Fingers at the Window

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.