The Window [Blu-ray]

Director: Ted Tetzlaff Ted Tetzlaff

Overview

Widely regarded as a "model" B-movie thriller, The Window stars Bobby Driscoll as a young boy prone to fibs. Thus, no one believes him when he claims to have seen a murder in a neighboring apartment. No one, that is, except the killers (Paul Stewart and Ruth Roman). Realizing he won't get any help from his parents (Barbara Hale and Arthur Kennedy) or the law, the boy must figure out a way to save himself from being shut up permanently by the murderers. The film's hair-rising and oft-imitated climax, which takes place in a rotting abandoned tenement, has lost none of its edge over the past five decades. A much-needed hit for financially strapped RKO Radio Pictures, The Window was remade in 1960 as The Boy Cried Murder.

Product Details

Release Date:	09/21/2021
UPC:	0883929778171
Original Release:	1949
Source:	Warner Archives
Language:	English
Time:	1:13:00
Sales rank:	24,419

Cast & Crew

Performance Credits

Arthur Kennedy	Mr. Ed Woodry
Barbara Hale	Mrs. Mary Woodry
Bobby Driscoll	Tommy Woodry
Ruth Roman	Mrs. Jean Kellerson
Paul Stewart	Mr. Kellerton
Anthony Ross	Ross
Richard Benedict	Drunken Seaman
Jim Nolan	Stranger on Street
Ken Terrell	Man
Lee Phelps	Police Officer
Eric Mack	Police Officer
Charles Flynn	Police Officer
Budd Fine	Police Officer
Carl Faulkner	Police Officer
Lloyd Dawson	Police Officer
Carl Saxe	Police Officer
Lee Kass	Reporter
Tex Swan	Milkman
Tom Ahearne	Actor
Tom Aheame	Actor
Edgar Small	Actor
Roy Webb	Composer

Technical Credits

Mel Dinelli

Ted Tetzlaff	Director
Mel Dinelli	Screenwriter
Frederic Ullman Jr.	Producer
Russell A. Cully	Special Effects
Dore Schary	Producer
A. Wolcott	Sound/Sound Designer
Terry Kellum	Sound/Sound Designer

Editorial Reviews

There's no fat on The Window, a super-duper thriller that deservedly was voted "Best Mystery of the Year" by the Mystery Writers of America. Window is a taut and terrifying variation on the "boy who cried wolf" story that will keep viewers on the edge of their seats for the entire final half hour of its 73-minute running time. Credit certainly goes to Mel Dinelli's streamlined screenplay, which takes just enough time setting up its characters and situation before pushing the throttle into high gear for the kicks and action. But even more credit should be bestowed on director Ted Tetzlaff, who clearly learned from his work as a cinematographer for Alfred Hitchcock (among others). Teztlaff knows how to get the maximum voltage from every twist and turn, but he also knows how to highlight telling characteristics, as well as the importance of setting and atmosphere. Working with cinematographer William Steiner, Jr., he creates a claustrophobic, heat-ravaged world that is every bit as important as the human characters. Those characters are very well played by adults like Arthur Kennedy and Barbara Hale, but it's young Bobby Driscoll who simply amazes. His is a first rate performance, one of the most perfectly honed of any juvenile performer; there are no false notes, no missteps, no cutesiness. It's a gripping performance in a gripping film.

All Movie Guide - Craig Butler