Noir Archive: Volume 3 a collection of Columbia film noirs, kicks off with The Shadow on the Window, a movie that might be better called noir-adjacent rather than an actual film noir.

Petey, a little boy, is traumatized after witnessing the murder of an elderly farmer and an attack on his mother. Nearly catatonic he runs/wanders off until through a few concerned citizens he is delivered to the police station where the audience learns he is the son of a detective, Tony Atlas, recently separated from his wife. Aware that his wife would never carelessly loose Petey, and that some traumatic events has unbalanced his son, Atlas and the police force begin search for the mother and attempt to unravel the mysterious event in a race against time.

The Shadow on the Window is a straightforward narrative with no unexpected reveals and twists in the plot. Linda Atlas is being held by three thugs who hadn’t intended on murder as part of their robbery and who now argue over how to deal with their captive. Detective Atlas follows leads and clues as he attempts to track back Petey’s course aware that his woofer is in danger but ignorant of enough specifics to effect an immediate rescue. With a short running time of 73 minutes Shadowdoesn’t lag or waste screen-time, always moving forward which helps considerably with its lack of mystery. In my opinion the best noirs often have a reveal in the third act that recontextualizes the previous story elements without that aspect Window plays more like a procedural drama than a murky noir of concealed motivations and alliances. Still, it entertains for the hour and a quarter it plays and the filmmakers throw enough obstacles into Detective Atlas’ investigation that the film has sufficient tension despite its production code enforced ending.