Review of The Window

The tenements of New York City come to life in this tense film noir where the protagonist is an adolescent who starts off as the antagonist. Pre-teen Bobby Driscoll makes up stories with the frequency of a gossip columnist, usually involving his innocent neighbors. This gets his parents (Barbara Hale and Arthur Kennedy) in trouble, and they wonder how to handle his tall tales. It goes from bad to worse on a hot summer night when Driscoll climbs up to the top of the fire escape where he witnesses the married couple on the top floor having an argument with the stranger, and the husband stabbing the man to death. Stunned by viewing this, Driscoll rushes to tell his parents who of course do not believe him. After running to the police to tell him of what he witnessed, Driscoll is forced by his mother to apologize to the killer's wife and he becomes paranoid that the neighbors will target him next. When he is left alone by his working father while his mother is tending a sick relative, Driscoll's worst nightmare comes true when real danger shows its ugly face.

The dark set of the slums take on a look of character (and almost becomes a character itself) as Driscoll tries to save himself, and the photographer and editor work overtime to create a tension that is often frightening and seldom surpassed by other similarly filmed stories. Children rarely get the focus in such a tale, and of course, the psychological ramifications of why he lies in the first place is dealt with, and how his parent's daily distractions make him feel neglected. This is a "sleeper" of film noir greatness, an extremely short motion picture that shows good things come in small packages and that frequently, less is often more.