The Window

While this film noir is listed as unavailable on DVD, I took a chance and purchased a "collector's" DVD copy on ebay, something I didn't condone until I realized that some of these old films will never be released and only exist as public domain property in 16mm prints. That being said, I watched "The Window" on an unlabeled DVD-R copy and was very impressed with the quality of both the audio and video. I've purchased other "legit" releases only to find the packaging far superior in quality to the program. "The Window" features a very plausible plot set in a run down urban neighborhood full of tenements and condemned buildings. A nine-year old boy with a vivid imagination and a reputation for telling tall tales, witnesses a murder by his upstairs neighbors while sleeping on the fire escape one sweltering summer night. After going to his dismissing parents, then to the police without their consent, he is sent on his way into a nightmarish experience. The suspenseful sequences are masterfully paced, and there really isn't a slow moment in the film. I would definitely buy this film if, one day, it's released in commercial packaging. Tense, taut and brilliantly done on the obviously low budget.

A little boy learns the value of truth-telling in white-knuckle, claustrophobic fashion— a memorably done movie in all departments. No need to dwell here on the consensus strong points.

Seeing this taut little thriller in a small western town when I was 10 not only scared the heck out of me, but influenced my perception of urban life for years to come. Seeing the film again 60 years later, I'm impressed with producer Dore Schary's insistence on the grimness of the tenements, at least by later suburban standards. There's no attempt to glamorize or even varnish the family's dingy, cramped flat. Whether on NY location or on an RKO sound stage, the lighting remains dark and oppressive. Of course, that not only heightens the noirish atmosphere, but also lends an uncommon degree of realism to the family's working- class environment. After all, Dad works the nightshift, while Mom helps with the extended family, leaving little Tommy home alone. And that, I believe, amounts to more than just a handy plot device. And get a load of the on-location ruins where the kids play at the beginning—looks like something out of post-war Europe. No wonder MGM went after Schary in an effort to become more socially relevant in post-Andy Hardy America. There may be a lot of Hollywood in the melodrama itself, but the look and feel is definitely not Hollywood of the time. What a fine little film that's still edge-of-the-seat excitement. And, if I recall correctly, I was an especially good little boy for a long time afterward.

Young Bobby Driscoll (Tommy) makes up stories to his friends and to his parents. One night, he sleeps on the fire escape outside the apartment of Paul Stewart (Mr Kellerson) and Ruth Roman (Mrs Kellerson) where he witnesses them commit a murder. When he tells his parents Arthur Kennedy and Barbara Hale about it, they dismiss him. In fact, they punish him. Even the police don't believe him when he reports the murder to them. Poor kid. No-one believes him. It's not long before Paul Stewart and Ruth Roman find out that he knows something and set a plan in motion to silence him.

There are many tense scenes as Driscoll faces his nightmare all alone. The audience shares his fear as the killers have him next on their list. The acting is realistic as is the dialogue. The film also has eerie sections (eg, Ruth Roman outside Driscoll's window with a torch as he hides in his locked room) and dramatic moments (eg, when the killers kidnap Driscoll and put him in the back of a cab and they encounter a policeman). The strategy that Paul Stewart and Ruth Roman use to shut him up during the cab ride is genius. It's very funny and demonstrates perfect teamwork.

Children are usually annoying in films. Not here. A dramatic ending in a disused apartment block adds to the tension. Worth watching again. The way the movie is filmed and the location all add to the experience of a film that is actually quite scary in parts.

A belter of a B noir out of RKO. Story plays as a variant to the boy who cried wolf legend and finds young Bobby Driscoll as Tommy, a boy prone to telling tall tales. So when one night he spies upstairs neighbours murdering a man, nobody believes him...

The build up to the crime is considered, we are privy to Tommy's home life in a cramped New York tenement, his parents loyal and hard working and they have plenty of love for their fanciful son.

Once the crime is committed, a shocking incident compounded by the fact it's perpetrated by a normal looking male and female couple, a destitute pairing prepared to do the unthinkable just for cash, then things get real tense and the thrills begin to roll.

Tommy is now under threat from the killers and he needs to be silenced, so as the cramp confines of the hot and sweaty tenement area are vividly brought to life via noir visuals, Ted Tetzlaff (director) and his cinematographers (Robert De Grasse & William O. Steiner) excelling, the paranoia and tension builds to the point that the gripping finale acts as a merciful release.

Very well performed by a cast that also includes Paul Stewart, Ruth Roman, Arthur Kennedy and Barabara Hale, this late 1940s noir is highly recommended. 8/10

Part of the appeal of the film noir genre has always been its ability to freeze everyday life from the past and redisplay it faithfully to viewers many decades later. It's one of the reasons why I enjoy the genre so much, and "The Window" does its job better that most. If you want to step into a time machine and see what real life was like in New York City in the 1940s, this is the movie to see. I saw it at a local film noir film festival, and I hope it comes out on DVD.

It's a bit jarring to see Della Street as a gritty Manhattan housewife with a coarse blue-collar husband, but it's also a lot of fun and she looks terrific. Barbara Hale is still alive as I write this, amazingly, and will turn 91 in a few weeks. At the film festival, this film was introduced by someone who had telephoned Barbara Hale and asked her for her memories of making this movie. She said the movie was supposed to take place in the summer, so the actors dressed very lightly, but it was really filmed in a much colder time of year and she remembers freezing as they shot scene after scene. Could have fooled me, the movie comes across as summery and hot with lots of sweat.

Every detail fascinated me, especially of apartment life in the 1940s: tiny rooms, closet-sized bathrooms with dwarf sinks, and kitchens that looked like airplane galleys. Dark and sinister stairwells up to dingy apartments, fire escapes and alleys, cigarettes galore, and black telephones like my grandmother used to have. Every scene is richly textured, almost as if the director knew that audiences of the distant future would be watching his movie and be mesmerized by the detailed scenery, from the local police station to the pay phone at the corner drugstore.

Others have reviewed the plot and I have nothing much to add. But I will emphasize that the plot develops along paths that I would never have predicted, and the ending will rivet you to your seat. The conclusion was deeply satisfying and caused the audience to burst into whistles and applause. Hope this movie comes out on DVD quick... it's a treasure.