Day 174 - The Woman in the Window

The Woman in the Window (1944) directed by Fritz Lang

Lately I've been having severe writer's block. I still enjoy watching the movies but writing has been a huge drag. I'm almost certain that it's because I've been watching movies before I go to bed super late rather than in the middle of the day. It makes me anxious to get through the write-up so I can finally go to sleep. I've been sort of busy lately but as soon as I have things settled down hopefully I'll get back into my groove.

So today I watched The Woman in the Window, a good old fashioned film noir directed by Fritz Lang. I can always count on these movies to be entertaining even if a bit formulaic. This follows the recipe of the guy and the girl who just meet and end up going into cahoots with each other in some nefarious scheme. Then they spend the rest of the movie trying to not get caught. I've probably described half of all film noir films ever made right there, but who cares? They're always so fun to watch.

So one night Joan and Richard meet each other and apparently they hit it off because she invites him up to her place for drinks. I only mention this with a little bit of bitterness because I don't think I've ever been invited up after the first meeting. Anyways, they're up there chilling out when suddenly Joan's lover comes storming in drunk as a mutha. Richard and this guy get into a fight and oops! The lover gets shanked with a pair of scissors. Joan and Richard are surprisingly calm in the aftermath and quickly devise a plan to cover it all up and dump the body. Richard isn't exactly Dexter Morgan nor has he seen an episode of CSI, so I guess we can excuse him for being a little sloppy. Too bad the cops aren't as forgiving. It is only a matter of time before the killers get caught... Or is it? Watch to find out!

The film starts off a little slow but once the dude gets killed, it becomes a pretty suspenseful thriller pretty much till the very end. I don't want to ruin the ending as there is a twist but I thought the ending was a little bit of a cop out. Apparently Lang had to film this over the original ending because it didn't align with the Production Code of the time. I don't necessarily mind though since it doesn't necessarily change the mood or tone of the film.

Can't think of much else. Solid film noir.

Grade: B