''The Woman in the Window'' is a 1944 American

film noir Film noir (; ) is a cinematic term used primarily to describe stylish Hollywood crime dramas, particularly those that emphasize cynical attitudes and motivations. The 1940s and 1950s are generally regarded as the "classic period" of American ' ...

directed by

Fritz Lang Friedrich Christian Anton Lang (; December 5, 1890 – August 2, 1976), known as Fritz Lang, was an Austrian film director, screenwriter, and producer who worked in Germany and later the United States.Obituary ''Variety'', August 4, 1976, p. 6 ...

and starring Edward G. Robinson,

Joan Bennett Joan Geraldine Bennett (February 27, 1910 – December 7, 1990) was an American stage, film, and television actress. She came from a show-business family, one of three acting sisters. Beginning her career on the stage, Bennett appeared in more t ...

, Raymond Massey, and

Dan Duryea Dan Duryea ( , January 23, 1907 – June 7, 1968) was an American actor in film, stage, and television. Known for portraying a vast range of character roles as a villain, he nonetheless had a long career in a wide variety of leading and second ...

. It tells the story of a psychology professorBiesen, Sheri Chinen (2005). ''Blackout: World War II and the origins of film noir.'' Johns Hopkins University Press, ( Edward G. Robinson) who meets a young ''

femme fatale A ''femme fatale'' ( or ; ), sometimes called a maneater or vamp, is a stock character of a mysterious, beautiful, and seductive woman whose charms ensnare her lovers, often leading them into compromising, deadly traps. She is an archetype of ...

'' (

) and murders her lover in self-defense. Based on J. H. Wallis' 1942 novel ''Once Off Guard'', the story features two surprise twists at the end. Screenwriter

Nunnally Johnson Nunnally Hunter Johnson (December 5, 1897 – March 25, 1977) was an American screenwriter, film director, producer, and playwright. As a filmmaker, he wrote the screenplays to more than fifty films in a career that spanned from 1927 to 1967. He ...

, having written the script for ''

The Grapes of Wrath ''The Grapes of Wrath'' is an American realist novel written by John Steinbeck and published in 1939. The book won the National Book Award and Pulitzer Prize for fiction, and it was cited prominently when Steinbeck was awarded the Nobel Prize ...

'' (1940), was invited by

International Pictures International Pictures was an American film production company that existed in the 1940s. It merged with Universal Pictures to become Universal-International on October 1, 1946. History The company was formed in 1944. It was headed up by Leo ...

to a picture deal, and ''The Woman in the Window'' was chosen as its premiere project. According to some sources, Lang substituted the film's dream ending in place of the originally scripted suicide ending to conform with the moralistic

Production Code The Motion Picture Production Code was a set of industry guidelines for the self-censorship of content that was applied to most motion pictures released by major studios in the United States from 1934 to 1968. It is also popularly known as the ...

of the time. However, Lang claimed that it was his idea when asked directly in an interview. The term "film noir" originated as a genre description in part because of ''The Woman in the Window''.

Plot

After college professor Richard Wanley sends his wife and two children off on vacation, he goes to his club to meet friends. Next door, Wanley sees a striking oil portrait of Alice Reed in a storefront window. He and his friends talk about the beautiful painting and its subject. Wanley stays at the club and reads '' Song of Songs''. When he leaves, Wanley stops at the portrait and meets Reed, who is standing near the painting watching people gaze at it. Reed convinces Wanley to join her for drinks. Later, they go to Reed's home, but an unexpected visit from her rich clandestine lover Claude Mazard, known to Reed initially only as Frank Howard, leads to a fight in which Wanley kills Mazard in

self-defense Self-defense (self-defence primarily in Commonwealth English) is a countermeasure that involves defending the health and well-being of oneself from harm. The use of the right of self-defense as a legal justification for the use of force in ...

. Wanley and Reed conspire to cover up the murder, and Wanley disposes of Mazard's body in the country. However, Wanley leaves many clues, and there are a number of witnesses. One of Wanley's friends from the club, district attorney Frank Lalor, has knowledge of the investigation, and Wanley is invited back to the crime scene as Lalor's friend but not as a suspect. On several occasions, Wanley slips and says things that seem to indicate that he may know more about the murder than he should, but Lalor does not suspect Wanley. As the police gather more evidence, Reed is blackmailed by Heidt, a crooked ex-cop and Mazard's bodyguard. Wanley and Reed discuss the problem, and he concludes that the best way to deal with a blackmailer is to kill him. Wanley gives Reed prescription medicine in powder form for the murder. When Heidt arrives to collect his extorted payment, he suggests that she leave the country with him in exchange for forgetting about the crime. Reed plays along, but Heidt is suspicious when she insists he drink from his tainted cocktail. He angrily takes the money and leaves after deducing her plan. Reed calls Wanley to tell him of the failed attempt, causing him to overdose on the remaining prescription powder in a

suicide attempt A suicide attempt is an attempt to die by suicide that results in survival. It may be referred to as a "failed" or "unsuccessful" suicide attempt, though these terms are discouraged by mental health professionals for implying that a suicide res ...

. Meanwhile, Heidt is killed in a shootout immediately after leaving Reed's home, and police believe that Heidt is Mazard's murderer. Reed, seeing that the police have killed Heidt, races to her home to call Wanley, who is slumped over in his chair and apparently dies. In a

match cut In film, a match cut is a cut from one shot to another where the composition of the two shots are matched by the action or subject and subject matter. For example, in a duel a shot can go from a long shot on both contestants via a cut to a medium ...

, Wanley awakens in his chair at his club, and he realizes that the entire ordeal was a dream in which employees from the club were the main characters. As he steps out on the street in front of the painting, a woman asks Wanley for a light. He adamantly refuses and runs down the street.

Cast

* Edward G. Robinson as Professor Richard Wanley *

as Alice Reed * Raymond Massey as District Attorney Frank Lalor *

Edmund Breon Edmund Breon (born Iver Edmund de Breon MacLaverty; 12 December 1882 – 24 June 1953) was a Scottish film and stage actor. He appeared in more than 130 films between 1907 and 1952. Life and career Born in Hamilton, South Lanarkshire, Br ...

as Dr. Michael Barkstane *

as Heidt/Ted, the Doorman * Thomas E. Jackson as Inspector Jackson, Homicide Bureau *

Dorothy Peterson Bergetta "Dorothy" Peterson (25 December 1897 - 3 October 1979) was an American actress. She began her acting career on Broadway before appearing in more than eighty Hollywood films. Early years Peterson was born in Hector, Minnesota, the dau ...

as Mrs. Wanley * Arthur Loft as Claude Mazard/Frank Howard/Charlie the Hat-Check Man *

Iris Adrian Iris Adrian Hostetter (May 29, 1912 – September 17, 1994) was an American stage, film actress and dancer. Life and career Adrian was an only child, born in Los Angeles, California, to Florence (née Van Every) and Adrian Earl Hostetter, who ...

as Streetwalker

Production

As in Lang's ''

Scarlet Street ''Scarlet Street'' is a 1945 American film noir directed by Fritz Lang. The screenplay concerns two criminals who take advantage of a middle-aged painter in order to steal his artwork. The film is based on the French novel ''La Chienne'' (literal ...

'' (1945), Robinson plays a lonely middle-aged man and Duryea and Bennett co-star as the criminal elements. The two films also share the same cinematographer ( Milton R. Krasner) and several supporting actors. In the final scene, Robinson wore a tear-away suit with his original suit underneath. The crew changed the set behind him to complete the return to his club while Robinson remained in the chair.

Reception

Critical response

When the film was released, the staff at ''

Variety Variety may refer to: Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats * Variety (radio) * Variety show, in theater and television Films * ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont * ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...

'' magazine lauded the film and wrote, "Nunnally Johnson whips up a strong and decidedly suspenseful murder melodrama in ''Woman in the Window.'' The producer, who also prepared the screenplay (from the novel ''Once off Guard'' by J.H. Wallis), continually punches across the suspense for constant and maximum audience reaction. Added are especially fine timing in the direction by Fritz Lang and outstanding performances by Edward G. Robinson, Joan Bennett, Raymond Massey and Dan Duryea." The film holds a 88% rating on

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...

as of May 2022. In August 2015, the online entertainment magazine '' Paste'' named the film the best

of all time.

Awards

At the 18th Academy Awards, ''The Woman in the Window'' was nominated for Best Scoring of a Dramatic or Comedy Picture for

Hugo Friedhofer Hugo Wilhelm Friedhofer (May 3, 1901May 17, 1981) was an American composer and cellist best known for his motion picture scores. Biography Hugo Wilhelm Friedhofer was born in San Francisco, California, United States. His father, Paul, was a ...

and

Arthur Lange Arthur Lange (April 16, 1889 – December 7, 1956) was a United States bandleader and Tin Pan Alley composer of popular music. He composed music for over 120 films, including ''Grand Canary'' and '' Woman on the Run''. Lange shared an Oscar nomi ...

. However,

Miklós Rózsa Miklós Rózsa (; April 18, 1907 – July 27, 1995) was a Hungarian-American composer trained in Germany (1925–1931) and active in France (1931–1935), the United Kingdom (1935–1940), and the United States (1940–1995), with extensi ...

won the award for '' Spellbound'' (1945).1946 Academy Award nominations and winners
for films released in 1945 at Oscar.org

References

External links

* * * *

essay by Spencer Selby at Film Noir of the Week *

Streaming audio

''The Woman in the Window''
on

Lux Radio Theater ''Lux Radio Theatre'', sometimes spelled ''Lux Radio Theater'', a classic radio anthology series, was broadcast on the NBC Blue Network (1934–35) (owned by the National Broadcasting Company, later predecessor of American Broadcasting Company ...

: June 25, 1945
''The Woman in the Window''
on Theater of Romance: March 26, 1946 {{DEFAULTSORT:Woman In The Window, The 1944 films 1944 crime drama films 1940s psychological thriller films American psychological thriller films American black-and-white films Films about dreams 1940s English-language films Film noir Films based on American novels Films directed by Fritz Lang Films set in New York (state) American crime drama films Films with screenplays by Nunnally Johnson Films scored by Arthur Lange 1940s American films