Figure 1.--Bobby playing Tommy Woodry wears a long sleeve striped "T" shirt in "The Window". This was a very popular style in America during the 1940s and early 50s.
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Figure 1.--Bobby playing Tommy Woodry wears a long sleeve striped "T" shirt in "The Window". This was a very popular style in America during the 1940s and early 50s. |
Bobby Driscoll plays a boy who witnesses a murder through a window, but no one believes him. The film established Bobby as the dominant boy child star of his era, certainly one of Hollywoods finest child stars. The studios were still dominant in Hollywood, although their importance was waining. Disney "loaned" Bobby to RKO for this film. Many believe this was his finest movie. As a result he received a special Academy Award in 1949. Remade as "The Boy Cried Murder." Bobby wears a long sleeve striped "T" shirt in the film, showing that "T" shirts were not onlt worn in the summer. This was a very popular style in America during the 1940s and early 50s. I'm not sure that it was worn in other countries. In a tragic ending to his life, an adult Driscoll was found dead in an abandoned New York City tenement not unlike the setting of The Window of an apparent drug overdose. He was only 31 years old.
This modest film was a run of the mill B-movie and not expected to be a major movie when it premiered back in 1949, The unexpected popularity of the film resulted in a special Golden Globe and Academy Awards for Bobby Drriscoll's performance as Tommy Woodry, a little boy who witnesses a murder from the fire escape of his New York apartment and no one believes him. The dorector was Ted Tetzlaff who is especially talented with child actors. The Window is not the greatest thriller ever made, but it’s an unpretenious film and lovers of suspense filmswill find it plenty suspensfull. The unexpected success of te film was a welcome surprise for financially strapped RKO Radio Pictures,
The Window is a gem of the "film noir" genre. Film noir was in its heyday in the mid 1940s through the mid 1950s. Typically the setting is a large city--in the United States Los Angeles is probably the favorite location. Black and white is the only medium for film noir; it accents the shabbiness of the scenery so often depicted in these films. Moreover, the shades of grey heighten the "moral ambiguity" of the characters. In film noir the villains are sometimes shockingly cruel, but even the heroes are flawed. This film genre reflected well a nation trying to get back to normal after World War II and its spiritual devastation.
Bobby Driscoll plays Tommy Woodry. The film established Bobby as the dominant boy child star of his era, certainly one of Hollywoods finest child stars. The studios were still dominant in Hollywood, although their importance was waining. Disney "loaned" Bobby to RKO for this film. Many believe this was his finest movie. As a result he received a special Academy Award in 1949. Some in Hollywood thought he should have won Best Actor for his performannce in this film. Bobby's performance makes this film one of those Hollywood classics that film buffs should see. In a tragic ending to his life, an adult Driscoll was found dead in an abandoned New York City tenement not unlike the setting of The Window of an apparent drug overdose.
The adult roles are rather supeficial in this film, which is carried by Bobby. The one stand out is Paul Stewart who gives a good performance as the creepy Mr Kellerson.
Figure 2.--This scence show Tommy reporting the movie to the police. |
Tommy witnesses a murder through a window, but no one believes him. It is based on the classic tale of the boy who cries wolf once too often--Peter and the Wolf. Tommy has an active imagination, even prone to lies. He happens to witnesses an actual murder. Unfortunately the only ones to believe are the the all to real murderers. Tommy didn't seem like a bad boy in the film, just one in need of attention from his harried parents. The
image that stands out in this film is the meanness of life for the people in Tommy's building; their apartments, as their lives, seemed so drab and devoid of comfort. His lies did no have evil intent. He certainly had a big imagination. Many little boys do, but Tommy had become regarded as a "fibber". He told stories to both his friends and even adults. He fibbed shooting "bad guys." Many of his fibs were the kind of things that all little boys dream about--but Tommy didn't keep his dreams to himself. One story about moving out west to a ranch in Texas (after killing all the Indians in a day or two) almost loses his parents their apartment. His father is furious and lays down the law. No more lying, or Tommy will be punished.
Tommy's fibs kept getting him in trouble. His parents were concerned. His parents think he is old enough that he should behave more responsibly. They fear that he is losing tough with reality.
The trouble begins on a hot simmer night. Tommy wanted to sleep outside on the fire escape. This was common in big cities in the years before air conditioning. His mother gave him permission. There wasn't even a breeze outside. He decides to climb up a few flights where he might be able to catch a cool breeze. He starts to fall asleep on a neighbor's fire escape. Suddenly he hears loud noises inside the apartment. Curious, he peeks underneath a window blind and witnesses a murder. He is terrified and rushed back down to his apartment to tell his parents. They of course refuse to believe him. His fibbing has come back to haunt him. He tries hard to convince him that he as seen a murder, bit that just makes his parents angry.
Tommy decideds to go to the police since his parents refuse to believe him. After all his father said, "This is a job for the police." Tommy sneaks out and goes to the local police station. He tells the whole account to a detective who begins to believe him. Unfortunately a patrolman who knows Tommy tells the detective about Tommy's fertile imagination. The detective assumes that the whole story is just a childish prank, but tells Tommy that he will investigate. He takes him home and tells his mother. Of course, this just makes everything worse for him at home.
Figure 3.--Bobby wears jeans with his long sleeve striped, a common combination in America at the time. The costume budget for this film must have been very limited. |
The detective has second thoughts. He was impressed with how concerned Tommy was. He decides to check into it. He concocts a story to get into the neighbor's apartment. A few things look unusual, but there is nothing to confirm Tommy's story. Tommy's mother is furious about the whole incident. She takes the boy to the neighbors, the Kellerson, and insists that he apologize for making up such outlandish stories. Of course, Tommy has finally found people who believes him.
The Kellersons manage to capture Tommy when his mother leaves him alone in the apartment. They question him and see that he did in fact whitness a murder. They decide that he had to be gotten out of the way, but it as to be a plausible accident so as not to draw police suspicion. They knocking Tommy out and place him on the railing of the fire escape so that he will fall off and be killed. They do not realize that he has regained consciousness just as theybplace him precariously on the railing and he manages to get away.
Of course there is a climatic chase scene. Tommy has to figure out how to save himself. Bobby Driscoll played his role very believably. The film watcher can sense his growing fear as he's left alone in the apartment at nightfall with the Kellertons upstairs. The climax is marvelous, as Tommy is at the mercy of Mr. Kellerton, played magnificently by Paul Stewart. Kellerton, cold and calculating, clearly means to kill Tommy, and Tommy knows it. In
this terrible mismatch of strength and cunning, Tommy's situation seemed hopeless. As in many film noir flics, the resolution of the plot comes quickly, and we feel relief. The chase occurs in a rotting abandoned tenement. Tommy hides in the shadows and races through abandoned buildings. Finally he is hanging from a wall. The film's often-imitated climax is a classic--not bad for a B-movie. Of course at the end Tommy assures his parents that he has learned his lesson.
Bobby wears a long sleeve striped "T" shirt in the film, showing that "T" shirts were not onlt worn in the summer. This was a very popular style in America during the 1940s and early 50s. They were popular in the Fall when the weather statrted getting cooler, but in this film Bobby wears them during the summer for some reason. I'm not sure that it was worn in other countries. He wore jeans with his stripped "T"-shirt, a common combination for American boys.
Remade as "The Boy Cried Murder" (1960). The remake was unecessary and not nearly as effective as the original.
A Scottish reader writes, "a great classic suspense film. The way the boy is dressed is exactly how I'd picture an American kid in the 50s - jeans and stipey t-shirts."
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