The Woman in the Window (1944)

Directed by Fritz Lang. Starring Edward G. Robinson, Raymond Massey, Joan Bennett, Dan Duryea, Edmund Breon, Thomas E. Jackson, Arthur Loft, Dorothy Peterson.

Noir-ish murder melodrama from a J. H. Wallis bestseller (“Once Off Guard”) tells the spiraling story of a mild-mannered psychology professor (Robinson) who spots Bennett’s femme fatale in a window reflection, follows her home, and gets thrown into a murder cover-up. Absorbing nearly every step of the way, even if one can hardly believe all of Robinson’s slips of the tongue in the presence of his district attorney pal (Massey); well-staged and acted, with Bennett and Duryea (as a greasy extortionist) effectively filling classic shady archetypes. Lingers a little too long in the guilt-ridden procedural-style mid-section, but the only major mishap is the twist ending—it may have been novel for the era, and is still lauded in many circles, but it’s not hard to see it as a hacky cop-out today. Robinson, Bennett, Duryea and director Lang would all reunite for another noir drama the following year: Scarlet Street. Written and produced by Nunnally Johnson.

76/100