The creepy window
| Movie | |
|---|---|
| German title | The creepy window |
| Original title | The Window |
| Country of production | United States |
| original language | English |
| Publishing year | 1949 |
| length | 73 minutes |
| Rod | |
| Director | Ted Tetzlaff |
| script | Mel Dinelli |
| production |
Frederic Ullman Jr. for RKO Pictures |
| music | Roy Webb |
| camera | Robert De Grasse |
| cut | Frederic Knudtson |
| occupation | |
| |
The uncanny window (original: "The Window" ) is an American thriller in the style of film noir from 1949. It was directed by the director and former cameraman Ted Tetzlaff . The short story The Boy Cried Murder by Cornell Woolrich served as a template .
action
Ed Woodry, his wife Mary and their nine-year-old son Tommy live in humble circumstances on New York's Lower East Side . In the heat of a summer night, Tommy decides to sleep outside by the fire escape of the skyscraper. By chance he must witness how the neighboring couple Kellerson commit the murder of a drunken sailor. Tommy reports the crime to his parents and the police, but nobody believes him, as Tommy is known everywhere for his lively imagination and wild rumors. Everyone assumes he had a nightmare or just wants to be important. His mother even forces him to apologize to the Kellersons. When his mother visits the Kellersons with him, Tommy refuses to apologize. The Kellersons now plan to kill the unwelcome witness as well.
As punishment for his alleged lying story, Tommy is locked in his room while his mother visits her sick sister and the father is on the night shift. The Kellersons kidnap Tommy and try to kill him in a dark back alley, but he escapes first. When the Kellersons catch him again, they get into a taxi with Tommy and pretend to be his parents. Tommy yells at a patrol officer for help, but he is not taken seriously either. The Kellersons lock him up in their apartment and plan their second attempt at murder, but this time Tommy escapes via the fire escape. Mr. Kellerson continues to chase Tommy in cold blood while his wife is increasingly plagued by a guilty conscience.
Meanwhile, Mr. Woodry has returned from work and notices his son's absence. He assumes that Tommy has gone to his mother's house and gets into his car. A desperate Tommy calls after his father, but he doesn't hear him - but Mr. Kellerson, who now knows Tommy's exact whereabouts again through the screaming. On the run from Mr. Kellerson, Tommy finds the body of the dead sailor. During a final argument on the roof of a building in danger of collapsing, Kellerson falls into the depths. Tommy yells for help and is rescued by the police and fire brigade, his parents are now proud of him.
background
The director Ted Tetzlaff had worked as a cameraman in Hollywood since 1926. His last camera work was Alfred Hitchcock's thriller Notorious in 1946 , after which Tetzlaff switched to directing. Hitchcock's influence is also evident in his tense production. For Tetzlaff, Das eheimliche Fenster was his greatest success as a director. With a budget of $ 200,000, The Window was actually a low budget production , but it grossed many times that at the box office.
Cornell Woolrich's short story The Boy Cried Murder was published in 1947. Woolrich was one of the most important figures in hardboiled literature of the 1930s and 1940s, and accordingly his stories served as templates for numerous crime films, especially film noirs . The classic film Das Fenster zum Hof (1954) by Hitchcock was also based on a short story by Cornell, namely It Had to Be Murder from 1942. Das Fenster zum Hof and Das eheimliche Fenster have some parallels: Both are set in summer New York and show a main character whose claim to have observed a nightly murder in the neighborhood is doubted by those around them.
Tetzlaff shot The Window on location in New York City. While the film is actually set in the hot summer, the shooting took place according to Barbara Hale in the winter of 1947/1948 at temperatures around freezing point. So that one could not see the breath of the actors visible through the cold, these pieces of ice had to have been sitting in their mouths, which cooled the oral cavity down. The main actor was ten-year-old Bobby Driscoll , who had become a child star with the Disney film Uncle Remus' Wonderland in 1946 . Since he was under a studio contract with Walt Disney , Driscoll had to be loaned for The Window by him. Therefore, in the opening credits, the addition by special arrangement with Walt Disney can also be seen under Driscoll's name .
Award
Frederic Knudtson was nominated for an Oscar in the category Best Editing ; 12 year old actor Bobby Driscoll received the Academy Juvenile Award . Template source Cornell Woolrich and screenwriter Mel Dinelli received the Edgar Award from the Mystery Writers of America for Best Screenplay.
synchronization
The German dubbing was created in 1950 at the German dubbing department of RKO-Pictures in Berlin. The dubbing was done by Reinhard W. Noack , the dialogue book was written by Richard Busch.
| role | actor | German Dubbing voice |
|---|---|---|
| Tommy Woodry | Bobby Driscoll | Michael Günther |
| Mrs. Mary Woodry | Barbara Hale | Rose-Sybille Lorandt |
| Mr. Ed Woodry | Arthur Kennedy | Ernst Wilhelm Borchert |
| Mr. Joe Kellerson | Paul Stewart | Fritz Ley |
| Mrs. Jean Kellerson | Ruth Roman | Erika Görner |
Reviews
The Window received positive reviews when it was released. The New York Times wrote in the August 9, 1949 issue that Bobby Driscoll's brilliant acting ensured that the film had "striking force and terrifying effect." The film begins rather slowly and carefully builds up the plot, but the climax at the end is overwhelming. Cinema wrote a few decades later that the film was "excellently photographed".
“A thematically unusual crime film of extraordinary density and tension. Above average in camera and presentation. "
Web links
- The Window in the Internet Movie Database (English)
Individual evidence
- ^ The Window at Turner Classic Movies
- ↑ IMDb Locations
- ↑ Barbara Hale in an interview on YouTube
- ↑ The creepy window at the synchronous database
- ↑ The Eerie Window at the New York Times
- ↑ The creepy window at Cinema
- ↑ The Eerie Window. In: Lexicon of International Films . Film service , accessed January 23, 2017 .