The Shadow on the Window

SHADOW ON THE WINDOW starts out promisingly enough with JERRY MATHER witnessing a violent crime through a window, but then starts to sag as the police try to pry information from the dazed boy.

The male lead is detective PHILIP CAREY who gives such an indifferent performance when he learns his ex-wife is being held captive by some thugs that he fails to give the rest of the story any real sense of urgency. Nor does BETTY GARRET as the captured secretary who has to contend with three foolish young thugs, one of whom is played by JOHN BARRYMORE, JR. Unofortunately, all of the capture scenes are played with low-key intensity and suffer from a poor script.

What should have been a gripping police drama involving thugs and a victimized little boy and woman victim, is a tepid, almost amateurish attempt at suspense that produces more yawns than thrills.

Trivia note: Best performance among the thugs comes from COREY ALLEN, who played "Buzz" in the James Dean flick, REBEL WITHOUT A CAUSE. His chase scene provides the only real tense moments in the film.

When the film begins, a group of punks are tormenting some people at a farmhouse. Soon, they kill the old man who lives there and the lady who is visiting (Betty Garrett) is being held captive...and all this is seen by her very young son (Jerry Mathers) who has been playing outside. Naturally, the boy is traumatized and he wanders off in a catatonic haze. Eventually he's found wandering along a highway and the kid is taken to the police. The boy is recognized-- -he's the son of one of the cops! The woman, apparently, is the cop's ex-wife. Can the police figure out where the woman and these sickos are in order to rescue her?

This is a tense and reasonably well made film. I particularly like the scene where the woman attempts an escape--it's surprisingly brutal. Well worth seeing and currently posted on YouTube.

What a cast - Drew Barrymore's father, Edith Bunker's neighbor, the Beave, and Asa Buchanan on One Life to Live: John Drew Barrymore, Betty Garrett, Jerry Mathers, and Phil Carey.

Garrett plays a stenographer who is working for an elderly man at his house when intruders kill him and take the stenographer hostage.

Her little boy playing outside sees the violence, goes into shock, and runs away. When finally reunited with his police detective dad, he's catatonic and can't tell them anything.

My mom loved Phil Carey, a handsome, well built actor who later had success in TV. Betty Garrett, a Broadway actress and singer, has an emotional role and does it well.

John Drew Barrymore was handsome and menacing, but I gather his role as a ruthless killer wasn't much of a stretch.

Jerry Mathers I think had two lines.

I actually kind of liked this film's tension, and the fact that you really cared about Garrett. This home invasion type film is routine but involving.

Curiosity value concerning the appearance and acting skill of Barrymore (John's son and Drew's dad) will likely draw several viewers to this minor crime drama, a sort of "Despondent Hours". Garrett, separated from her policeman hubby (Carey), takes a job steno-graphing for an elderly man with her young son in tow. When three toughs break in to rob the man, but accidentally kill him, Garrett's son (Mathers) slips into a degree of catatonia and wanders off along the highway. Eventually, Carey, Garrett's husband, is reunited with the mute boy and it's a race against time to find Garrett before the punks have their way with her or kill her. The hoods are played by Barrymore, Allen and Sarracini. Carey reacts to his estranged wife's disappearance with all the concern and terror that he might have if, say, his shirt were ironed too long and got a triangle-shaped stain on the pocket. Though impossibly big and reasonably handsome, he lets his stoicism as a police officer take too much precedence over any human emotion. Garrett (pushing forty, but playing 27 and referred to as "girl"!) does a decent enough acting job, but, in keeping with the times of the film, behaves pretty foolishly more often than not. She does try to come up with a few futile attempts at escape, though. Mathers is in over his head in his tiny part and would do much better later that year in "Leave it to Beaver" where murder wasn't a part of the storyline. Barrymore is very animated and quite handsome. He leans toward the hammy aspects of acting that so many James Dean imitators were going for at the time, but his portrayal is surprisingly polished (and this isn't exactly a strong screenplay he's dealing with!) Allen (who worked with James Dean in "Rebel Without a Cause") gives the most believable and natural performance of the hoods and is very attractive in a boy-next-door way. In fact, these two "vicious criminals" do their dirty work in pullover knit sweaters and cardigans!!! They are quite a contrast to Marlon Brando in "The Wild One". The third boy is played by hulking Sarracini and he is more authentic-looking (ironically, this actor died the year this film was made from the results of a fight!!) There are so many hilariously bad bit players in the film whose dialogue and performances are side-splitting. One lady mutters that her husband doesn't like anything as much as corned beef while he is shown romancing a blonde tart in a bar. Still, the direction is surprisingly adept and there is a memorable rooftop shootout that continues into the subway which is quite impressive. A little more enthusiasm/fret from Carey might have kicked it up a notch.

This film has the feel of a TV drama made into a B film. Saw it on cable recently as a curiosity since a young Jerry Matthews was in it. The drama, directed by William Asher, was a surprise.

The film is a police drama where a young mother, working as a free lance secretary for a farm owner, gets tangled in a break in that ends badly. Her young son, playing innocently outside watches the whole thing. What young Petey witnesses produce in his little mind a trauma that makes him run from the scene until he is found by two truckers going to market.

The movie was a product of the era in which takes place. Betty Garrett, as Linda, is perfect for the part. Also good was Phillip Carey, an actor that never had great opportunities in films. The scene stealer is Jerry Matthews, who played Beaver in the old series.