The Woman in the Window (1944)

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.

Director:

Fritz Lang

Writers:

Nunnally Johnson (written for the screen by), J.H. Wallis (novel)

Stars:

Edward G. Robinson, Joan Bennett, Raymond Massey

Nominated for 1 Oscar.

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Edward G. Robinson	...	Prof. Richard Wanley
Joan Bennett	...	Alice Reed
Raymond Massey	...	District Attorney 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--Steward

Storyline

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.

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Plot Keywords:

1940s | 40s | instructor | academic | lecture | 

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Taglines:

A too-beautiful woman, a too-carefree man--and an evening of gay flirtation shifting madly into a panic of guilt and fear and crimson MURDER... THAT'S EXCITEMENT FOR YOU!

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Genres:

Crime | Drama | Film-Noir | Mystery | Thriller

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Certificate:

Approved

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

3 November 1944 (USA)

Also Known As:

Once Off Guard

Filming Locations:

New York City, New York, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Christie Corporation, International Pictures (I)

Technical Specs

Runtime:

107 min 99 min (TCM print)

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Sound System)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Was based loosely on J.H. Wallis' 1942 novel, "Once Off Guard".

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Goofs

when he is taking the "dead" body out of the car the "corpse's" eye opens and closes.

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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.

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Connections

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

User Reviews

Fine Film Noir

Following a chance meeting with a beautiful young woman, a forty-something professor unwittingly becomes involved in murder and blackmail while his family is away on vacation. Robinson is wonderful as always as the professor who is in over his head because of a moment's indiscretion. Bennett looks stunningly beautiful as the kind of woman who can lead any man astray. Duryea is appropriately slimy as a blackmailer. Lang is at the top of his form in this atmospheric and efficiently made film noir. Some feel cheated by the ending but it is actually quite clever. Interestingly enough, Lang reunited with Robinson, Bennett, and Duryea in his next film, "Scarlet Street."