NYC Noir Double Feature: The Woman in the Window and Laura

My first double feature at the NYC Noir Festival was "The Woman in the Window" and "Laura," both from 1944, and both exploring the fascination that men have with photographs of women that they know nothing about. And while you will have missed the double feature if they only run a day, you can still rent the two of them over the course of the festival and watch them from you're own home. This one has a certain theme running through both films and makes for a great double feature. The first was "The Woman in the Window."

The Woman in the Window ****
Directed by Fritz Lang

Edward G. Robinson stars as Professor Richard Wanley whose wife and children have gone away for a few days on holiday. He mulls this over with his friends who all warn him not to go crazy in their absence, and then they talk about this beautiful woman in a portrait next door. When they leave he goes outside and looks at it, and finds the subject waiting by the picture for the next man to come by. When she invites him back to her place to look at sketches from the artist, he agrees, and what happens next is, of course, the nice enough guy getting involved in something far too deep for him, and far too gritty and violent.

"The Woman in the Window" is an intense ninety minutes, with Robinson doing his best to over him his tracks even though he left so many holes in what he's done. Joan Bennett is fantastic and very easy on the eye as the femme fatale. What I liked about this was that it seemed like a low-key noir at the time. It does not have a flashy musical score, it does not have that many metaphors in the dialogue, and its acted a bit more quietly than "Sweet Smell of Success." To me it felt more like a more independent noir at the time compared to the big ones that came before and after. But it's a lot of fun to watch, its as intense now as it probably was back then, and the sexual undertones of obsession are there in every single scene. And the third act surprise ending will have you laughing for not figuring it out earlier. This is a great great film.

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Laura ***
Directed by Otto Preminger

The more famous of the two films, "Laura" is another tale of sexual obsession and near necrophilia. When detective Mark McPherson falls in love with the victim of a grisly murder, Laura Hunt, he realizes that there was plenty of others in life that were in love with her-and who all had a motive for death. One is Waldo Lydecker (played by a great Clifton Webb), who was jealous of her sometimes engagement to Shelby Carpenter (played by an early Vincent Price, and it was certainly odd to see him as a playboy).

I enjoyed "Laura," but this is certainly one of the more flashy noirs that I was talking about-with a significant theme, bigger names, etc. At times it grew a bit tedious, but the great third act was a real stunner. What I'm noticing about these is that they always have a sucker punch for an ending, not like many of the mysteries now-a-days which flop out by the third act with a ridiculous twist.
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"The Woman in the Window" and "Laura" make a great double feature. Comparing and contrasting similar themes and motifs, they work hand in hand that in 1944 I would have considered one a rip-off of another.

For more information on the NYC Noir Series, visit the Official Film Forum Website!