Ninguém Crê em Mim

The theme of a murder being witnessed by someone who no one believes, is based on the familiar concept of "cry wolf once too often and no one will believe you when you're telling the truth". Here it's played to the nth degree by an excellent cast--Bobby Driscoll, Barbara Hale, Arthur Kennedy, Ruth Roman and Paul Stewart--and directed in realistic, gritty style by Ted Tetzlaff. The New York tenement setting is an absorbing environment for this chilling tale of a boy who is in danger when the murderers know they have been seen--and must come to grips with his situation without the aid of his parents or police. Based on a Cornell Woolrich story, it's so tight and suspenseful for the length of its running time that it effectively projects the dark, nightmare world where one's worst childhood fears can come true. With the dark ambiance of lower East Side tenaments as its setting, danger and death seem to entrap the boy in every lurking shadow until his ultimate pursuit by the killers. This is a modest thriller that achieves a maximum of suspense thanks to the skillful performance by child star Bobby Driscoll and bears a resemblance to other Woolrich stories, as for example 'Rear Window'. Barbara Hale and Arthur Kennedy register strongly as the parents. Ruth Roman and Paul Stewart are a chilly pair as the neighbors from hell.

Many know the sad tale of the life of Bobby Driscoll who was Walt Disney's first live action child star paving the way for dozens more right down to today's Disney Channel. As Disney at the time The Window was made released their product through RKO Studios, RKO apparently had call on Driscoll's services and they got him to star in this sleeper of a noir film which I call children's noir.

Bobby is the son of Arthur Kennedy and Barbara Hale and he's got a big imagination forever telling tall tales. That's the problem, when he sees a real murder take place in an upstairs neighbor's apartment no one will believe him, not the cops, especially not his parents.

But murder was done in that apartment as drunk and free spending sailor Richard Benedict was done in by Paul Stewart and Ruth Roman. The body was disposed of in a condemned building next door.

In Disney products we've seen all kinds of kids put in harm's way of many a villain. But because it is a Disney film we all know nothing will happen. Not so here. Driscoll is in the mean streets of a big city and a really bad man is chasing him. You feel his fear.

The Window got an Oscar nomination in the film editing. Almost 70 years later it's still a thrilling film to watch and the cross cut editing has a lot to do with it. Don't miss this one if broadcast.

The central figure of 'The Window' was a slum ten-year-old boy (Bobby Driscoll), living in New York poor neighborhood and known to everyone there as a teller of fantastic stories…

His parents (Arthur Kennedy and Barbara Hale) warned him he must stop his fantasies… and what followed was a classic up-dating of the boy who cried 'wolf' once too often…

One stifling night, the boy climbed out on to a fire escape to seek cool air and, through a crack under a window blind, he witnessed a murder…

He knew no one would believe him although this time, for the first time, his story was true… He tried to tell his mother that he had seen a couple called Kellerson trying to rob a drunk and killing him in a fight: the boy got scolded for his imagination and sent to bed… His father locked him in for punishment; the boy escaped and took his story to the police station. A detective investigated, but could find no body, no signs of a struggle…

Now the awful irony: the guilty Kellersons learn through the detective that the boy had seen them committing the crime, and the boy's parents, with terrifyingly understandable logic, send the boy to the killers to apologize 'for spreading such an awful story about them'.

The Kellersons cannot decide: should they leave well alone, as nobody believes the boy; or should they commit another crime to cover the first?

'The Window' is a classic little second feature, entertaining and suspenseful; unfortunately it had few successful imitators

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

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.