The Woman in the Window

source: The Woman in the Window

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

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.

I have to disagree with all the people who say that the ending spoils the whole movie. In my opinion, it is just the opposite: the end makes the whole film much better. First of all, it is the only way to make the whole thing realistic. Is it possible to believe that a professor -supposed to be an intelligent person- would react to a murder in the way he does, i.e., getting rid of the body, when it would have been very easy for him to prove his innocence? Furthermore, is it logical his suggestion of killing the blackmailer? Of course, it could all have been that way, but then it would not have been such a realistic film as it actually is; it would have been a good thriller, but nothing more. Actually, it is a thriller, but also a deep description of the human mind. All the "thriller" is a description of the professor's hidden desires and fears. Some interesting details: -When he is giving a lecture at the beginning of the film, the name of Sigmund Freud is written on the blackboard. Freud's theories are the key of the film. -During all the dream, whenever the professor appears in his house, portraits of his wife and children are visible. This shows once again his fears and his state of mind.

I 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.

When the family of Gotham College Professor Richard Wanley (Edward G. Robinson) travels, he meets with his close friends Dr. Michael Barkstane (Edmund Breon) and District Attorney Frank Lalor (Raymond Massey) in a club for talking. Wanley is fascinated with the portrait of a young woman in the next door window, and they discuss about affairs and middle-age crisis while drinking. When Wanley leaves the club, he walks to the window to admire the picture once more and he meets Alice Reed (Joan Bennett), who was the model of the painting. She invites him for a drink and they end the night in her apartment for seeing sketches of Alice made by the same artist. While drinking champagne, her temperable lover arrives and misunderstands the presence of Richard, hitting and suffocating him. In self-defense, Richard stabs the man with a pair of scissors on the back and kills him. They decide to get rid off the body, dumping the body in the woods and destroying the evidences, but when they are blackmailed by the scum Heidt (Dan Duryea), Professor Wanley tells Alice that there are only three ways to deal with a blackmailer, all of them with a high price. "The Woman in the Window" is another fantastic film-noir of the awesome director Fritz Lang. The engaging and original story has a magnificent and unexpected plot point in the very end. This is one of the best performances of Edward G. Robinson that I have seen and the leading trio - Edward G. Robinson, Joan Bennett and Dan Duryea – worked on the next year with Fritz Lang in the masterpiece "Scarlet Street". This is the first time that I see this outstanding movie, following the recommendation of a friend of mine that I would like to thank. My vote is nine. Title (Brazil): "Retrato de Mulher" ("Picture of a Woman")

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.

This 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.......

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 ****

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."