The Woman in the Window (1944)

The Woman in the Window
Directed by Fritz Lang
Written by Nunnally Johnson from a novel by J.H. Wallis
1944/USA
Christie Corporation/International Pictures
Repeat viewing/TGG Direct DVD

[box] Richard Wanley: The streets were dark with something more than night.[/box]

What idiot decided to colorize a great film noir?

Stuffy, mild-mannered psychology professor Richard Wanley (Edward G. Robinson) sees his wife and children off for a long summer holiday in the country while he remains in the city to work.  His attention is suddenly struck by the portrait of a beautiful brunette in a gallery window.  His buddies, including D.A. Frank Lalor (Raymond Massey), comment that she is their dream girl.

After one drink too many, Wanley leaves his club and takes another look at the nearby portrait.  A face remarkably resembling the girl in the picture appears in the glass.  It is Alice Reed (Joan Bennett) who says she was the model.  She is clearly no better than she should be and basically asks him to take her for a drink and then up to her apartment “to see other paintings by the same artist.” There, the pair’s friendly chat over more drinks is interrupted by a gentleman caller.  He is enraged by jealousy and attempts to strangle Wanley with his bare hands.  Alice hands Wanley a knife to defend himself with.  They are left with a corpse on their hands.

Neither Wanley or Alice wants to go to the police so they take some mighty ill-advised measures to try to cover their tracks.  Then a blackmailer (Dan Duryea) comes along to muddy the waters.

I couldn’t easily find this film from my usual sources so when I saw a double-feature DVD (with The Stranger) on sale at Amazon for $5.38 I jumped at it.  I should have looked before I leapt.  I could hardly stand to keep my eyes on the screen of this colorized nightmare.  Of course Robinson, Bennett, and Duryea can’t help but be good in any color. The only downside to this film is the terrible Hayes-code inspired ending, which I will not spoil here except to say that the ending makes this film work best on its first viewing.

The Woman in the Window was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Music, Original Score.

trailer