The Woman in the Window (1944)

User Rating:

7.9/10   

Director:

Fritz Lang

Writers:

Nunnally Johnson (writer)
J.H. Wallis (novel)

Release Date:

3 November 1944 (USA)

Genre:

Film-Noir | Thriller

Tagline:

It was the look in her eyes that made him think of murder.

Plot:

A middle-aged college professor laments his stodgy life until he spends an evening with a beautiful woman who has a dangerous lover.

Plot Keywords:

Professor | Window | Portrait | College | District Attorney

Awards:

Nominated for Oscar.

Cast

Edward G. Robinson	...	Professor Richard Wanley
Joan Bennett	...	Alice Reed
Raymond Massey	...	Dist. Atty. Frank Lalor
Edmund Breon	...	Dr. Michael Barkstane
Dan Duryea	...	Heidt / Tim, the Doorman
Thomas E. Jackson	...	Inspector Jackson, Homicide Bureau
Dorothy Peterson	...	Mrs. Wanley
Arthur Loft	...	Claude Mazard / Frank Howard / Charlie the Hatcheck Man
Frank Dawson	...	Collins, the Steward

Runtime:

99 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Sound System)

Certification:

West Germany:16 (nf) | Finland:K-16 | Sweden:15

Company:

International Pictures (I)

Quotes:

[first lines]
Richard Wanley: [lecturing] The Biblical injunction "Thou shalt not kill" is one that requires qualification in view of our broader knowledge of impulses behind homicide. The various legal categories such as first and second degree murder, the various degrees of homicide, manslaughter, are civilized recognitions of impulses of various degrees of culpability. The man who kills in self defense, for instance, must not be judged by the same standards applied to the man who kills for gain.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Cinéastes de notre temps: Le dinosaure et le bébé, dialogue en huit parties entre Fritz Lang et Jean-Luc Godard" (1967)

What a Dream!

When the family of Gotham College Professor Richard Wanley (Edward G. Robinson) travels, he meets with his close friends Dr. Michael Barkstane (Edmund Breon) and District Attorney Frank Lalor (Raymond Massey) in a club for talking. Wanley is fascinated with the portrait of a young woman in the next door window, and they discuss about affairs and middle-age crisis while drinking. When Wanley leaves the club, he walks to the window to admire the picture once more and he meets Alice Reed (Joan Bennett), who was the model of the painting. She invites him for a drink and they end the night in her apartment for seeing sketches of Alice made by the same artist. While drinking champagne, her temperable lover arrives and misunderstands the presence of Richard, hitting and suffocating him. In self-defense, Richard stabs the man with a pair of scissors on the back and kills him. They decide to get rid off the body, dumping the body in the woods and destroying the evidences, but when they are blackmailed by the scum Heidt (Dan Duryea), Professor Wanley tells Alice that there are only three ways to deal with a blackmailer, all of them with a high price.

"The Woman in the Window" is another fantastic film-noir of the awesome director Fritz Lang. The engaging and original story has a magnificent and unexpected plot point in the very end. This is one of the best performances of Edward G. Robinson that I have seen and the leading trio - Edward G. Robinson, Joan Bennett and Dan Duryea – worked on the next year with Fritz Lang in the masterpiece "Scarlet Street". This is the first time that I see this outstanding movie, following the recommendation of a friend of mine that I would like to thank. My vote is nine.

Title (Brazil): "Retrato de Mulher" ("Picture of a Woman")