Fingers at the Window

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.

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.

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.

That opening is a grabber, straight out of noir classics and Val Lewton's haunted city streets. Too bad that the rest of the movie fails to match this impressive setup. The premise of a mysterious axe murderer striking at seeming random is chilling, especially when we find out there may be more than one. Plus it's the innocent young Edwina (Day) who's being stalked, with only the wise-cracking actor Duffy (Ayres) there to help. And that's part of the movie's unfortunate drop off in impact— Duffy's light-hearted attitude tends to undercut the movie's somber visuals.

Then too, as the story evolves, the plot threads spread out too much, getting murky in the process. Too bad, because some of the lighting compositions anticipate post-war noir in striking effect. And get a load of the sepulchral Milton Parsons as the mute nutcase. His spooky appearance remains one of the glories of '40's movies. Too bad his is just a bit part. And speaking of brief appearances, I could have used more of the great Rathbone than what we get. He always lent such dramatic weight to whatever he was in, including his few minutes here.

All in all, it's a somewhat erratic little programmer whose best features belong to the lighting and staging departments. Happily, Day remains an appealing presence.

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.