Directed by Fritz Lang The Woman in the Window is a noir film about a married professor (Edward G. Robinson) who becomes fascinated by the subject of an oil painting hanging nears his gentlemen’s club. The subject, a lovely dark-haired woman (Joan Bennet) also fascinate the professor’s two pals, the city’s district attorney and a physician. A late-night chance encounter brings the professor and the subject together while the professor’s family is out on vacation for a week. They become friendly and her returns to her apartment to see sketches of her by the painting’s artist. An unexpected entrance by a mysterious and violent man end in the stranger’s death and to avoid professional ruin and unwanted questions the professor and the subject conspire to dump the body and never see each other again to hide any association with the killing. Naturally right from the start things unravel and both characters find themselves racing to stay ahead of bot the law and criminal elements.

The Woman in the Window is a tight, taunt noir that I watched on one of Roku’s free streaming channels dedicated to noir movies. The acting was top notch, the tension built wonderfully as the professor’s ignorance of police procedures and his friend’s ability as district attorney closed the nose around the pair. And yet I cannot truly recommend this movie. In the final minutes the script falls apart, perhaps in a bid to avoid trouble with the MPAA Production code and left me with an utterly unsatisfying resolution to the what had been a thrilling experience. I cannot tell you what the final ending is without massive spoilers and it may work for you but be warned it cheats.