The Woman in the Window

Directed by Fritz Lang, The Woman in the Window, a black-and-white film noir, is the story of a psychology-professor Wanley (Edward G. Robinson), who, meets and falls in love with a younger woman (the movie's femme fatale). Wanley first sees the portrait of Alice (Joan Bennett) in a store-front window, and then meets the woman herself on the street. After committing murder in self-defense, he finds himself blackmailed by a slick criminal, played by Dan Duryea.

Based on J.H. Wallis' novel Once Off Guard, the film features not one but two surprise twists at the end. As in Lang's Scarlet Street released a year later, Robinson plays the lonely middle-aged man and Duryea and Bennett co-star as the criminal element. Also stars Raymond Massey as a police detective and friend of Wanley.

The category of Film Noir originated in part because of this movie. The term was first applied to American films in articles appearing in French film magazines in 1946, the year when The Maltese Falcon (1941), Double Indemnity (1944), Laura (1944), Murder, My Sweet (1944), and The Woman in the Window were released in France.

The film also recieved a nomination for an Academy Award for Original Music Score.

Quote from the film:

Wanley (Edward G. Robinson): "There are only three ways to deal with a blackmailer. You can pay him and pay him and pay him until you’re penniless. Or you can call the police yourself and let your secret be known to the world. Or you can kill him."

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