The Woman in the Window (1944)

Director:

Fritz Lang

Writers:

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

Release Date:

3 November 1944 (USA)

Genre:

Crime | Film-Noir | Mystery | Thriller

Tagline:

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

Plot:

When a conservative middle-aged professor engages in a minor dalliance with a femme fatale, he is plunged into a nightmarish quicksand of blackmail and murder.

Plot Keywords:

Professor | Window | Portrait | Blackmail | 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
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Iris Adrian	...	Streetwalker (uncredited)
Brandon Beach	...	Man at club (uncredited)
Robert Blake	...	Dickie Wanley (uncredited)
Paul Bradley	...	Man at club (uncredited)
Don Brodie	...	Onlooker at Gallery (uncredited)
Carol Cameron	...	Elsie Wanley (uncredited)
Claire Carleton	...	Blonde (uncredited)
James Carlisle	...	Man at club (uncredited)
Eddy Chandler	...	Police Driver (uncredited)
Freddie Chapman	...	Boy with mother (uncredited)
Alec Craig	...	Garage Man (uncredited)
Hal Craig	...	News Vendor (uncredited)
Joe Devlin	...	Toll Collector on Henry Hudson Parkway (uncredited)
Tom Dillon	...	Police Officer Dillon (uncredited)
Ralph Dunn	...	Traffic Cop (uncredited)
Bess Flowers	...	Extra at bar (uncredited)
Jack Gardner	...	Fred, the District Attorney's Chauffeur (uncredited)
Jack Gargan	...	Club steward (uncredited)
Fred Graham	...	Motorcycle Cop (uncredited)
Tom Hanlon	...	Radio announcer (uncredited)
James Harrison	...	Club steward (uncredited)
Harry Hayden	...	Pharmacist (uncredited)
William J. Holmes	...	Man at club (uncredited)
Fred Hueston	...	Man at club (uncredited)
Sheldon Jett	...	Man at club (uncredited)
Jack W. Johnston	...	Man at club (uncredited)
Donald Kerr	...	First Elevator Operator (uncredited)
Ann Loos	...	Stenographer (uncredited)
Frank McClure	...	Elevator operator (uncredited)
George 'Spanky' McFarland	...	Boy Scout who finds Mazard's Body (uncredited)
Joel McGinnis	...	Elevator operator (uncredited)
Harold McNulty	...	Elevator operator (uncredited)
Charles Meakin	...	Man at club (uncredited)
Frank Melton	...	Onlooker at gallery (uncredited)
Frank Mills	...	Charlie the Garage Helper (uncredited)
Harold Minjir	...	Man at club (uncredited)
Frances Morris	...	Stenographer (uncredited)
Ralph Norwood	...	Man at club (uncredited)
Wedgwood Nowell	...	Man at club (uncredited)
Anne O'Neal	...	Mother by elevator (uncredited)
Louis Payne	...	Man at club (uncredited)
Alexander Pollard	...	William the headwaiter (uncredited)
Fred Rapport	...	Club Manager (uncredited)
Scott Seaton	...	Man at club (uncredited)
Arthur Space	...	Captain Kennedy (uncredited)
Wyndham Standing	...	Man at club (uncredited)
Larry Steers	...	Man at club (uncredited)
Ruth Valmy	...	Magazine model (uncredited)
Lane Watson	...	Man by taxi (uncredited)

Directed by
Fritz Lang

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Nunnally Johnson		writer
J.H. Wallis		novel "Once Off Guard"

Produced by
Nunnally Johnson	....	producer

Original Music by
Arthur Lange
Hugo Friedhofer		(uncredited)
Bruno Mason		(uncredited)
Charles Maxwell		(uncredited)

Cinematography by
Milton R. Krasner		(as Milton Krasner)

Film Editing by
Gene Fowler Jr.
Marjorie Fowler		(as Marjorie Johnson)
Thomas Pratt		(uncredited)

Art Direction by
Duncan Cramer

Set Decoration by
Julia Heron

Costume Design by
Muriel King

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Richard Harlan	....	assistant director (uncredited)

Sound Department
Frank McWhorter	....	sound

Special Effects by
Paul K. Lerpae	....	special effects (as Paul Lerpae)
Harry Redmond Jr.	....	special effects (uncredited)

Visual Effects by
Vernon L. Walker	....	process photography (as Vernon Walker)

Music Department
Hugo Friedhofer	....	musical director (uncredited)

Production Companies

• Christie Corporation
• International Pictures (I)

Distributors

• RKO Radio Pictures (1945) (USA) (theatrical)
• United Artists Corporation (1944) (UK) (theatrical)
• RKO Radio Pictures (1947) (France) (theatrical) (as RKO Radio Films S.A.)
• Donau-Filmgesellschaft (1950) (West Germany) (theatrical)
• Independent Releasing Organization (1953) (USA) (theatrical) (re-release)
• Filmmuseum Distributie (2006) (Netherlands) (DVD) (re-release)
• MGM Home Entertainment (2007) (USA) (DVD)
• Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment (2007) (USA) (DVD)
• United Artists (19??) (worldwide) (all media)

Other Companies

• Deluxe Digital Studios  DVD transfer

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) | Australia:PG | Finland:K-16 | Sweden:15

Company:

Christie Corporation

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:

Featured in A Night at the Movies: The Suspenseful World of Thrillers (2009) (TV)

Excellent noir from the master Fritz Lang

There's no doubting that Fritz Lang made his best films in his native Germany - the masterpieces 'M' and 'Metropolis' ensure that without the need to mention the likes of Doctor Mabuse; but even so, his American films have some gems - and this quality film noir thriller is certainly one of them. Made with the same cast as Fritz Lang's later 'Scarlet Street', The Woman in the Window is a tale of lust and money, wrapped up in the idea of how life becomes less exciting as you approach middle age. Professor Richard Wanley is a middle-aged man bored with how life is treating him. This boredom is soon to dissipate, however, when he and his friends become obsessed with the portrait of a woman in a shop window. On his way home one night, Richard meets this woman purely by chance and ends up going back to her apartment to look at more artist impressions of her. This ends in tragedy, when her boyfriend comes knocking, and ends up discovering our hero in his girl's apartment! A struggle ensues and the boyfriend ends up dead...Richard agrees to hide the body in order to keep the pair of them from spending time behind bars.

Many of the ideas later used in Scarlet Street are present here too, and in that respect; The Woman in the Window serves as an interesting prelude to the later film. The film analyses a murder from the moral point of view, rather than being purely for profit. This idea was better realised by Lang later the same year in the aforementioned noir classic, but through it's inspired plotting and unpredictable atmosphere; The Woman in the Window analyses the same idea in a slightly different way. The cast is put to good use, with the great Edward G. Robinson doing a fine job with the lead role. He portrays his character admirably, and the scenes where the finger of suspicion drifts over him sees Robinson at his best. Joan Bennett plays his female counterpart. This beautiful woman is great as the heroine, and it's her performance that gives the film that golden Hollywood feel. The ending is one that could easily have gone wrong, but Lang makes good of it, and it actually makes sense of little nuisances, such as the fact that Robinson is allowed to accompany his policeman friend to a murder scene early on in the film. I would rate Scarlet Street as the must see film of the pair; but if you enjoyed that one, there's no reason why this one shouldn't go down well also.