RIFLE RANGE BOY: Don't talk to strangers?

The Woman In The Window (1944)

Director: Fritz Lang

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0037469/

Whilst many of Fritz Lang's films, such as 'Metropolis' (1927), 'M' (1931), and 'The Big Heat' (1953), have gained cult status, 'The Window In The Window' remains one of Lang's most unappreciated and underrated offerings.

At the time, when the silver screen was viewed as the root of all evils, and with the strict enforcement of the Hays Code, films had to adhere to stringent moral guidelines. Storylines had to align with societal views on sex, violence, and religion.

This film is a noir piece featuring what could be a femme fatale character and a middle-aged professor whose family has gone out of town for the long weekend. As the good Professor strolls to his gentlemen's club, he chances upon a beautiful portrait of a woman. As luck would have it, the subject appears in person. They chat, go for a drink, and before they know it, he is at her apartment for a nightcap.

As anticipated, an unknown individual burst into the apartment, resulting in a scuffle. The intruder is subdued and subsequently dies. Faced with a deceased body and the dread of police investigations and the associated humiliation, they attempt to dispose of the body.

The rest of the story involves a meticulous account of the Professor hiding his trail while the police poke their inquisitive noses in. Gradually, the audience begins to realise he may have been set up. The plot thickens as the Professor attempts to poison the policeman who is hot on his trail. Things heat up when... the Professor is roused from his forty winks. He had apparently dozed off on the settee of the gentlemen's club. Everything had been a dream.

It appears that the story's ending was a turn-off for Lang's fans. Some termed it 'lame'. The producers must have thought that crafting a narrative involving hiding the body, dodging the police, killing off a policeman and getting away with murder might provoke a standoff with Hollywood's moral authorities. Hence, they toned it down a notch. Everything occurred in the Professor's dream. At the end of the film, the Professor seems to imply that one should not talk to strangers.