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The Woman in the Window (1944)
Topic Started: Jul 29 2007, 07:30 AM (322 Views)
Laughing Gravy
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When college professor Edward G. Robinson meets a beautiful woman (Joan Bennett) whose portrait he’s been admiring in a window, he finds himself sucked into a maelstrom of murder and suspense.

The Woman in the Window is the best movie I’ve seen in a long time; I didn’t like the ending, but it’s still a great film. (And you’re not going to hear anything else about the denouement from me.) Despite a precognizant warning from his friend the D.A. about what happens to middle aged men when they get bored and make rash decisions about women, Robinson (whose wife and children are away on holiday) gets bored and makes a very rash decision about a woman indeed. When her paramour winds up dead, the game is on to hide the body, cover the crime, and avoid the snoopy cops and the blackmailing Dan Duryea.

Director Fritz Lang raises the film above the typical noir with his brilliant craftsmanship; the scene in which the body is transferred from apartment to car and then via long ride out on the Henry Hudson Parkway is so suspenseful that Hitchcock himself must’ve been impressed.

The Woman in the Window is one of four new DVDs that kick off MGM’s film noir series, and the presentation is flawless, although the DVD is barebones and cries for a knowledgeable commentary. Highly recommended anyway.
"I'm glad that this question came up, because there are so many ways to answer it that one of them is bound to be right." - Robert Benchley
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The Batman
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The film sounds great, LG; and when this MGM release hits the bargain bins (like all bare-bones, cheapo MGM releases do) I will definitely pick it up.
Always be yourself! Unless you can be Batman...then always be Batman!
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igsjr
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I must be one of the few people who've seen this film and have no nitpicks about the ending. I even think it's better than Scarlet Street, which countless movie reviewers believe to be superior to Woman.
"Life is in color--but black-and-white is more realistic..." -- Samuel Fuller, director

So many DVDs...so little time...
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Laughing Gravy
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By the way, Our Gang fans who don't blink will find two of the kids in this film... Mickey Gubitosi (later Bobby Blake) is Robinson's son, and Spanky McFarland (in glasses) is the Boy Scout who discovers the body in the woods.
"I'm glad that this question came up, because there are so many ways to answer it that one of them is bound to be right." - Robert Benchley
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panzer the great & terrible
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Mouth Breather
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Nice to see my man Fritz getting a little credit around here. I didn't like the ending the first time I saw the picture, but it's grown on me. Now I think it's the only ending that would really work.

This is one of those movies that get etched on your memory -- the compositions are that good, and the three leads iconic. Panzer's highest recommendation.
Life is just a bowl of cherries, it's too mysterious, don't take it serious...
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MovieMan
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Balcony Gang, Foist Class
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I saw this one not long ago. My first taste of the lovely Joan Bennett, but I'm glad I didn't actually buy it. I would only watch it once, although the great Edward G Robinson is cast. Anything with him in is definately worth watching. The ending got me though, I didn't see that coming!
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