The Woman In The Window Masters of Cinema edition

The war years saw Hollywood's leading men unavailable - Clark Gable, James Stewart, and many others, were otherwise occupied. At this point, some of the better character actors stepped up to starring roles they might not otherwise have gotten. The darkness of the war years also did a bit to loosen the grip of the production code by allowing darker plots than would otherwise pass inspection, but the evildoers still had to be punished in the end. This began the trend of "film noir" - related to their predecessors, the precodes, by examining the seedy side of life, but emphasizing the duality of man's nature rather than the sexual angles and the evolving roles of women and men in society as the films of the early 30's tended to do."The Woman in the Window" is a great film noir starring the great Edward G. Robinson as a mild mannered New York City professor. He packs his wife and kids off to the country at the beginning of the summer as was the custom back before the days of air conditioning, and he begins his three month bachelorhood by joining two friends at his private club, one of which is D.A. Frank Lalor (Raymond Massey). Before entering his club, though, he appreciates a painting of a beautiful woman, "the woman in the window". His two friends see him staring, kid him about it, and they proceed to have a conversation in which the D.A. talks about how many cases he sees in which a small wrong step by an ordinarily law-abiding citizen leads to major crime.The rest of the film is basically a demonstration of what the D.A. spoke about when you mix Robinson's mild professor with the actual flirtatious woman in the window (Joan Bennett), add a case of homicide in self-defense under seemingly scandalous circumstances where there is no way to prove self-defense, and finally introduce a seedy blackmailing P.I. (Dan Duryea) into the mix. The film has many twists and turns and you can feel your guts wrenching along with Robinson's as he watches the police come closer and closer to his door with every update he gets from his friend the D.A. who thinks he is just sharing an interesting case with a professor of criminology.The end then takes a sharp turn and totally surprises you.This film was so good that Fritz Lang followed it up the following year with an even better effort - Scarlet Street - with Robinson, Duryea, and Bennett playing similar parts as they did in this film. There's even a painting as a central plot point in this second film as well.The video and audio are terrific quality in this film. My only complaint is the same one I have with most MGM classic releases - absolutely no extras whatsoever. All you have are scene selections and alternate language selections. Highly recommended anyways, but be sure you follow it up by watching "Scarlet Street".

Just what I wanted

I have just recieved this Blu-ray of "The Woman In The Window" and I liked it very much. I seen this film when I was a kid in the theatre and it always stuck in my mind.It fascinated me as a kid. And through the years I knew it was available in the VCR and DVD formats, but I hoped someday it would be released in Blu-ray and it finally has so I purchased it and I'm not sorry. The Blu-transfer is good.Edward G. Robinson is always terrific weather he's playing a gangster or a mild manner stiff like he does in this film. Joan Bennett is always good and I always thought she was an underrated actress. Joan and Edward G. were both A lister's in the 40's. They also made another film together called "Scarlet Street" directed by the same director who directed this film Fritz Lang.The film starts off with a bang in the begining but slows down for what a filn student would call 'for shadow'. but then it picks up again with a lot of suspence. I shall reveal no more because I want a future viewer to enjoy the movie. This is what you may call 'film noir' in all it's glory.Now the only complaint I have is not the film, but the way Amazon packages their movie & CD's to be sent out. I wish they would send them out in a cardboard box or something sturdier than those large oversize 'bags' I call them. Even with the bubble wrap inside the DVD case's can get broken or cipped. A collector does not like this and I'm sure that with enough complaints from their customers they would do something about this.

This review is for the MGM/UA VHS version of Woman in the Window. If you hunt around, you can still find brand-new VHS tapes from Amazon-affiliated merchants and other sources. I bought the VHS because the DVD, which is also out of print (except in colorized and DVD-r and Korean versions), is currently ridiculously expensive.My copy, which was advertised as new and sealed, was in fact new (still had a paper advertising insert for James Bond VHS tapes from years ago!) and it plays fine. There are no flaws or glitches on the mechanical side, and the image is clean and clear. If there are any sparkles, tiny breaks in the continuity, etc., I didn't notice them or they didn't affect my enjoyment. The sound was no problem.WARNING regarding Run Time: The tape is advertised on the back cover of the cardboard sleeve as 1 hour, 39 minutes, i.e., 99 minutes. It is important to know this, because currently the Amazon ad (I have since submitted a correction, but don't know how long it takes to process) says that the VHS is 107 minutes. I in fact ordered the tape because 107 minutes is the run time listed on the IMDb, and I wanted the longest available edition. I was therefore surprised when the tape arrived, and the jacket clearly indicated only 99 minutes. I have since tried to find a 107-minute version, but to no avail. Today I was able to view the back cover of the DVD version on Amazon and it also indicates only 99 minutes, which means that again the Amazon site information is wrong, since the DVD edition is listed at 107 minutes. I've submitted a correction for that, too.I have been unable to find out if a longer version ever existed. There is no obvious gap in the plot in the version I have; however, the opening lecture given by Robinson's university professor character is suspiciously short, lasting only a few seconds. I suspect that in the original film it lasted a few minutes, and touched on some of the psychological themes (the prof is a psychology prof) relevant to the murder that later takes place in the film. It seems to me that a commentator on the Scarlet Street DVD or elsewhere refers to Freudian themes in Robinson's lecture, but I can't find those comments now. Anyhow, if anyone out there has any information on the "missing" 8 minutes of this film, please append a reply to my review below.The movie itself is good. It has an interesting plot, engaging characters, and solid acting. It is well worth watching. The ending is one that some will find unsatisfactory -- some would call it "gimmicky" or a cop-out or one that disqualifies the film as a true noir. More than that I cannot say, without spoiling it. Nonetheless, the ending is merely a twist which alters the viewer's final mood; it does not spoil the plot or story line itself, so if even if you don't like the ending you can still enjoy the entire film except for the ending.Many have said that this film is inferior to Scarlet Street, Lang's other film of the period with the same actors. Possibly this is true, though if you take away the dubious ending, I think the films are close to equal in quality. Scarlet Street's plot is more complex, no doubt about that, and probably the characterization is more complex as well. That is probably why Woman in the Window is not quite as good *as a film noir* as Scarlet Street. But if one forgets about the noir classification, Woman in the Window stands on its own as a very good Lang, Robinson, Bennett, etc. psychological crime story. It's not a Top Ten Noir, not even a Top Ten murder story, but it is a very good story. Recommended.

Obra prima do gênero "Noir", direção impecável, figurinos perfeitos, excelentes atores e um final surpreendente. Vale a compra.

Edward g Robertson gives an excellent performance in this movie and of suspense excellent movie of its time

Un des grands classiques de Fritz Lang à Hollywood. Joan Bennett, Edward G. Robinson (vu aussi dans Le Petit César, Assurance sur la mort, Key Largo, etc...) et Dan Dureya seront réunis à nouveau dans La Rue Rouge (Scarlet Street) tourné juste après par Lang. Les films étant excellents, je conseille aux fans d'acheter le coffret qui regroupe les deux films et aussi un livret qui donne des détails sur le tournage.

Buenisimo cine negro,sin esperanza.Sin embargo,prefiero el Fritz Lang de cuando vivia en Alemania.La mujer del cuadro,es una pelicula, redonda,perfecta.Con un final,genial

The Woman in the Window is one of the film noirs that contributed to the reputation of Fritz Lang as one of the all time great film noir directors. A relatively simple story, it nevertheless gives the marvellous entertainment one expects from such a film noir by the charisma of its characters and the suspense driven direction of its director.This film has one of the best film noir casts you'll ever find. Edward G. Robinson, Raymond Massey, Joan Bennett, and Dan Duyrea are exceptional in this film. It is particularly a real treat to view Dan Duyrea at his sinister best and Raymond Massey looking suspiciously at Edward G. Robinson. Joan Bennett appears to be too nice a gal to play the mistress/call girl, but she still does a fine job in her role.This film, along with Scarlet Street, is probably the best film noir Fritz Lang ever directed. Simply one of the best film noirs you are ever going to view.