evanston_dad A fairly routine woman-in-peril movie is elevated a bit above others of its kind by the actors in it: Barbara Stanwyck, George Sanders and Gary Merrill.Stanwyck plays an interior designer who witnesses her neighbor from across the way (Sanders) strangling a woman. She then tries to get the police involved, who dismiss her story due to lack of evidence and the fact that Sanders is a respected gentleman and author. But Sanders wants to make sure they continue to dismiss her, and proceeds to convince Stanwyck that she's crazy and that her story is the result of her hysterical imaginings. Gary Merrill is the detective who believes her, mostly because he falls for her.It's a little bit of "Rear Window" crossed with a little bit of "Gaslight." Sanders is terrific as the unctuous villain (who happens to be a Nazi in hiding, no less), and there's some nice creepy atmosphere generated by the cinematography and score. The movie will never be anywhere near a classic, but it has its merits and is worth 90 minutes or so of your time.Grade: B

dougdoepke The movie shows what a cast and crew of Hollywood veterans could do even as the B-movie was on its last legs. Sure, the material is derivative. For some reason these windowpane murders were popular plot lines at the time, especially with Rear Window (1954). Maybe that's because there's so much built-in suspense to proving that you're not just imagining or dreaming what you think you see. This movie manages the suspense in spades, thanks to journeyman director Rowland, cinematographer Alton, and a near-perfect cast that make it all seem so real.Pity poor Stanwyck! She spies super slick neighbor Sanders throttling a girl, but can't convince the cops since Sanders is ever one step ahead. Meanwhile, Sanders is at his coldly calculating and charming best, while Stanwick wobbles expressively as a woman in distress. Toss in Gary Merrill as a romantically inclined cop, and together they manage to breathe real life into familiar material.Hard to say enough about Alton's expressive photography. Some of those b&w compositions are darn near artistic; at the same time, they lend the dramatics a properly noirish atmosphere. No, there's nothing really new here, but it's so darn well done, you'll hardly notice. I'm just sorry that these intense little human dramas have been replaced on screen by special effects extravaganzas that entertain mainly 12-year olds.

vincentlynch-moonoi I prefer the more mature Barbara Stanwyck...like the one you see in this film. And, there's a fairly strong "second tier" supporting cast, including Gary Merrill, an underrated actor. And the great George Sanders.Stanwyck's character witnesses a murder through her bedroom window -- a la "Rear Window", reports it to the police, but there is no evidence to back up her story. The murderer -- George Sanders. One of the police officers that investigated the murder report is Gary Merrill, who then begins dating Stanwyck. What's scary is how easily Stanwyck was placed in the mental ward when she appears to be trying to frame Sanders, who is an ex-Nazi.I'm not particularly a fan of crime dramas, but this one is well done (despite some goofs, as outlined on this site). UNTIL the climax of the film. Then, while running away from Sanders. who is going to murder her, by making it look as if she committed suicide by jumping out of her bedroom window, Stanwyck decides to flee him by climbing up the stairs inside a sky scraper that is under construction. Really? You'd try to escape a murderer by running into a dead end??? And then, were that not enough, Stanwyck falls off the top of the skyscraper...onto a temporary wooden ledge, which then begins to splinter...and she is rescued by Gary Merrill who grabs her from above, just in the nick of time. Were it not for the ending of the film, I would give it a "7", but this is so dumb an ending that I'm dropping it to a "5". Oh, and while this is a minor matter, keep an eye on the back of Gary Merrill's neck (just behind and below the year) and see how from scene to scene he is rather shaggy (a real wolf man) or clean shaven. Yawn.

HeathCliff-2 As you can tell by my headline, I found this a shockingly inferior film. And sad to experience, as a fan of Barbara Stanwyck, that she had reached the age and stage of her career, where was challenged to bring her craft to inferior scripts and directors. The story was infuriatingly sexist, even for the 50s. Because she is a woman, she is brushed off, and told to calm down. I found Gary Merrill's reprise from All About Eve of the smug man who has to patronizingly calm down the little woman absolutely infuriating. As a side note, he's lucky to have AAE in his credits, because he is a mediocre actor lucky enough to be in a famous picture, and he was the same in every role. Obviously Stanwyck is fine here, as usual. But it's such an implausible absurd story that it's hard to really suspend disbelief, when cops don't do rudimentary investigation into a murder allegation. And Stanwyck's incarceration in the booby hatch was so ridiculous that I just fast forwarded through what looked like outtakes from the Snake Pit. There were plot holes to drive a bus through, and plot contrivances and impossibilities that were eye-rolling. She's running down the street shrieking, and everyone is just compliantly following ? And how many duplicate scenes of a) Merrill telling Stanwyck to calm down and see reason and b) Stanwyck reluctantly agreeing against her instincts. Over. And over. And over. Oh - and for all you folks that love t throw around the word Noir when there is a hint of a) night; b) shadow; c) murder; d) black and white -- those do not Noir make, which require a femme fatale, a weak male (usually), hard-boiled dialogue and (often) Voice-over, and a pervasive cynicism. None of which this film, a murder-suspense, is. Shows you that even an A cast can't overcome a bad script and direction.