The Shadow on the Window (1957)

The Worst Film Ever

Sorry, this movie sucks

I enjoyed watching this film and would recommend other to give it a try , (as I am) but this movie, although enjoyable to watch due to the better than average acting fails to add anything new to its storyline that is all too familiar to these types of movies.

The film may be flawed, but its message is not.

***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!

Better than expected thriller about a home invasion robbery gone wrong. Jerry Mathers plays a young boy who witnesses a murder at a home where his mother (Betty Garrett)is working. In shock, the boy wanders off before being picked up by a passing truck. He is dropped off with the police where it so happens the boy's father, Phil Carey, is a detective. Unable to get the boy to talk, the police begin a city-wide dragnet hoping to grab up someone who might know the location of Garrett. John Barrymore Jr., Corey Allen and Gerald Sarrcini are the not so bright hoods holding Garrett. Having murdered Garrett's boss during the robbery they must decide whether to kill her as well. Several gun battles and a couple of more bodies are piled up before Carey saves the day with a just in time rescue. OK time-waster.

This film has the feel of a TV drama made into a B film. Saw it on cable recently as a curiosity since a young Jerry Matthews was in it. The drama, directed by William Asher, was a surprise. The film is a police drama where a young mother, working as a free lance secretary for a farm owner, gets tangled in a break in that ends badly. Her young son, playing innocently outside watches the whole thing. What young Petey witnesses produce in his little mind a trauma that makes him run from the scene until he is found by two truckers going to market.The movie was a product of the era in which takes place. Betty Garrett, as Linda, is perfect for the part. Also good was Phillip Carey, an actor that never had great opportunities in films. The scene stealer is Jerry Matthews, who played Beaver in the old series.

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.