The Woman in the Window

Just last week I watched Lang's first Nibelungen, the contrast couldn't be any bigger. Instead of an imaginative, visual spectacle, The Woman in the Window is a very typical noir, including a crummy murder scene, simplistic characters and lots (and I mean, LOTS) of dialogue. What a waste of talent.

Richard is a somewhat unassuming professor, who has been warned not to mingle with femme fatales. When he does, against his own better judgement, a scuffle leads to a murder and the professor is in deep trouble. He suddenly finds himself in a very different world, one where blackmail is the norm.

The performances are pretty weak, the story is just a copy/paste job from a million other noirs, the film is way too long for what is just a very basic plot. No doubt noir fans will find a lot to love here, as the film doesn't really deviate from the genre norm, but I think I could probably do with a little noir timeout right about now.