The Window (1949)

Charming and brutal

Fun premise, good actors, bad writing. This film seemed to have potential at the beginning but it quickly devolves into a trite action film. Ultimately it's very boring.

I think this is a new genre that they're all sort of working their way through it and haven't got all the kinks worked out yet but it's a genre that works for me.

Great example of an old-fashioned, pure-at-heart escapist event movie that doesn't pretend to be anything that it's not and has boat loads of fun being its own ludicrous self.

This zippy little movie is a noir version of The Boy Who Cried Wolf, with a fanciful boy witnessing a murder that no one will believe. The movie is nicely filmed. The camera is generally from little-boy height, with adults towering and powerful. Shadows are used effectively; there's a nice moment where as a murderer goes upstairs the shadow of the banister railing covers her face like prison bars. Bobby Driscoll is effective as the increasingly terrified boy, and Paul Stewart makes a wonderfully malevolent villain. The rest of the cast is solid though not especially memorable.Suspense ramps up nicely, and towards the end the movie is quite exciting. Overall, well worth watching.

I just happened to run across this Gem when I saw my neighbor watching it as I peeked out my tenement rear window. We certainly have a, to say the least, nod to Rear Window, and our young protagonist is no Jimmy Stewart. But this is a real good nail biter. I ran out of fingernails and had to get into downward facing dog to gnaw on my toenails. There's just something about a helpless kid, maybe he's cried wolf in the past, being in adult danger that raises the goose flesh. And even the black and white adds to making this work well. It just feels like post war New York. All in all The Window is another example of why I love Turner Classic Films.

The tenements of New York City come to life in this tense film noir where the protagonist is an adolescent who starts off as the antagonist. Pre-teen Bobby Driscoll makes up stories with the frequency of a gossip columnist, usually involving his innocent neighbors. This gets his parents (Barbara Hale and Arthur Kennedy) in trouble, and they wonder how to handle his tall tales. It goes from bad to worse on a hot summer night when Driscoll climbs up to the top of the fire escape where he witnesses the married couple on the top floor having an argument with the stranger, and the husband stabbing the man to death. Stunned by viewing this, Driscoll rushes to tell his parents who of course do not believe him. After running to the police to tell him of what he witnessed, Driscoll is forced by his mother to apologize to the killer's wife and he becomes paranoid that the neighbors will target him next. When he is left alone by his working father while his mother is tending a sick relative, Driscoll's worst nightmare comes true when real danger shows its ugly face.The dark set of the slums take on a look of character (and almost becomes a character itself) as Driscoll tries to save himself, and the photographer and editor work overtime to create a tension that is often frightening and seldom surpassed by other similarly filmed stories. Children rarely get the focus in such a tale, and of course, the psychological ramifications of why he lies in the first place is dealt with, and how his parent's daily distractions make him feel neglected. This is a "sleeper" of film noir greatness, an extremely short motion picture that shows good things come in small packages and that frequently, less is often more.

Barbara Hale, Arthur Kennedy Ruth Roman, Bobby Driscoll and Paul Stewart star in "The Window," a 1949 film.In a takeoff of the story of The Boy Who Cried Wolf, Tommy Woodry is an only child with a very active imagination. He is known among his friends and parents as being a teller of tall tales. One night, it's so hot in their New York apartment that Tommy goes onto the fire escape to sleep. There, looking in the next apartment, he witnesses a murder. The problem is, no one believes him. Except the killers.Good nail-biter with lots of references to corporal punishment for kids, which was common back then. It's plenty of violence, too, as well as a dramatic ending.Arthur Kennedy was one of the most underrated actors in show business - though this is a good film, it's a small one, and he deserved something with a higher profile. Barbara Hale, just a few years later would achieve TV immortality as Della Street, Perry Mason's secretary. At 27, Ruth Roman makes an impression as Mrs. Kellerton, who was involved in the killing. She's both beautiful and frightened.The actor who plays the little boy, Bobby Driscoll was very good and continued to work until around 1960, when drugs and a criminal record kept him from getting work. He died at 31 of heart problems, penniless and homeless.Good movie, worth seeing.