Tuesday, March 27, 2012

The Window (1949).


The Window(1949). Film noir, based on the short story "The Boy Cried Murder" by Cornell Woolrich. The film was directed by Ted Tetzlaff, who worked as a cinematographer on another suspense film, Alfred Hitchcock's, Notorious (1946). Cast: Bobby Driscoll, Barbara Hale, Arthur Kennedy, Ruth Roman and Paul Stewart.

After Tommy, falsely brags about moving to Texas, the landlord of the building has a young couple come up to look at their apartment, in hopes that they will be the new tenants. Tommy, is told by his parents if you "cry wolf", once too often and no one will believe you when you're telling the truth" and sends him to bed.

Tommy, too hot to sleep, decides to take the fire escape on the top floor of his apartment building. There he can see into Joe and Jean Kellersons' apartment. Tommy, watches while Joe searches through the pockets of an unconscious man, who comes to and starts a fight. After.. Joe stabs and kills him, Tommy rushes to his mother and tells her about the murder. Mary, believes that it was only a nightmare and sends him back to bed. Tommy, then remembers that he left his pillow on the fire escape and when he goes to retrieve it sees the Kellersons getting rid of the body.

The next morning, when his father gets home from working the night shift, Tommy tells his father about the Kellersons. Frustrated, His father tells him to stop making up stories.


Tommy, sneaks out of the apartment and goes to the police station. There he tells detectives about the murder. One of the detectives, decides to check out Tommy's story, but first talks to his mother. Mary, tells the detective that Tommy had only a nightmare. The detective decides to go ahead and check out the Kellersons. Posing as a repair estimator, Ross looks around the rundown apartment, but finds nothing suspicious. Mary takes Tommy upstairs to apologize to the Kellersons'.

That evening, Mary receives a telegram from her brother-in-law, informing her that her ill sister needs her. Believing the Kellersons sent the telegram, Tommy begs his mother to take him with her. Tommy, scared and angry writes a goodbye note and is headed out the door when his father unexpectedly returns and locks him in his bedroom.

As soon as Ed leaves, Joe breaks into the Woodrys' apartment, where Tommy blurts out everything he knows and is forced into an alley by the Kellersons. Will Tommy escape with his life?


Child star Bobby Driscoll,(March 3, 1937 – March 1968)  gives a perfect performance, in this very chilling movie about a 9 year old boy who has to live with his fears. I did not recognize him at first as a child actor known for work in cinema and TV performances from 1943 to 1960. He starred in some of The Walt Disney's popular films: Song of the South (1946), So Dear to My Heart (1948), and Treasure Island (1950). He served as animation model and provided the voice for the title role in, Peter Pan (1953). In 1950, he received an Academy Juvenile Award for outstanding performance in feature films.

10 comments:

  1. This sounds like a very good movie, Dawn. Thanks so much for highlighting it!! I am definitely going to keep my eyes open for this one.

    Bobby didn't have a very long life, did he? It's always sad to see people passing away at such a young age.

    Hope you're having a great day,
    Patti

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  2. After his body was found by two children, his identity was unknown and he was buried as a "John Doe" in pauper's grave. A year later, fingerprints revealed his true identity.

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  3. He was an appealing child actor, so it's sad what became of him. Great movie, glad you shared it.

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  4. You raise a lot of questions here. Have you ever noticed how the best film noir are based on Cornell Woolrich stories? Have you ever noticed how many "favourite" movies were directed by Richard Fleischer?

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  5. Caftan Woman, That is very interesting observation. I will pay more attention.

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  6. I enjoyed this preview, as I have a ticket to see it at the Noir City festival in Hollywood next month -- as a matter of fact, it's on a triple bill of films based on Cornell Woolrich stories! Going to be a fun night. (The other titles are PHANTOM LADY and BLACK ANGEL.) Woorich is a name I've become aware of just in the last year or so.

    I've never seen THE WINDOW but I've recently seen Ruth Roman in a number of films so this will fit right in!

    Best wishes,
    Laura

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  7. Laura, you are one lucky girl. Have a wonderful time at the, Noir City festival in Hollywood next month. I hope you write a post telling us all about your adventures. I would love to read about them.

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  8. This looks like a great movie! Sadly, It's not on Netflix, I'll have to keep my eyes open for showings of this one.

    -B

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  9. I actually hate Bobby Driscoll in this movie (child actors in general tend to be a problem for me), but otherwise I think it's a fantastic film. It would probably be one of my top noirs if not for Driscoll. My write-up is here: http://martinteller.wordpress.com/2011/07/03/the-window/

    I found this review through LAMB. I look forward to checking out more of your blog!

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  10. Mighty B, I hope that you can catch next time it comes on TCM.

    martinteller, thank you for stopping by. I will stop by your blog and check out your "THE WINDOW" movie review.

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