La donna del ritratto

Edward G. and Joan Bennett star in a noirish crime drama that feels almost surreal (with god reason, as the ending makes plain). Robinson is a staid professor whose family is off on a weekend jaunt. He meets an alluring woman who invites him to he apartment for "drinks and." When her psycho boyfriend unexpectedly shows up, the prof ends up killing him during a scuffle. To protect himself and the gal, he gets rid of the body. Then the fun really starts. Edward G. is at the top of his form here, and Bennett is sexy and ever so slightly tawdry, even fully clothed. The ending, which has been used or misused in many movies before and since, here works beautifully. I am surprised I had never seen this particular melodrama until now. I am no spring chicken, and used to be a film critic, to boot.

This wonderfully entertaining "film noir" by master director Fritz Lang is a curiosity, defying all of our expectations as a viewer and basically subverting the "noir" genre barely before it had gotten started. The dark shadows, the femme fatale, the harboiled detectives, the murder... all the elements are in place for a typical outing, but when all is said and done, look back at the motivations, the events, even the "femme", and what we have is not a world of evil (the typical "noir" stance) but a world of innocence darkened by a few petty thugs. Like the more obviously subversive (and equally wonderful) "Kiss Me Deadly" fifteen years later, "The Woman in the Window" seems to say that evil only lives when people look hard enough for it - practically a "film noir" rebuttal. As in "M" and "Fury," Lang (a refugee from the Nazi regime) once again examines issues of social evil in ways more complex than any of his contemporaries. Enjoy "The Woman in the Window." The cast is impeccable, the writing a delight, the direction peerless, the music score years ahead of its time. A small feast.

The lead character, Richard Wanley (Edward G. Robinson), is a middle-age absent-minded professor who teaches a course in crime. For relaxation he meets with two other middle-age men for drinks and academic conversation. Surrounded by books and dim light, the three men talk about how stodgy their lives are, how averse they are to adventure, and how alluring the woman is whose portrait they see in a nearby shop's window.

Says Richard to his two friends: "you know, even if the spirit of adventure should rise up before me and beckon, even in the form of that alluring young woman in the window next door, I'm afraid all I'd do is clutch my coat a little tighter, mutter something idiotic, and run like the devil."

This story setup, with quiet, reflective, sedentary characters, gives the film's surprise ending credibility. With a different setup, with different characters, the film's ending, as is, would be an act of creative malfeasance. But here, it works.

And Richard's excellent adventure is spellbinding. Tension is maximized because we, as viewers, are put directly in the point of view of Richard and his predicament. What would we do in such a situation? How would we react?

I wouldn't have cast Edward G. Robinson in the lead role. But he certainly does a nice job. So does Joan Bennett, as the woman in the window. The film's plot is tight, except in the second half, in a couple of sequences involving a blackmailer.

"The Woman In The Window" is a clever, well-written, character driven story about a man whose infatuation with a beautiful woman's portrait drives him into a dangerous adventure. Once the viewer has seen the ending, the power of the plot vanishes. But even then, that ending is still thought-provoking.

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 wonderful film noire, a real late night treat, the story may seem a little run of the mill, but there are many twists, turns and red herrings to throw you off, and keep your interest.

The acting is great, Joan Bennett as always is terrific, Edward G Robinson was prolific, and never disappointed.

It moves along quickly, and is never boring at any point. The obvious love or hate moment comes at the end, personally I don't love it, but you must realise it was 1944, the world was at war, people wanted to leave the cinema with a smile on their face, it did make me smile, of course it would never be a tool used nowadays, but things were so different in 1944.

Thoroughly enjoyed it. 9/10.