In many ways, it’s a perfect noir-ish film, with slow-burning tension and surprising plot twists. This movie isn’t going to end the way you might expect, which is both a strength and a weakness.
Edward G. Robinson plays a (married) criminology professor who bristles against Boredom and Middle Age. When his wife and children leave on vacation, he becomes involved with model/femme fatale Joan Bennett after admiring her portrait displayed in a window.
Bennett invites him to her apartment to, ahem, view more sketches. Unhappily for them both, they are unexpectedly interrupted and attacked by Bennett’s jealous lover, and Robinson ends up killing the man in self-defence.
Naturally, the police are not notified due to Robinson’s marriage and career; instead, he decides to dispose of the body himself. But he’s surprisingly clumsy about it – he leaves evidence practically everywhere – and the rest of the movie circles around him like a noose, as police get ever closer to Solving The Crime.
But what’s this now? The dead man’s bodyguard (Dan Duryea) visits Bennett’s apartment with demands for Lots o’ Dough, and a delusional Robinson is convinced he can outmaneuver him. But Duryea, despite his genial demeanour, ain’t no dummy, and it may be he who brings down Robinson before the police do.
Robinson is trapped, and he finally realizes it. He’s so weary of outsmarting everyone (cough cough), he takes an overdose of medicine – only to wake up later and realize the whole thing was Just A Dream.
Raymond Massey blabs about the police investigation. Image: Pinterest
This is where we feel conflicted. The “Just A Dream” ending is kind of a rip-off, especially since everything preceding it has been a Study in Tension.
Look at Robinson’s close friend, district attorney Raymond Massey. Massey’s character is a compulsive blabbermouth; he gleefully tells Robinson the clues the police have uncovered, who the main suspect is, etc. We, the audience, are grateful for Massey’s lack of discretion, because we’re dying to know what the police Know.
So we want the ending to be Realistic.
Alas, Robinson and Bennett have endeared us to their characters, and maybe we don’t want them to suffer a realistic ending. Maybe we want a Magic Formula to solve the situation.
So we want the ending to be Unrealistic.
However, the fairy-tale ending is unfair the the film as a whole, and around we go again.
Yes, filmmakers had to balance the story with what was permissible under the Motion Picture Production Code, but this ending isn’t the Code’s fault. The Code was a challenge to filmmakers to make better films, so that outcomes feel organic. In this case, dismissing everything as a dream is something of a letdown.
(Although, a person can view the film as “the representation of a troubled subconscious”, an idea with merit, as proposed by this thought-provoking review in The Chicago Reader.)
Yet, the underlying theme in this movie remains intact, the ending notwithstanding: Robinson’s character kills a man in self-defence and believes he won’t be Caught.
He thinks he should get away with murder.
Bennett gets chummy with blackmailer Dan Duryea. Image: Haphazard Stuff
The Woman in the Window was nominated for an Oscar (Best Musical Score), and it’s considered to be an early example of what would later be called film noir.
According to IMDb, director Fritz Lang said the ending was his idea “because he felt the idea of [Robinson] committing suicide was too anticlimactic.”
You almost couldn’t ask for a better cast. Robinson is superb as a man who realizes he’s not as smart as he thought; Bennett gives us an untrustworthy woman who survives by her wits; and Duryea is perfect as the smarmy blackmailer. Lang would reunite these three actors in his next film noir, Scarlett Street (1945).
Also: We can’t overlook the understated Massey who seems, at times, to suspect Robinson, but allows himself to be blinded by their friendship.
Now that we’ve spoiled the ending, you may not be inclined to watch The Woman in the Window, but we hope you do. Knowing the outcome doesn’t take away all of the enjoyment.
The Woman in the Window starring Edward G. Robinson, Joan Bennett, Raymond Massey. Directed by Fritz Lang. Written by Nunnally Johnson. International Pictures, 1944, B&W, 107 mins.
I really like the sound of The Woman in the Window even allowing for the Code-enforced ending . Edward G. is always superb isn’t he, although I was surprised to hear he didn’t like making films like this and Scarlett Street, not his type of character, apparently.
You would never know that from his performance, hey? He is so good in this film. I hope you get the chance to see The Woman in the Window. It’s well worth it.
I really can’t believe that the director of shocking M could choose such a relieving and unsatisfying happy ending, maybe the producers, if not the Code, forced him? Anyhow thanks for talking about this movie, it will hopefully help me forget the recent (and horrible) Woman in the Window with Amy Adams (not her fault) I just saw.
It was just a dream?! Ugh! Worst way to end anything ever! Have you seen the other The Woman In The Window based on the novel? Now, that was very good!
What a rubbish ending! Says she who was still glued to Dallas after Pam’s dream. I felt angry about the film I reviewed.. but I dont know if I can say why as I dont want to spoil it for you if you not seeing it. And with Dallas it was nice to see Bobby in the shower but anyway your film looks good and I love your review.
You know I’m all over this one, right? Iffy ending or not, I’m there. You’re review reminds me of that last Newhart episode in Vermont when he wakes up with his wife from the first Bob Newhart show, lol. The entire series of Newhart was all a dream! Wow. They got the idea from this movie, no doubt. I’m surprised I’ve never heard of this until now. See why I need this blog so much?
I did get a chance to see it this afternoon (thanks for the link), and I do understand how you feel. The ending was …..difficult?….after all that, but gosh Ruth, I did like this movie a lot. Somewhere around here I saw a comment that said it deserved another chance to “come to terms” with it. I love that idea.
The first time I saw Woman in the Window I was very disappointed in the ending. However, having seen it twice again, I love the movie so much I’ve come to terms with the ending. Actually, taken on its own terms, the very end with Robinson saying “Oh no!” and running off is quite humorous. Not exactly a noir ending, enjoyably tongue in cheek.
My 6th-grade English teacher would call that a “garbage truck ending,” which is when the main character of a story gets run over by a garbage truck because the author couldn’t figure out what else to do. I’m sure I’d feel the same way about the ending as you did.
The ending could be seen as much-needed relief, I suppose, but it also seems so jarring, compared to the rest of the film. If you get the chance to see it, I’d love to know what you think.
It’s a strange ending for a thriller, but it certainly is a relief after all the tension. I like your example of The Wizard of Oz, which works perfectly as a dream.
Twist endings weren’t as prevalent in the 1940s and earlier as compared to later fare like Invaders from Mars in the following decade. I think one needs to keep that in mind when watching this film. That said, Lang came up with a better way to circumvent the Hays Code in Scarlet Street.
I can imagine this with a sort of Brian DePalma ending – Robinson wakes up from his overdose, realizing it was all a dream. Then he wakes up from THAT dream, and realizes he’s lying on a cot in a jail cell. Fade out.
I actually like this and Scarlet Street very much (but Scarlet Street gets the edge because it doesn’t cop out). The first time I saw Woman in the Window was at a campus classic film festival. There was a group of students behind me who were there to get extra class credit. When they realized it was black and white, they started complaining loudly, as if they were being tortured. They ignored me when I tried to shush them, so I ended up moving as far away as possible. 🙂
Even though the ending to Woman in the Window was code dictated, I found a way to embrace it. It was easy for me to accept the noirish idea that all of this tension and intrigue and criminality lay inside the mind of such a mild-mannered fellow as the professor. How many of us “normal” people harbour such bitter and frightening thoughts?
It is a spoonful of sugar that helps the medicine go down in future viewings.
It feels good to be home and I hope to get into a regular writing/posting routine. It might take longer than I would like as I appear to be at that stage where the mind thinks it can do things the body is shaking its head at!
Silver Screenings 
Wonderful review. And I absolutely agree.
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Thanks so much! If only the ending of this film were different…
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I really like the sound of The Woman in the Window even allowing for the Code-enforced ending . Edward G. is always superb isn’t he, although I was surprised to hear he didn’t like making films like this and Scarlett Street, not his type of character, apparently.
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You would never know that from his performance, hey? He is so good in this film. I hope you get the chance to see The Woman in the Window. It’s well worth it.
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I really can’t believe that the director of shocking M could choose such a relieving and unsatisfying happy ending, maybe the producers, if not the Code, forced him? Anyhow thanks for talking about this movie, it will hopefully help me forget the recent (and horrible) Woman in the Window with Amy Adams (not her fault) I just saw.
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It sounds like the Amy Adams Woman in the Window isn’t getting many rave reviews, which is too bad.
As for the Fritz Lang film, I hope you can see it. Despite the ending, Lang proves his skill at building and maintaining suspense.
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It was just a dream?! Ugh! Worst way to end anything ever! Have you seen the other The Woman In The Window based on the novel? Now, that was very good!
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I haven’t seen the one based on the novel, but I’ll watch for it… as long as it doesn’t end as a dream – haha.
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No, it definitely doesn’t!
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What a rubbish ending! Says she who was still glued to Dallas after Pam’s dream. I felt angry about the film I reviewed.. but I dont know if I can say why as I dont want to spoil it for you if you not seeing it. And with Dallas it was nice to see Bobby in the shower but anyway your film looks good and I love your review.
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Thanks, Gill! I’ll be by your fab site later this weekend. I’m keen to see what you’ve chosen.
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Looking forward to seeing you!
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You know I’m all over this one, right? Iffy ending or not, I’m there. You’re review reminds me of that last Newhart episode in Vermont when he wakes up with his wife from the first Bob Newhart show, lol. The entire series of Newhart was all a dream! Wow. They got the idea from this movie, no doubt. I’m surprised I’ve never heard of this until now. See why I need this blog so much?
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Haha – I’ve seen that episode of Newhart, and it is brilliant.
I hope you can see this film. It’s really quite good…and who knows? Maybe you’ll be OK with the ending.
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I did get a chance to see it this afternoon (thanks for the link), and I do understand how you feel. The ending was …..difficult?….after all that, but gosh Ruth, I did like this movie a lot. Somewhere around here I saw a comment that said it deserved another chance to “come to terms” with it. I love that idea.
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So glad you saw it & liked it. And I think you’re right – it does deserve another chance to accept the ending, and that’s what I’m going to do.
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The first time I saw Woman in the Window I was very disappointed in the ending. However, having seen it twice again, I love the movie so much I’ve come to terms with the ending. Actually, taken on its own terms, the very end with Robinson saying “Oh no!” and running off is quite humorous. Not exactly a noir ending, enjoyably tongue in cheek.
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You’re right about that last scene. I guess it is much-needed relief after all the tension.
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I will only permit one It Was Just a Dream in my life and that is Alice in Wonderland because it makes comments on society and manners.
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That’s a really good point. The Just A Dream scenario suits that story so well, of course. Plus the social commentary, as you mentioned.
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My 6th-grade English teacher would call that a “garbage truck ending,” which is when the main character of a story gets run over by a garbage truck because the author couldn’t figure out what else to do. I’m sure I’d feel the same way about the ending as you did.
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The ending could be seen as much-needed relief, I suppose, but it also seems so jarring, compared to the rest of the film. If you get the chance to see it, I’d love to know what you think.
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I haven’t seen this one. A dream ending is ok for something like The Wizard Of Oz. But for a thriller it isn’t.
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It’s a strange ending for a thriller, but it certainly is a relief after all the tension. I like your example of The Wizard of Oz, which works perfectly as a dream.
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Twist endings weren’t as prevalent in the 1940s and earlier as compared to later fare like Invaders from Mars in the following decade. I think one needs to keep that in mind when watching this film. That said, Lang came up with a better way to circumvent the Hays Code in Scarlet Street.
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Good point. Thanks, Rick.
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I can imagine this with a sort of Brian DePalma ending – Robinson wakes up from his overdose, realizing it was all a dream. Then he wakes up from THAT dream, and realizes he’s lying on a cot in a jail cell. Fade out.
I actually like this and Scarlet Street very much (but Scarlet Street gets the edge because it doesn’t cop out). The first time I saw Woman in the Window was at a campus classic film festival. There was a group of students behind me who were there to get extra class credit. When they realized it was black and white, they started complaining loudly, as if they were being tortured. They ignored me when I tried to shush them, so I ended up moving as far away as possible. 🙂
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Ha! I LOVE your Brian DePalma ending. Brilliant.
And those poor students, watching a B&W movie for extra class credits. Some profs are so harsh, right?
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Wonderful review! I haven’t seen The Woman in the Window yet.
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Thanks, Diane. It’s a movie with top-notch suspense.
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Even though the ending to Woman in the Window was code dictated, I found a way to embrace it. It was easy for me to accept the noirish idea that all of this tension and intrigue and criminality lay inside the mind of such a mild-mannered fellow as the professor. How many of us “normal” people harbour such bitter and frightening thoughts?
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Very plausible indeed.
P.S. Hope all is well. 🙂
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It is a spoonful of sugar that helps the medicine go down in future viewings.
It feels good to be home and I hope to get into a regular writing/posting routine. It might take longer than I would like as I appear to be at that stage where the mind thinks it can do things the body is shaking its head at!
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You’ve made me want to watch this film, and I’d never heard of it before!
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I hope you het the chance to see it. This film really does have a lot of merits.
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I love the film but thoroughly agree with this.
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Thanks! It’s a great film with terrific suspense, isn’t it? It’s just too bad about the ending…
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