The Woman in the Window (MGM Film Noir)

Lang was an expert at turning the screws of suspense, and while Johnson's screenplay tempers its convenient coincidences with well-written characters, Robinson's increasing desperation is the engine that drives the plot. When a sleazy blackmailer (Dan Duryea) squeezes Wanley and Reed for every penny they've got, The Woman in the Window winds up to a fever pitch, with a "twist" ending that's either a cop-out or clever, depending on your tolerance for now-familiar surprises. As renowned critic Pauline Kael astutely noted, The Woman in the Window has "the logic and plausibility of a nightmare," and Lang surely enjoyed the superbly cast trio of Robinson, Bennett, and Duryea, for he invited them back for Scarlet Street just a few months later. And speaking of murder, check out the kid playing Robinson's son in one of the opening scenes: that's future real-life murder-conspiracy suspect Bobby (Robert) Blake (subsequently acquitted), at the innocent age of 10. --Jeff Shannon

Product Description
In this tense melodrama a meek college professor gets mixed up in murder and blackmail. After his wife and kids leave for vacation in Maine Professor Richard Wanley remains behind on his own. En route to his club he's riveted by a painting he sees in a store window. It's a portrait of a beautiful woman and he's shocked when he realizes that the picture's model--Alice Reed--is standing right next to him. Wanley innocently goes to Reed's apartment to look at other pieces of art when an angry man breaks in. After accusing Alice of cheating on him the stranger attempts to harm the professor. But Wanley defends himself by stabbing his attacker who it turns out is a famous financial promoter. The professor and the model then cover up the crime by dumping the body in the woods. The police eventually do find out about the death and they start an investigation; meanwhile the professor tries desperately to figure out a way out of this mess. Then it turns out that someone else knows what happens...and intends to blackmail Wanley and Reed.System Requirements:Running Time: 99 Mins.Format: DVD MOVIE Genre: DRAMA UPC: 027616081070 Manufacturer No: M108107