The Face at the Window (1939)

Drama, Horror /
6.0/10

The Face at the Window Storyline

In 1880, the criminal called The Face is responsible for a murderous rampage in France. When the Brisson Bank is robbed in Paris and the employee Michelle is murdered, the wealthy Chevalier Lucio del Gardo is the only chance to save the bank. Chavalier proposes to the owner M. de Brisson to deposit a large amount of gold, but in return he would like to marry his daughter Cecile. However, Cecile is in love with the efficient clerk Lucien Cortier that belongs to the lower classes and refuses the engagement. In order to get rid off the rival, Chavalier uses evidences to incriminate Lucien, manipulating the incompetent Parisian chief of police.

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The Face at the Window Movie Reviews

Where there’s Slaughter, there’s Murder!

A gruesome serial killer known as “The Face” is terrorizing Paris, and the police are baffled. When a bank is burglarized and an employee killed, wealthy citizen Tod Slaughter offers to help the owner if he can wed his lovely daughter. But she is in love with somebody else, so Slaughter schemes to get his rival out of the way. This leads to more mayhem and murder, and a surprising revelation (or not so surprising considering who the star is) brings this melodramatic tale of murder and mayhem to its conclusion.

While there aren’t really any major shocks here, the big surprise is the fact that this looks a lot higher budgeted than it probably was (especially for a Tod Slaughter/George King grand guignol), and some of the twists and turns the plot takes are made to come off as quite creepy. The actual face at the window is quite horrifying, and how it is utilized to terrorize its victims is quite ingenious in its macabre manner. Slaughter’s villain is actually quite perverse in his obsession with the pretty heroine (Marjorie Taylor), manhandling her more obsessively than any of his previous film villains. It also has one of the creepier endings of any of Slaughter’s other films, taking its villain down to the depths with the most ironic of assailants.

Badly written….

A series of murders have occurred in France. The clues seem to point to a wolf or wolf-man and the police are baffled. When a bank is robbed (why would a wolf-man care to do this?!), a young man investigates the murder and robbery.

I decided to watch this film for two reasons. First, it was in the public domain, so it didn’t cost anything to see it–other than my time! Second, the plot involves what might be a wolf-man–an interesting topic to me. However, the film turned out to be very poorly written–with the repeated overuse of exposition. That is where the characters are supposed to be conversing BUT give way too much background information to be realistic. Again and again, instead of showing plot, they explain back story in a clumsy manner. In addition, the characters, at times, are VERY obvious and clunky. The Chavalier, in particular, was terribly written–with Snidely Whiplash-like subtlety! As a result, I quickly lost interest–after all, if they didn’t bother getting a good script, why should I care?! Sloppy and obvious.

Barnstorming Parisian horror

Tod Slaughter was well set in his career of playing movie villains by the time this film was produced and his familiarity with the role he plays is easy to see. Plotting, cackling, and eventually going mad are all trademarks of Slaughter’s creations throughout his life and the elements are in abundance in his character of the Chevalier here. Standing head and shoulder over the other cast members – who are all admittedly decent themselves – Slaughter steals his scenes and makes the film his own. This time around, he’s a French aristocrat – complete with top hat and tails and goatee beard – who falls in love with the daughter of a bank manager.

The plot is familiar stuff to anybody who has seen the likes of previous Slaughter fare like MURDER IN THE RED BARN and NEVER TOO LATE TO MEND. However, what makes this film seem different are the plot elements that are more in line with a Universal horror film from the period than the previous British murder-thrillers that the actor starred in. Ingredients of this film include a mystery killer nicknamed ‘Le Loup’, who may or may not be a sinister werewolf; a hideous, half-human monster that lumbers around like Frankenstein’s Creature; and a laboratory in which a scientist is using electricity to bring murder victims back from the dead so that they can identify their killers – complete with the scientific apparatus familiar from many horror films, including Hammer’s THE CURSE OF FRANKENSTEIN.

Scenes involving the courtship between the young lovers are very predictable and lacking in interest, but the film-makers wisely choose to focus on the horror and mystery aspects of the plot instead. There’s some fun action to be had involving the young male lead, who is falsely accused of murder and forced to go on the run from the authorities. The River Seine also puts in an appearance, particularly at the climax that is as rousing and entertaining as you would hope. THE FACE AT THE WINDOW may be familiar fare for melodrama fans, but it pushes all the right buttons and the change of scenery from rural England to 19th-century Paris is an interesting one. Recommended.

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