History Film / TheWindow

On a hot summer night, young Tommy Woodry (Bobby Driscoll) decides to sleep on the fire escape of his family's tenement apartment. He climbs up outside the window of a neighboring couple, the Kellersons (Paul Stewart and Ruth Roman), where he sees them kill a man with a pair of scissors. The problem is that Tommy has a reputation for telling tall tales, so of course his parents (Arthur Kennedy and Barbara Hale) refuse to believe him now that he's telling the truth. He even sneaks out of the house and goes down to the police station to report the crime, but they don't take him seriously. Tommy is afraid that if the Kellersons find out what he saw, he will be their next victim. And the Kellersons ''do'' find out -- when Tommy's mother makes him apologize for "lying" about them -- and they have every intention to kill him.

* WouldHurtAChild: Mr. Kellerson [[TapOnTheHead punches Tommy out]] in the taxi.

%$%* BigApplesauce

On a hot summer night in [[BigApplesauce New York City]], young Tommy Woodry (Bobby Driscoll) decides to sleep on the fire escape of his family's tenement apartment. He climbs up outside the window of a neighboring couple, the Kellersons (Paul Stewart and Ruth Roman), where he sees them kill a man with a pair of scissors. The problem is that Tommy has a reputation for telling tall tales, so of course his parents (Arthur Kennedy and Barbara Hale) refuse to believe him now that he's telling the truth. He even sneaks out of the house and goes down to the police station to report the crime, but they don't take him seriously. Tommy is afraid that if the Kellersons find out what he saw, he will be their next victim. And the Kellersons ''do'' find out -- when Tommy's mother makes him apologize for "lying" about them -- and they have every intention to kill him.

On a hot summer night in [[BigApplesauce New York City]], young Tommy Woodry (Bobby Driscoll) decides to sleep on the fire escape of his family's tenement apartment. He climbs up outside the window of a neighboring couple, the Kellersons, where he sees them kill a man with a pair of scissors. The problem is that Tommy has a reputation for telling tall tales and so no one believes him now that he's telling the truth. He even sneaks out of the house and goes down to the police station but they don't take him seriously. Tommy is afraid that if the Kellersons find out what he saw, he will be their next victim. And the Kellersons ''do'' find out -- when Tommy's mother makes him apologize for "lying" about them -- and they have every intention to kill him.

On a hot summer night, young Tommy Woodry decides to sleep on the fire escape. He climbs up outside a neighbor's window, the Kellersons, where he sees them kill a man with a pair of scissors. The problem is that Tommy has a reputation for telling tall tales and so no one believes him now that he's telling the truth. He even sneaks out of the house and goes down to the police station but they don't take him seriously. Tommy is afraid that if the Kellersons find out what he saw, he will be their next victim. The Kellersons do find out - when Tommy's mother makes him apologize - and they have every intention to kill him.

* TheKeyIsBehindTheLock: Tommy manages to unlock the door to his room by pushing the key out the other side and then snatching it with a hanger underneath the door.

* HopeSpot: When the officer checks on the Kellerson's apartment he notices a cleaned up spot on the carpet. However, the tenants can convince him that it's due to a leak in the roof.

* YouHaveToBelieveMe: Tommy tries to make his parents and the police believe his story but to no avail.

* CryingWolf: The CentralTheme of the film and AnAesop for Tommy. Had he nod invented all those stories, his parents would have been more inclined to believe his murder story.

* AbandonedWarehouse: An empty, run-down building serves as the location for the ClimbingClimax.

* SlippingAMickey: The Kellersons drugged the sailor before stealing his money. However, the man awakes and a fight ensues which eds with the Kellersons killing the man.

* DisneyVillainDeath: [[spoiler: Mr Kellerson falls to his death from great height at the end of the ClimbingClimax.

* RooftopHopping: During the ClimbingClimax Tommy and Mr. Kellerson hop between rooftops.

On a hot summer night, young Tommy Woodry decides to sleep on the fire escape. He climbs up outside a neighbor's window, the Carlsons, where he sees them kill a man with a pair of scissors. The problem is that Tommy has a reputation for telling tall tales and so no one believes him now that he's telling the truth. He even sneaks out of the house and goes down to the police station but they don't take him seriously. Tommy is afraid that if the Carlsons find out what he saw, he will be their next victim. The Carlsons do find out - when Tommy's mother makes him apologize - and they have every intention to kill him.