "Kiss Me Deadly" fifteen years later, "The Woman in the Window" seems to say that evil only lives when people look hard enough for it - practically a "film noir" rebuttal. As in "M" and "Fury," Lang (a refugee from the Nazi regime) once again examines issues of social evil in ways more complex than any of his contemporaries. Enjoy "The Woman in the Window." The cast is impeccable, the writing a delight, the direction peerless, the music score years ahead of its time. A small feast.
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Ted-10124 February 2001This film puts forward the theory that all middle-aged men are destined to "play-the-sap" for young women, and since it must come to pass, it is prudent to do so in ones fantasies, not in reality. It's a blast listening to Prof. Wanley, (Edward G. Robinson), District Attorney Frank Loler, (Raymond Massey), and Dr. Barkstane, (Edmund Breon), all in their late 40's to late 50's, talking about young women as though they were living bomb-shells. Why, if a middle-aged man gets within 30 feet of a pretty young woman, she could mesmerize him with a glance, make him give her all his possessions for a single kiss, and of course, eventually destroy him completely...with one hand tied behind her back. Indeed, Edmund Breon, who played a middle-aged music box collector in the excellent Rathbone/Sherlock Holmes film, "Dressed To Kill", fell under the thrall of beautiful villainess Patricia Morison in that film, and paid with his life. What got our brave trio talking about young women in the first place is the compelling painting of a beautiful young woman in an art gallery window, which is next store to their club. They all fell in love with her at first sight, with Robinson the last to see it, and the last to have his heart pierced. Massey and Breon are watching him, and start giving Robinson the needle. "We saw her first, so you stay out of it."
It is Robinson's destiny to meet the woman in the portrait, Alice Reed, played wonderfully by Joan Bennett. Of course he's wary, and full of reservations at this chance meeting. To his credit, he doesn't make a fool out of himself, and Bennett genuinely seems to like him. What Robinson does so effectively in this film is convey very subtly, that he can never really quite accept even the possibility that he could hold this beautiful woman's attention, no matter how charming or interesting he really is. It's never stated but implied, that he thinks she's doing him a favor by making friends with him.
Of course, this encounter leads to trouble, very serious trouble, and the "Woman In The Window" ventures into the dark waters of blackmail and murder. District Attorney Lalor (Massey) is in charge of the case, making things even more intriguing. It is a compelling film, and Robinson & Bennett are superb in their scenes together. I'll leave you to discover just what kind of woman the mysterious Alice Reed turns out to be. This is a very interesting and enjoyable film. -
Keedee25 November 2000This one was a true nail biter. I was on the edge of my seat the entire time. Mr. Robinson's performance was believable and Ms. Bennet was beautiful and just as realistic as two people desperate to cover up a crime. This is a film that I highly recommend. It's suspenseful and dramatic. I felt as though I was on a roller coaster ride and couldn't get off. In short, I was a nervous wreck wondering how this film would play out. I highly recommend this one. I almost passed it by but I am eternally grateful that I didn't. Rent it, buy it, but by all means, watch it!!
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Woman in the Window (1944)
A methodical movie about a methodical cover-up. Edgar G. Robinson is the perfect actor for a steady, rational man having to face the crisis of a murder, and Fritz Lang, who has directed murderousness before, knows also about darkness and fear. There are no flaws in the reasoning, and if there is a flaw to the movie, it is it's very methodical perfection. Even the flaws are perfect, the mistakes made and how they are shown.
We all at one time or another get away with something, large or small. And this law-abiding man finds himself trapped. He has to succeed, and you think he might. Part of me kept saying, I wouldn't do that, or don't be a fool. But part of me said, it's inevitable, he'll fail, we all would fail. So the movie moves with a steady thoughtful pace. It talks a lot for an American crime film, but it also has the best of night scenes--rainy streets with gleaming dark streets, hallways with glass windows and harsh light, and dark woods (for the body, of course). But there are dull moments, some odd qualities like streets with no parked cars at all, and a leading woman who is a restrained femme fatale, which isn't the best. And then there are twists and suspicions, dodges and subterfuges. And of course Dan Duryea, who makes a great small-time chiseler. -
finemot2 January 2000It's hard to tell which element of "The Woman in the Window" (1944) contributes most to its excellence: script, direction, casting, performances, lighting, cinematography, scoring. So, it's probably safe to say, "All of the above!" "TWITW" introduces us to Assoc. Prof. Richard Wanley (Edward G. Robinson) of Gotham College, who has just seen his wife and two kids (young Robert Blake is "Dickie" Wanley) off for a two week summer vacation. Just prior to entering his men's club, he is captivated by the portrait of a beautiful woman in the display window of a neighboring storefront. His club member friends, District Attorney Frank Lalor (Raymond Massey) and surgeon Dr. Barkstane (Edmond Breon) notice him staring at the portrait and indulge the temporary "bachelor professor" in some good-natured ribbing before the three enter the club for drinks and conversation. As the evenings winds down, the doctor having subscribed some medication for Prof. Wanley who has complained of fatigue, the colleagues leave. Prof. Wanley asks for a 10:30 PM call in the event that he dozes off while reading in his club chair. Upon leaving the club, Wanley again stops at the portrait; and standing behind him is the model, Alice Reed (Joan Bennett), who posed for the artist. She admits that she frequently comes to the spot to check out people's rections to the painting. The small talk leads the two to an innocent drink at a club followed by a visit to her sumptuous apartment, where she shows Wanley other sketches by the artist.
The intrusion of an insanely jealous lover leads to struggle, murder (in self-defense) and a quandary: How do two non-merderous strangers go about covering up a murder, disposing of a body (a large one), and manage to trust eachother in the process? The body turns out to be the type of man who warrants headlines. Wanley's friendship with the D. A. gets him invited on a "field trip" to the spot where the body was found. Here we meet the Chief Inspector, beautifully portrayed by Thomas E. Jackson). Through a series of delightfully handled mishaps, the gentle professor manages to exhibit elements about himself which would conspire to make him a prime suspect had the very prospect not been so ludicrous. A sleazy, but extremely clever blackmailer (Dan Duryea) is introduced. How he becomes involved, we'll leave unsaid, so as not to spoil some of the film's outstanding storytelling. The characters are three dimensional. Massey, as the D. A. is both a condescending stuffed-shirt and a caring friend. Jackson, as the Inspector is superbly understated, an affable exterior housing a brilliant mind for detection. Bennett and Duryea are both fine, although some of the dialog between them could easily have been cut to the improvement of the film overall. Robinson is excellent as the unassuming, bright but vulnerable professor. The Nunnally Johnson-Arthur Lange script is right-on, with the noted exceptions. Director Fritz Lang has created a taut, superb suspense tale. "The Woman in the Window" could easily have had either of two endings, one tragically ironic, one concocted to satisfy audiences in search of more delectably amusing resolution. I'll never tell. This film deserves any healthy debate about its ending every bit as much now, in the year 2000, as it did during its first release in 1944. -
ccthemovieman-118 September 2006I would have rated this higher except I don't like endings where the whole story turns out to be nothing but a dream. That is unfair to any viewer and it also discouraged me from ever watching this again.
Until then, it was quite good, almost like a Columbo television episode where you know the person who committed the crime early and and then see how the police unravel the mystery, much to the disdain and paranoia of the guilty culprit. In this case, it was two culprits: played by Edward G. Robinson and Joan Bennett. The story gets better as it goes on with some realistic characters.
Dan Duryea adds a lot of spark to the story, as the blackmailing bodyguard. He's fun to watch, which is not a surprise if you've seen him other films. -
The Woman in the Window is directed by Fritz Lang and adapted by Nunnally Johnson from the novel "Once off Guard" written by J.H. Wallis. It stars Edward G. Robinson, Joan Bennett, Raymond Massey & Dan Duryea. Music is by Arthur Lange and Milton R. Krasner is the cinematographer.
After admiring a portrait of Alice Reed (Bennett) in the storefront window of the shop next to his Gentleman's Club, Professor Richard Wanley (Robinson) is shocked to actually meet her in person on the street. It's a meeting that leads to a killing, recrimination and blackmail.
Time has shown The Woman in the Window to be one of the most significant movies in the film noir cycle. It was part of the original group identified by Cahiers du Cinéma that formed the cornerstone of film noir (the others were The Maltese Falcon, Double Indemnity, Laura and Murder My Sweet). Its reputation set in stone, it's a film that boasts many of the key noir ingredients: man meets woman and finds his life flipped upside down, shifty characters, a killing, shadows and low lights, and of course an atmosphere thick with suspense. Yet the ending to this day is divisive and, depending what side of the camp you side with, it makes the film either a high rank classic noir or a nearly high rank classic noir. Personally it bothers me does the finale, it comes off as something that Rod Serling could have used on The Twilight Zone but decided to discard. No doubt to my mind that had Lang put in the ending from the source, this would be a 10/10 movie, for everything else in it is top draw stuff.
At its core the film is about the dangers of stepping out of the normal, a peril of wish fulfilment in middle age, with Lang gleefully smothering the themes with the onset of a devilish fate and the stark warning that being caught just "once off guard" can doom you to the unthinkable. There's even the odd Freudian interpretation to sample. All of which is aided by the excellent work of Krasner, who along with his director paints a shadowy world consisting of mirrors, clocks and Venetian blinds. The cast are very strong, strong enough in fact for Robinson, Bennett and Duryea to re-team with Lang the following year for the similar, but better, Scarlet Street, while Lang's direction doesn't miss a beat.
A great film regardless of the Production Code appeasing ending, with its importance in the pantheon of film noir well deserved. But you sense that watching it as a companion piece to Scarlet Street, that Lang finally made the film that this sort of story deserved. The Woman in the Window: essential but not essentially the best of its type. 8/10 -
Edward G. and Joan Bennett star in a noirish crime drama that feels almost surreal (with god reason, as the ending makes plain). Robinson is a staid professor whose family is off on a weekend jaunt. He meets an alluring woman who invites him to he apartment for "drinks and." When her psycho boyfriend unexpectedly shows up, the prof ends up killing him during a scuffle. To protect himself and the gal, he gets rid of the body. Then the fun really starts. Edward G. is at the top of his form here, and Bennett is sexy and ever so slightly tawdry, even fully clothed. The ending, which has been used or misused in many movies before and since, here works beautifully. I am surprised I had never seen this particular melodrama until now. I am no spring chicken, and used to be a film critic, to boot.
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clive-382 December 2000"Woman in the Window" is one of my favourite Hollywood films of the forties and is in fact included in my "Top Ten" movies of all time. Expertly directed by Fritz Lang and starring Edward G. Robinson, the delectable Joan Bennett in a wonderfully seductive performance, and the sinister Dan Duryea it has a fascinating storyline, some outstanding acting and a "twist in the tale". Robinson is respectable Professor Richard Wanley (married with children) whose family are away on holiday. Admiring the painting of a woman in the window of an art gallery near his club he is surprised (and pleased) to see the attractive model (Joan Bennett) standing right next to him. She explains that she often comes along to the gallery to "watch people's faces" when they look at her painting and see how they react. After a few minutes conversation Robinson reluctantly escorts Bennett back to her apartment and the events which ensue lead to murder, blackmail, hardship and deep torment for Robinson whose neat well organised life is thrown into turmoil and disarray. Robinson's friend Frank Lalor (Raymond Massey) is the District Attorney investigating the murder which ironically for Robinson causes him even further complications and gets him unwittingly drawn deeper and deeper into the murder inquiry. Just when it seems that things could not get any worse for Robinson there is a magnificent twist at the end of the movie which comes as a total surprise!!
Some favourite lines from the film:
Joan Bennett (to Robinson): "I'm not married. I have no designs on you and one drink is all I care for".
Robinson (to Bennett): "I should never have stopped to talk with you - I should never never have come here to drink with you". Bennett (to Robinson): "Never?".
Raymond Massey (to Robinson): "It's all right Richard - don't get excited. We rarely arrest people just for knowing where the body was".
Bennett (to Dan Duryea): "Are you nuts? I haven't got $5,000 and there isn't any guy to get it from so you may as well go right along to the police and tell them whatever you wish!".
Although Edward G. Robinson was not the typical leading man type he could always be relied upon to give a good performance and in "Woman in the Window" he was at his very best!! 10 out of 10 for acting, direction, screenplay and photography. The only Oscar nomination this film received was for "best score" which was in my opinion an oversight as I believe in retrospect that both Robinson and Bennett clearly desrved to be nominated for their acting. If you enjoy this film be sure to see "Scarlet Street" (1945) which is another classic "film noir" thriller featuring the same three leading players and with Fritz Lang once again as director. Clive Roberts. -
gnrz31 July 1999This is a movie that does a superb job of building suspense. It has wonderful actors such as E. G. Robinson, Joan Bennett, Raymond Massey, Dan Duryea and other fine supporting actors who work hard at telling a great story. The brilliant musical score helps tell the story and convey the suspense. BUT, after about 95 minutes of brilliance, the movie is ruined by a cop-out, cliche type of ending. Very disappointing. The fine actors who were in this film and the audiences both in the theatres and on TV deserved much more than this "dumb" finale.......
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Cheetah-620 November 2001Never have I seen such a throughly good movie so completely destroyed by the ending. It's hard to think of a worse cop out ending than this.
Up until then this one really had me intrigued. Edward G. Robinson was a pleasure to watch, the cinematography great, it is classic film noir. A rating of 9 without that ending, down to a 4 with. Too bad. -
Lechuguilla6 April 2009The lead character, Richard Wanley (Edward G. Robinson), is a middle-age absent-minded professor who teaches a course in crime. For relaxation he meets with two other middle-age men for drinks and academic conversation. Surrounded by books and dim light, the three men talk about how stodgy their lives are, how averse they are to adventure, and how alluring the woman is whose portrait they see in a nearby shop's window.
Says Richard to his two friends: "you know, even if the spirit of adventure should rise up before me and beckon, even in the form of that alluring young woman in the window next door, I'm afraid all I'd do is clutch my coat a little tighter, mutter something idiotic, and run like the devil."
This story setup, with quiet, reflective, sedentary characters, gives the film's surprise ending credibility. With a different setup, with different characters, the film's ending, as is, would be an act of creative malfeasance. But here, it works.
And Richard's excellent adventure is spellbinding. Tension is maximized because we, as viewers, are put directly in the point of view of Richard and his predicament. What would we do in such a situation? How would we react?
I wouldn't have cast Edward G. Robinson in the lead role. But he certainly does a nice job. So does Joan Bennett, as the woman in the window. The film's plot is tight, except in the second half, in a couple of sequences involving a blackmailer.
"The Woman In The Window" is a clever, well-written, character driven story about a man whose infatuation with a beautiful woman's portrait drives him into a dangerous adventure. Once the viewer has seen the ending, the power of the plot vanishes. But even then, that ending is still thought-provoking. -
Michael-1101 April 1999This gripping suspense thriller involves a man (Edward G. Robinson) and woman (Joan Bennett) who barely know each other conspiring to cover up a murder which threatens to destroy their lives. Robinson is an aging college professor of criminal justice who thinks there is no adventure left in his life anymore; Bennett is a mysterious and beautiful model. Fritz Lang's brilliant direction and a stunning musical score build the suspense incredibly. However, this superb film is spoiled by a trivializing happy ending, probably imposed on Lang by studio hacks. In all other respects, it is a triumph of film making.
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Sleepin_Dragon22 August 2020This is a wonderful film noire, a real late night treat, the story may seem a little run of the mill, but there are many twists, turns and red herrings to throw you off, and keep your interest.
The acting is great, Joan Bennett as always is terrific, Edward G Robinson was prolific, and never disappointed.
It moves along quickly, and is never boring at any point. The obvious love or hate moment comes at the end, personally I don't love it, but you must realise it was 1944, the world was at war, people wanted to leave the cinema with a smile on their face, it did make me smile, of course it would never be a tool used nowadays, but things were so different in 1944.
Thoroughly enjoyed it. 9/10. -
SPOILERS** Fritz Lang had a reputation for stalking around the set barking orders through a megaphone, wearing breeches and riding boots and a monacle, the last of the great cartoons. At least he got the job done. "Woman in the Window" is pretty good noirish stuff. I say "noir-ish" because it's missing one of the principal icons of the genre -- the black snub-nosed .38 revolver. In it's conventional place we have some of Fritz Lang's ideosyncratic icons -- straw hats, mirrors, and scissors.
Robinson leads a rather stodgy life as an assistant professor at Gotham College. (Who is promoted to department head during the film. How do you do that?) He periodically gets together with two friends for dinner at his club, a doctor and the district attorney, Raymond Massey. One night after leaving the club he runs into Joan Bennett and accepts an invitation to her apartment. An enraged man rushes in and begins strangling Robinson who must stab him repeatedly with a pair of scissors in order to save his own life. Robinson and Bennett then weave the proverbial tangled web. Robinson disposes of the body in some woods north of New York. I should say "a densely wooded area" because that's where all dead bodies are found, including this one, by a Boy Scout who promises that if he gets the reward he will use the money to send his kid brother to Harvard and he himself will go to a GOOD college. (The script by Nunnally Johnson is intelligent and witty, one of the movie's better features.) The story is a big improvement over that of its companion piece, "Scarlet Street," if only because in the latter Robinson had to be an undiscovered genius in painting still lifes. And the paintings we see are sidesplittingly absurd. The acting and the ending in "Woman in the Window" also deserve a comment.
Robinson had more range than he's usually given credit for. One watches him in "Little Caesar," chewing the scenery, snarling, strutting, grinning idiotically, and the image is stamped on one's brain. But he could do other things as well, and sometimes quite nicely too. His last performance, in "Soylent Green," was one of his best. Joan Bennett was a competent actress, no more than that. She's not much of a femme fatale here, just ordinarily pretty. She lacks the kind of glandular ooze that someone like Gloria Grahame might have brought to the part. Raymond Massey is likewise professional. It's interesting to watch his expression change from scene to scene as he grows more suspicious of Robinson. Each time Robinson takes a step or opens his mouth he seems to drip more clues, and Massey picks up on each one, so that if his friendship with Robinson begins with a smile, it ends with a thoughtful frown. Dan Duryea is a slimier, venomous version of Bob Fosse in both appearance and movement, reed slender and sinister all the way.
The ending. It seems contrived and tacked on. It's as if someone had tapped the producers on the shoulder half-way through shooting and said you've only got ten minutes left to finish the film. So a minute after leaving Bennett's apartment, with his financial future fixed up and no charges against him, Duryea the blackmailer is told to stop by a policeman, pulls out a gun and starts shooting. The clock must have been ticking because this is completely unmotivated. It does serve the broader purpose of the story however in introducing irony. Duryea seems to have brought ruin to Robinson's life. And by the time of the shootout Robinson has already taken an overdose of something or other and is dozing off into the big sleep without knowing that his suicide is now unnecessary. (It's kind of complicated, I know, but I don't want to take up too much space except to explain that the murder committed by Robinson has now been pinned on the dead Duryea.)
But -- wait! There is a high-key closeup of Robinson's face going slack and slumping to the side. Is he dead? No -- he's asleep! A hand enters the frame and touches him on the shoulder, and someone says, "Professor, it's ten thirty." He'd fallen asleep in his chair at the club! Perhaps borrowing from "The Wizard of Oz," a shaken Robinson retrieves his coat from the man he murdered and says good-night to Duryea, the hotel doorman, before walking down the late-night street. He peers at the portrait in the window that started the whole business and a tarty woman's face appears in the reflection. She asks him for a light and he runs off, protesting, "Not on your life. Not for a million dollars!"
It's easy to make fun of a movie like this but it's actually kind of neat. Robinson is no crafty villain, and Joan Bennett appears to be an honest whore, less innocent than he but not at all evil. Everything they do is out of desperation. One feels sorry for both of them, especially Robinson who seems never to have had an impure thought. I didn't even mind the it-was-only-a-dream ending. Sure it's been done before, but it permits the film to end on a comic note, which comes as a relief after all the drama and suspense that has preceded it. Well worth watching. -
Qanqor10 May 2009I just finished watching this film, and quite thoroughly enjoyed it. I won't reiterate what's already been said by many about its strengths. I just want to offer a different opinion on the ending (without actually divulging any of the content of the ending).
I liked the ending. It took my by surprise, and I think, all in all, fit very very well with the way the movie laid itself out. But I can understand why some people might not like it. But to such people I would point out: the ending is almost optional. Because of the way it's structured, you can, if you choose and prefer, basically just ignore the ending, and treat the movie as finished at the point you believe it ought to have been. Rather the way one watches an episode of Alfred Hitchcock Presents, and then rather ignores Hitchcock's final explanation of how the killer eventually got caught.
I don't want to say too much more because I really don't want to spoil the film for anyone who hasn't seen it. I thought it was excellent. -
This is a Film-Noir that is Best to Know as Little as Possible before Watching. So be Cautioned and Research at Your Own Risk.
No Spoilers Here......But Most Reviews give away the Ending...So beware.
Suspenseful Psychological-Sexual Noir Entry from Lang with a Cast of Edward G. Robinson, Joan Bennett, and Dan Duryea. All Three will Team Up Again a Year Later with another Seminal Film-Noir "Scarlet Street".
This is Arguably the Lesser of the Two but Both Pack quite a Wallop. In this one Middle-Aged Robinson is left Alone while His Wife and Kids Vacation and the Libido Takes Over as He Muses about a Decline in said Activity over Drinks with Friends.
What Happens is a Nightmare that is Pure Noir. He Innocently Allows Himself to be Lured to an "Unspeakable" Lair of a Street-Walking Beauty and Murder and Blackmail are Waiting in the Shadows.
The Film is Full of Freudian Symbolism and that Eerie Expressionism that Lang Loves.
The Tension Never Let's Up as Robinson and Bennett try and Outwit the Police and a Blackmailing Duryea.
The Ending has been Criticized as a Cop-Out.
Check Out this Excellent Production from All Involved and You Decide. -
bmacv28 March 2004The catastrophe just around the corner is the premise for Fritz Lang's first unabashed film noir. Settling stuffily into middle age, Edward G. Robinson lectures on criminal psychology at Gotham University (est. 1828). One morning he packs his wife and kids onto the train for a summer in Maine, then repairs to his club for dinner, a brandy or two, and a comfortable snooze in a wing-chair.
A portrait in a gallery next door had caught his attention, however, so before heading home he gives it a second glance. Suddenly its beautiful subject (Joan Bennett) looms up behind him, reflected in the glass. They flirt rather formally, stop for a drink, then head back to her apartment under the pretext of viewing more of the artist's work she'd posed for. Suddenly a man Bennett has seeing on the sly with barges in and, enraged, tries to throttle Robinson, who stabs him with scissors. And suddenly Robinson's complacent life lies in shards.
He decides, for the sake of his and Bennett's reputations, to dump the body along a stretch of rural road upstate, then part ways forever with this woman from the window. But, far from a nobody, the murdered man turns out to be a wealthy developer, whose death claims headlines. And his bodyguard (Dan Duryea) pays a visit to Bennett, to blackmail her.
A shrewd and cultivated man caught in the vise of circumstance, Robinson proves his own worst enemy. When fellow club member Raymond Massey, a police inspector, chats casually about the crime, Robinson blurts out details that only the killer could have known. And as the jaws of the vise squeeze ever more tightly, Robinson devises ever more desperate stratagems to hide his guilt and protect Bennett...
While Robinson proves reliably expert, Bennett invests her part with a reserved, almost remote, air that lends to the uncertainty. Her cool contralto beckons, but she plays hard to get. Her arrangements with her dead paramour suggest something sordid but she's not quite the tramp she would be the following year in Scarlet Street (again opposite Robinson and under Lang).
The sure-footed Lang simply uses a public clock down the street from Bennett's brownstone to log in a precise chronology of the fateful night. That befits a plot which leans toward the clockwork, but plausibly so. Or rather, does until just its last few minutes. For all intents and purposes, the movie ends, convincingly and satisfyingly, with Robinson slumped in a chair, clutching a drained glass. But MGM wasn't yet ready for the uncompromising vision of the emergent noir cycle, and must have recoiled in horror. So a whimsical wrap-up was hastily grafted on. Some would argue that, in consequence, the movie falls into the valid subcategory of `oneiric' noir. Others would argue that it's just a craven cop-out, at cross purposes with all that's gone before. Luckily, The Woman in the Window displays enough artistry and integrity that it really doesn't matter all that much either way. -
It was going so well. And instead I end with a very divided opinion.
As very unassuming as it begins, it doesn't take long for the story to begin to spiral out of control for the characters. One desperate, ill-thought decision opens the door to the remainder of the tale - although, for as untrustworthy as the criminal justice system proves itself to be time and again, maybe it's not so ill-thought after all. Film noir has a very common look and feel, with distinctive elements, and in many regards this may not completely stand out from its brethren. Yet as one should well expect from a master like Fritz Lang, there's an underhanded subtlety to the proceedings that's rich and welcoming, helping 'The woman in the window' to make its own soft mark after all as we sit to watch.
Every component is rife with terrific detail that helps to inculcate significant, lasting suspense. Something as small as a clock seen in the background, showing the passage of time, readily comes to attention, nevermind tactful application of light and shadow. Milton R. Krasner's cinematography is sharp and vivid, warmly enriching the picture with every smart movement; the uneasy, surprisingly varied themes in Arthur Lange's score lend unmistakable ambience, heightening the tension at all times. Alongside Krasner, Lang orchestrates shots and scenes with marvelously delicate visual clues that further the bristling airs all the more. Even the dialogue and scene writing in Nunnally Johnson's screenplay is a twisted combination of smooth, subdued, and pointedly menacing - either with the direct intent of the characters on hand, or with unwitting incidence given the plight of our two chief figures. As the feature climbs toward its climax, still the course of events are kept at a steady boil, letting pressure build and build toward an enormous release. I'd be flatly lying if I said I weren't impressed.
Mind you, superb as all these factors are, it also seems like they're but the framework for the excellent performances of the stars. Edward G. Robinson isn't a name that leaps out to modern viewers like some of his contemporaries, yet he was capable of such tremendous range and nuance, and he bears the nervous disposition of protagonist Richard with an ease that allows him to disappear into the professor. Joan Bennett, likewise, slips into troubled Alice with a depth of poise and personality that's electrifying, to the point that I immediately want to find more of her work to watch. Relegated to a smaller supporting part in the latter half, Dan Duryea nonetheless makes a huge mark as Heidt, entering the scenario with wretched smarm that's instantly repulsing.
All this is well and good, to say nothing of splendid production design, art direction, costume design, hair and makeup, and so on. I was prepared to say that, though this may not be a critical must-see, for anyone who appreciates the genre it's well worth checking out. That's still mostly true - but then comes the ending. That pressure that was building and building doesn't get a release after all; the film just turns off the heat, and the pressure goes away. The tale concludes with the employment of a trope that I hate more than any other in all of storytelling. The resolution could have been utterly gripping, unforgivingly dark, and a major pinnacle of suspense, and instead I found myself yelling in despairing disbelief as the biggest cop-out in fiction, that is very rarely used in a meaningful way, rears its head once again. It almost feels like this was a question of censorship, as though the real, best ending was suppressed for being too bleak, thereby requiring rewrites and reshoots. One can whip up apologetics for the movie As Is, sure, but that doesn't change the fact that the ending frankly just kind of drops the ball.
I was prepared to lavish praise upon 'The woman in the window' for how stupendously it crafts its exquisite absorbing, understated thrills. I certainly still think Lang and all others involved deserve great credit for exactly that. My overall esteem for the film takes a dire hit when it matters most, however, and the lingering taste I have in my mouth is not one I prefer to recall. I suppose this is still deserving and a fine watch if you happen to come across it, but the free-fall in the last minutes, from "perfection" to "oh no," is precipitous. Oh well. -
csmith-9961520 January 2021I get tired of saying "Why can't they make movies like this anymore?" This movie had eluded me for 60 years or so. When I finally watched it I was thoroughly enthralled. What a great story and great acting. Very fast paced and not a single unnecessary scene. A little under the radar but well worth seeking out. Some reviewers didn't like the ending. I LOV3D IT !!
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Interesting film is marred by the ending. While others find the ending to be an unusual twist, I found it to be a cop-out.
Ed G. Robinson is a college professor who becomes directly involved in a murder after meeting the woman whose picture he becomes enamored with while staring at a window.
The professor is an amateur at crime as we see by the mistakes he makes and we are amazed at the ability of the police, led by Raymond Massey, in picking up clues. You would think for sure that Robinson and Joan Bennett, the woman he kills for, would be found out at the end.
There is a slick blackmailer who knows all the angles. It appears that Robinson and Bennett are done for and there is nothing left for Robinson to do but to commit suicide. Voila! The dream sequence ends. See Robinson run down the street like a frightened kitten when a woman asks him for a light. Come on. This could have been a thriller of a murder film. It is simply done in by the cop out ending.
Even Dorothy upon waking up in Oz would have been annoyed with this. -
Overrated film-noir from revered director Fritz Lang, an adaptation by Nunnally Johnson from J.H. Wallis' book "Once Off Guard", has Edward G. Robinson playing a college professor and family man who becomes involved in a murder, desperately hoping to cover his tracks before the police close in. The cop-out ending aside, Johnson's screenplay is full of holes, silly characters and theatrics. The campus atmosphere should have been something we could relate to, but it doesn't resemble American academia at all, more like Hollywood, U.S.A. A real let-down, though Milton Krasner's cinematography isn't to blame. Lang's direction is weak, and Robinson is woefully miscast. Joan Bennett and Dan Duryea are not much better in smaller roles. *1/2 from ****