Bobby Driscoll is not a name familiar to most people, unless they are die-hard classic movie fans. Driscoll's career was short, but that wasn't because he couldn't act. This movie shows his talents as a young boy who cries wolf and then pays for it, big-time.

The first 40 minutes of this film deals with that "wolf" angle. It goes a bit too long and begins to drag the story down a bit, but stay with it. Once the killers come looking for the boy (Driscoll),the film suddenly becomes extremely tense. In fact, the tension is so strong the last 30 minutes that there are scenes you almost can't bear to watch.

Story-wise, there are some credibility questions, mainly "Why would good parents - as portrayed here by Barbara Hale and Arthur Kennedy - leave their 10-year-old all alone all night?" But, ignoring that, the film is entertaining and has a good ending, so I have no complaints.

Driscoll does a fine job of acting, as mentioned, and Hale became famous for being Perry Mason's secretary on television. Kennedy is always interesting no matter what film he is in, and Paul Stewart is effective as the villain.

As of this writing, the VHS tape is out-of-print, and there is no DVD available yet, sad to say. Hopefully, that oversight will be corrected soon. This film is a valuable part of anyone's film noir collection.

Many know the sad tale of the life of Bobby Driscoll who was Walt Disney's first live action child star paving the way for dozens more right down to today's Disney Channel. As Disney at the time The Window was made released their product through RKO Studios, RKO apparently had call on Driscoll's services and they got him to star in this sleeper of a noir film which I call children's noir.

Bobby is the son of Arthur Kennedy and Barbara Hale and he's got a big imagination forever telling tall tales. That's the problem, when he sees a real murder take place in an upstairs neighbor's apartment no one will believe him, not the cops, especially not his parents.

But murder was done in that apartment as drunk and free spending sailor Richard Benedict was done in by Paul Stewart and Ruth Roman. The body was disposed of in a condemned building next door.

In Disney products we've seen all kinds of kids put in harm's way of many a villain. But because it is a Disney film we all know nothing will happen. Not so here. Driscoll is in the mean streets of a big city and a really bad man is chasing him. You feel his fear.

The Window got an Oscar nomination in the film editing. Almost 70 years later it's still a thrilling film to watch and the cross cut editing has a lot to do with it. Don't miss this one if broadcast.

1949's 'The Window' is another one of many films in existence to have a great and very promising idea for a story, being a fan of mystery and thriller the film appealed to me straightaway. And also a cast of talented actors and actresses (Bobby Driscoll, Barbara Hale, Arthur Kennedy, Ruth Roman and Paul Stewart) in roles where it was interesting to see how they would fare in them). These have always been sources of potential and both have varied wildly.

There was a chance though that 'The Window' may not have worked. The story is far from an innovative one and could have been very predictably executed. It was also made on a B-movie budget, so there was the worry that it would look cheap or even amateurish. Luckily, neither turned out to be the case. Found 'The Window' to be a great and undervalued little treasure that should be seen more. For B-movie mystery/thriller films, this is a must.

It may be age-old story-wise, with a couple of clumsy moments such as the kidnap attempt, and the low-ish budget does show occasionally.

Otherwise, 'The Window' is great. The performances are a major strength, with Driscoll at his best (also his most mature performance, with him being best known as a fairly regular child actor for Disney). Kennedy and Roman are very well cast too, but best of all is Stewart, his malevolence giving off genuine chills. Ted Tetzlaff's taut direction also adds a lot and the characters are interesting, the main character never cloying or annoying and the villains creepy.

Although saying that the budget occasionally showed, most of the time it is an atmospheric-looking films. The photography is actually quite stunning and full of atmosphere in the suspenseful moments, and the noir-ish lighting likewise. From the unforgettable main theme, Roy Webb's score is appropriately eerie and especially good in enhancing the suspense.

Despite saying the story is not novel, it is truly enlivened by the tight pacing and thrilling suspense that is nail-biting at its best. The script is taut and controlled, no cheese or tedium.

In summary, great. 9/10