The Window (1949)

 

THE WINDOW (1949)

By Ralph Santini - ***½

Renowned cinematographer Ted Tetzlaff’s directorial effort “The Window” (1949) is quite possibly one of the finest B Noirs ever made. A modern re-telling of the often popular fairy tale “The Boy Who Cried Wolf” it thrilled and exited me for its entire 73 minutes by watching an excellent story of a young boy named Tommy (marvelously portrayed by future Peter Pan voice Bobby Driscoll) who becomes a witness to murder, when a married couple kill a man in his apartment up top. This will lead him to a tense kidnapping by that same murderous couple and the problem here is that Tommy has been making up mischievous stories, including one that leads their parents nearly losing their apartment because of it, therefore leading Tommy’s own parents not believing him about the true murder.

There is no doubt about why this terrific film noir is highly well-known among, at least, B-movie buffs and that’s because of the brilliant talent behind this gem. Before directing this film, Ted Tetzlaff was the cameraman behind such other treasures, the best example being the finest romantic comedy of all, 1936’s “My Man Godfrey” among others. His last film before his directorial debut with “The Window” is Alfred Hitchcock’s “Notorious” and it’s no wonder why this film can be as Hitchcockian as it can get.

I thought Bobby Driscoll’s portrayal of Tommy represented what might they call an “eye of the storm” so well because he can perfectly portray a boy who likes to tell his cockeyed tall tales to his youngster pals that tragically spans to other adults leading to another couple wanting attempting to move in Tommy’s own apartment. Even if Tommy discovered the murder committed by his own neighbors, known as Mr. and Mrs. Kellerson (Paul Stewart and Ruth Roman, both of them equally brilliant) no one will believe him since he ‘cried-wolf’ so many times; no one but the Kellersons themselves fearing their safety might threatened by Tommy’s realistic reaction to their cold-blooded murder and that’s why they want to kill him in order to get away with it.

This film is also loaded with a couple of more terrific performances by the actors who portray Tommy’s parents, Arthur Kennedy as the father and Barbara Hale as the mother. Another bravura source in this film is the gripping music by Roy Webb. All of these great results lead me to confirm that this film is absolutely compelling and definitely one of 1949’s best films. It demands multiple viewings because I think the filmmakers do an amazing job of making Tommy’s witness to a murder a perilous journey and a gripping experience that leads us wondering what will happen at the end. Strongly recommended, not to be missed.