The Shadow on the Window Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		3.0
Video		3.5
Audio		3.5
Extras		0.0
Overall		3.0

The Shadow on the Window Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman October 22, 2019

Note: This film is available as part of Noir Archive Volume 3: 1956-1960.

Kit Parker Films and Mill Creek Entertainment continue their deep dive into what might be thought of as the substratum of film noir with this third collection culled from the Columbia catalog. The fact that this latest offering supposedly spans the years of 1956 through 1960 may give some indication of just how deep this particular dive is, since many film fans will probably (rightly or wrongly) feel like the late fifties and first year of the sixties are decidedly past the heyday of film noir. (That "supposedly" is in the previous sentence because the earliest actual release date for the films in this set seems to actually be 1957, not 1956, which perhaps makes my point even better.) Still, as with the first two collections, there are some really interesting films in this set, and genre aficionados will most likely find at least a few titles in this set, including some more British productions, that may well spark interest.

For an overview of the previous two releases in this series, please click on the following review links (which, like this one, will contain links of their own pointing to reviews of the individual films in the set):

Noir Archive Volume 1: 1944-1954 Blu- ray review

Noir Archive Volume 2: 1954-1956 Blu- ray review

Just a few months before he became a television icon courtesy of his starring role in Leave It to Beaver, Jerry Mathers experienced “misadventures” of another kind in the interesting 1957* drama (some may prefer potboiler) The Shadow on the Window. Jerry portrays little Petey Atlas, who is suffering from a kind of post traumatic stress disorder as the film opens, wandering the wide open vistas of a somewhat isolated rural environment in what appears to be pretty significant shock after having witnessed something untoward happening to his mother (shown very briefly in the film's opening sequence). That’s a great “hook” with which to open a film, but The Shadow on the Window pretty quickly goes a more traditional “family hostage” route. It turns out Petey is the son of police detective Tony Atlas (Philip Carey), who quickly gets involved and discovers in due course (in a rather too convenient linkage), that his (estranged) wife and Petey’s mom, Linda Atlas (Betty Garrett), is indeed being held hostage by some thugs. Directed by William Asher, who would of course go on to television fame of his own courtesy of such shows as Bewitched, The Shadow in the Window may not be especially innovative, but it's brisk and has a fair degree of tension.

The film's copyright is actually 1956, which at least gives a little credence to this volume's subtitle.

The Shadow on the Window Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

The Shadow in the Window is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Kit Parker Films and Mill Creek Entertainment with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 1.85:1. This is by and large completely watchable, and at times actually rather nice looking, but it suffers from pretty ubiquitous if often minor signs of age related wear and tear in the form of scratches, nicks and quite a few white speckles. Grain is rather heavy, perhaps suggesting a secondary element was utilized for the transfer. Clarity and detail levels can be commendable, but there are fairly wide variances, including some sequences back at the police station that are noticeably softer. My score is 3.25.

The Shadow on the Window Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

The Shadow in the Window features a DTS-HD Master Audio Mono track that doesn't have the same degree of age related wear and tear as the video, and which offers both dialogue and George Duning's cool jazz inflected score without any major problems, even if there's a bit of boxiness along the way. A few sound effects reverberate with sufficient force, and while this isn't going to make any audiophile's "best of the year" list, it doesn't have anything major to complain about, either.

The Shadow on the Window Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

None of the three discs in this set feature any supplements.

The Shadow on the Window Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Jerry Mathers will probably forever be remembered as "The Beaver" (for better or worse), but he gives a really riveting (and virtually mute) performance in this film. The actual plot mechanics are going to be familiar to most viewers, but the villains are a suitably motley crew (kind of in that late 50's "juvenile delinquent" mode), and the procedural aspect of the story is handled with competence if not exactly total believability. Technical merits are solid for those considering a purchase.