Woman in the Window

[*~Mrs. Cooper ~*]

Gotham College professor Wanley and his friends become obsessed with the portrait of a woman in the window next to the men's club. Wanley happens to meet the woman while admiring her portrait, and ends up in her apartment for talk and a bit of champagne. Her boyfriend bursts in and misinterprets Wanley's presence, whereupon a scuffle ensues and the boyfriend gets killed. In order to protect his reputation, the professor agrees to dump the body and help cover up the killing, but becomes increasingly suspect as the police uncover more and more clues and a blackmailer begins leaning on the woman

[Sugarpuss]

I watched this 10 years ago so I don't remember everything but I do remember that intriguing painting and that I loved the movie.
I must watch it again!

[*~Mrs. Cooper ~*]

(Spoils and boilers)


Joan Bennett and Eddy G... gosh, what a match made in noir heaven.

Joan's fright in the beginning, over fear of getting linked to the murder was strong and desperate; her mysterious coolness during the threats from the blackmailer was gripping. It flowed smoothly and easily; almost lulling you right into every emotion and twist gently. Every slipup from Robinson made your eyes immediately dart to Massey -- and Massey never gave you a firm emotion on what he was thinking. Sure, the suspcion was there, but it melted away so quickly you hardly knew what he was thinking when the moment was gone. The attention to detail was thrilling -- for me. I love detail and I loved how everything was linked to something else; spinning your emotions around and around; stretching your thoughts and sparking your imagination.

Another great Lang film. I just adore this man's work!

[Sugarpuss]

Gosh, I enjoyed reading that as much as I enjoyed the movie. The suspense was killing me!

For those of you who aren't able to see the movie here's the radio theater version:
www.archive.org/download/Lux10/Lux_45-06-25_WomanintheWindow.mp3

Lang made another movie in 1945 with the same cast, Robinson and Bennett, called Scarlet Street. You can watch it here:
stage6.divx.com/The-Last-Stop/video/1193547/Scarlet-Street

Doubleclick for fullscreen.

[Miss Retro]

Full Synopsis:
Directed by Fritz Lang, The Woman in the Window, a sadly tragic film noir, is the story of the doomed love of married psychology-professor Wanley (Edward G. Robinson), who, with murderous results, meets and falls in love with another woman. Wanley first sees the portrait of a beautiful woman, Alice (Joan Bennett), and then meets the woman herself. After committing murder in self-defense, he finds himself blackmailed by Heidt (Dan Duryea). The script, written by Nunnally Johnson, is carefully structured with crisp dialogue and a convincing ending. Lang is at his best, getting excellent performances from Robinson, as the doomed, naive professor, and Bennett both. The Woman in the Window shows that good and evil are present in all, and that circumstances frequently dictate moral choices. Based on J.H. Wallis' novel Once Off Guard, the film gives viewers their money's worth with not one but two logical and satisfying surprise twists at the end.

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