The Woman in the Window (1944)

Dist. Atty. Frank Lalor: "We rarely arrest people just for knowing where the body was."

By Fritz Lang
With Edward G. Robinson, Joan Bennett and Raymond Massey

I am not sure which movie it was that I saw and was similar to The Woman in the Window, and/or recommended it, but it was definitely one of the recent film-noir that I've been watching--possibly The Big Heat (1953).

Professor Richard Wanley teaches psychology of homicide in college. When his wife and kids have to leave for a while, he meets up with his friends at a men's club. Next to the club is an art gallery where the portrait of a woman haunts the three men, both because of the beauty of the painting but also of the subject. Richard decides to go home early after having one drink too much but on his way out he is mesmerized by the portrait once again. Much to his surprise the woman appears next to him and says she likes to watch people looking at her portrait. The two of them decide to get a drink at her place and while they are talking another man rushes in and slaps the woman. The professor fights back to help her but the intruder quickly starts strangling Richard. Alice, the woman in the window, hands over a pair of scissors to Richard who manages to set himself free by killing the intruder. These two strangers then have body on their hand and need to come up with a solution quickly.

I thought the movie was a little contrived in its plot but it took some risks for it and I think it paid off quite well. Edward G. Robinson is always so masterful and his characters always appear calm even in the most heightened situations. The fact that Richard's friends were a district attorney and a doctor felt a little far stretched but it took nothing away from the mystery.

I am not quite sure what the message of the movie was meant to be, but I like to imagine that it dealt with psychological themes such as guilt and maybe Freud's analysis of dreams- as foreshadowed by Richard's class and the dashboard reading "Freud". I was surprised at how the movie tackled the topic of ageing men and their discussions of a middle-life crisis.

Of all the Fritz Lang's movies that I've seen, I think this one is most similar to M (1931) because of the way it follows a crime through and through with the focus remaining on the killer, we are not witnessing him trying to escape but rather fade away, to fit in.

I liked: The police investigation. An accidental killer's struggle.

I disliked: Not that impressive.

78/100
Not my favorite film-noir for some reason I can't really pinpoint, but I enjoyed the mystery and Edward G. Robinson.