Plantiana Yawn. Poorly Filmed Snooze Fest.

Beystiman It's fun, it's light, [but] it has a hard time when its tries to get heavy.

Forumrxes Yo, there's no way for me to review this film without saying, take your *insert ethnicity + "ass" here* to see this film,like now. You have to see it in order to know what you're really messing with.

Numerootno A story that's too fascinating to pass by...

bsmith5552 "The Shadow On the Window" was another of those tight little 80 minute film noires turned out by Columbia Pictures in the 1950s. It has a good cast and provides a lot of excitement.A little boy, Petey (Jerry Mathers) witnesses a murder and the abuse of his mother through a window of an isolated house where the mother Linda Atlas (Betty Garrett) had gone to work as a stenographer. The crime was committed by a gang of three youths, Gil Ramsay (Corey Allen), Jess Reber (John Barrymore Jr.) and the simple minded Joey Gomez (Gerald Sarracini). Petey goes into shock and wanders aimlessly down the highway where he is picked up by a trucker and brought to the police.The gang had broken into the home of a wealthy senior citizen to rob him. When he resisted, he was killed. The gang is unaware of the boy and thinks that his mother is bluffing. The boy's father Tony Atlas (Phil Carey) just happens to be a police detective. Together with his colleagues he begins to try and find his wife while at the same time, trying to reach his son.At the house, the gang is deciding what to do next. Having no car they are unable to leave. They ponder over "what to do with the dame". Jess favors doing away with her, while Gil the leader, does not. Neither does the hulking Joey who threatens bodily harm to anyone who touches her.Tony identifies the members of the gang through police work. In the meantime, Gil leaves to obtain a car but is surprised by Tony and the police. Back at the house, Jess gets a hold of the murdered man's gun and...................................................Phil Carey was never able to achieve "A" player status in the movies. He did get the occasional lead as here, but was mostly as a supporting player in westerns and cops and robbers dramas. He did however, achieve success on TV in the soap opera "One Life to Live" for the last 30 years or so of his life. Betty Garrett had a good career in the 40s in various musicals and comedies. She was however, married to actor Larry Parks ("The Jolson Story") who was blacklisted by House on Un-American Activities Committee (HUDAC) in the early 50s. She, by association was also put on the black list for a number of years. Her casting in this film was only her second film in years. John Barrymore Jr. was the son of the famous actor who's behavior was erratic to say the least. He changed his name to John Drew Barrymore in 1968 and is the father of actress Drew Barrymore.Also in the cast were Sam Gilman, Rusty Lane and Paul Picerni as various cops and Angela Stevens and Mort Mills as the dead man's niece and husband. Jerry Mathers of course, will be forever known as "the Beaver" in the hit television series, "Leave it to Beaver" (1957-63).

kapelusznik18 ***SPOILERS*** A pre "Leave it to Beaver" 8 year old Jerry Mathers as Petey Atlas finds himself in the middle of a murder & kidnapping when he stumbles across these three juvenile delinquents, which they were known as back in the 1950's, who after beating the owner of the house Ben Canfield, Watson Downs, to death took his mom Linda Atlas, Betty Garerett, who was there looking for a job hostage. Traumatized by what he saw Petey loses both his voice & memory of the tragic incident and is picked up, aimlessly walking down the highway, by a couple of truckers who take him to the nearest truck depot in order to both identify him and find his parents. As it turned out the cop who's in charge, or better yet took charge, in finding Petey's mom is non other that his dad Officer Tony Atlas, no relations as far as I can see to Charles, played by that handsome hunk or a man Phil Carey.Back at the Canfield house the three juveniles lead by psycho Jess Reber, John Barrymore Jr, and his two pals the sensitive but at the same time maniacal Joey Gomaz, Gerald Sarracini, who in fact brained Mr. Canfield to death and all American looking Gil Ramsby, Cory Allen, try to make their way out with the $6,000.00 they ripped off the murdered Mr. Canfield. But with them facing the San Quentin gas chamber, for murder & kidnapping, their chances of surviving a major police as well as FBI manhunt aren't that good.****SPOILERS**** It's the crazed jess Reber who tries to take command of the trio who's crazy actions ends up doing both Gomez & Ramsby in with them never living long enough to see the end of the movie. Gomaz ended up getting killed, by him trying to protect Mrs. Atlas, by Reber and Ramsby getting shot by the police in refusing to give himself up when surrounded by them! Reber the one who planned to go down in a blaze of glory ended up meekly giving himself up and releasing Mrs. Atlas when he saw that his goose was cooked with her husband Officer Tony Atlas pointing a gun to his head after slapping him silly! As for the "Beaver" or Petey Atlas in the end he was not only reunited with his parents, who also reunited after being divorced, but also got his voice and memory back as well.P.S Actor Cory Allen who co-stared with James Dean in "Rebel without a Cause" had the unenviable distinction of not only having his co-star James Dean in the movie die tragically in a car accident a week before the film was released but also had his co-star here Gerlad Sarracini tragically die in trying to prevent a mugging outside a Manhattan night-club restaurant some eight months after the movie "the Shadow in the Window"-that he stared in with Sarracini-was also released!

mark.waltz Several years before this came out, Columbia had made an above average thriller called "The Night Holds Terror", a definite copy-cat of "The Desperate Hours" where a traveling businessman ends up giving a lift to a group of thugs who hold his family hostage, and here, it happens again, albeit with several dramatic changes. It's "All in the Family" for Philip Carey (who once played Archie Bunker's gay football player friend in a first season episode) and Betty Garrett (Archie's nemesis, Irene) who are separated due to her desire to go back to work. The opening scene has their son (Jerry Mathers, as different as Beaver as you can get!) spying his mother being thrown to the ground during a struggle with a group of thugs and the old man who has hired her for the day being killed. He runs off in a daze, is picked up by some truckers, and ends up in police custody where ironically his father is called in after another officer recognizes him. Garrett's whereabouts are a mystery to everybody who knows her, and it is only through some clever calculating that her location is discovered, hopefully in the nick of time.While this is a very enjoyable thriller, it seems like there is a lot of padding added to make this even get to its 72 minute running time, pretty short for a movie of the late 50's. That indicates that it was a second feature, a breed slowly dying out at this time, but there is enough action to keep it moving. The problem is the variety of existential characters added, from the drunken warehouse foreman whom the truckers dumped Mathers on and his awaiting wife (not to mention his mistress), and the dead old man's niece and her husband who obviously only keep in touch with him so they'll end up in his will. What is very interesting is how Garrett manages to manipulate the three men holding her hostage, gaining the sympathy of one of the men who knows that his partner (John Drew Barrymore, billed simply as John Barrymore Jr.) is a violent psycho. Of course, when you get the criminals arguing with each other, it is pretty obvious that they will eventually turn on each other. Carey ends up in a chase with the third thug, leading to an emotional scene with that gangster's mother and a chase on the apartment rooftop that leads to more clues but also leads to a violent finale.This was a far different role that Broadway musical legend Betty Garrett had ever played in, having been mostly in a handful of musical films like "On the Town", "Take Me Out to the Ballgame", and most recently, "My Sister Eileen". She only has one scene with husband and son Carey and Mathers, but obviously had worked with them for family photos which Carey finds still up when he visits his former home to find some clues. "One Life to Live" fans will be delighted to see the future Asa Buchannan in this major part, a reminder that he was once one of the busiest action/western stars in films, not just a future soap patriarch. Mathers is very touching (and convincing) as the mostly quiet kid, scared into silence by the violence he's witnessed. Yet, there's no confusion that this is none other than the future Beaver Cleaver from his very first shot, wearing cowboy gear, and clicking a toy gun. This is definitely worth a look for how 1950's thrillers of all types could engross you even though they could have easily been made for the then popular genre of Anthology shows which were all over the T.V. airwaves of the 1950's and 60's.

Poseidon-3 Curiosity value concerning the appearance and acting skill of Barrymore (John's son and Drew's dad) will likely draw several viewers to this minor crime drama, a sort of "Despondent Hours". Garrett, separated from her policeman hubby (Carey), takes a job steno-graphing for an elderly man with her young son in tow. When three toughs break in to rob the man, but accidentally kill him, Garrett's son (Mathers) slips into a degree of catatonia and wanders off along the highway. Eventually, Carey, Garrett's husband, is reunited with the mute boy and it's a race against time to find Garrett before the punks have their way with her or kill her. The hoods are played by Barrymore, Allen and Sarracini. Carey reacts to his estranged wife's disappearance with all the concern and terror that he might have if, say, his shirt were ironed too long and got a triangle-shaped stain on the pocket. Though impossibly big and reasonably handsome, he lets his stoicism as a police officer take too much precedence over any human emotion. Garrett (pushing forty, but playing 27 and referred to as "girl"!) does a decent enough acting job, but, in keeping with the times of the film, behaves pretty foolishly more often than not. She does try to come up with a few futile attempts at escape, though. Mathers is in over his head in his tiny part and would do much better later that year in "Leave it to Beaver" where murder wasn't a part of the storyline. Barrymore is very animated and quite handsome. He leans toward the hammy aspects of acting that so many James Dean imitators were going for at the time, but his portrayal is surprisingly polished (and this isn't exactly a strong screenplay he's dealing with!) Allen (who worked with James Dean in "Rebel Without a Cause") gives the most believable and natural performance of the hoods and is very attractive in a boy-next-door way. In fact, these two "vicious criminals" do their dirty work in pullover knit sweaters and cardigans!!! They are quite a contrast to Marlon Brando in "The Wild One". The third boy is played by hulking Sarracini and he is more authentic-looking (ironically, this actor died the year this film was made from the results of a fight!!) There are so many hilariously bad bit players in the film whose dialogue and performances are side-splitting. One lady mutters that her husband doesn't like anything as much as corned beef while he is shown romancing a blonde tart in a bar. Still, the direction is surprisingly adept and there is a memorable rooftop shootout that continues into the subway which is quite impressive. A little more enthusiasm/fret from Carey might have kicked it up a notch.