"Look in Any Window" is a cheap, sleazy exploitation film about the shenanigans going on behind the scenes in suburban America. While it could have been well made and intelligent, the filmmakers really just wanted sensationalism. However, despite being pretty crass, it is entertaining.
The film is like a soap opera and it consists of many different vignettes involving really screwed up people. The most obviously messed up person is Craig, played by Paul Anka. He is an out of work teen who loves peeking in windows. Eventually, his behavior escalates and the police are looking to find him. His father is emotionally and physically impotent and the film is trying to say this is why the young man is a creepy sex offender...which is a bit of a stretch. As for nearly all the adults in the film, they seem to love cheating on their spouses and are too wrapped up in themselves to notice that Craig is a real head case!
The film often features very broad acting that is anything but subtle. The worst of these is played by Alex Nicol, who is Craig's alcoholic father. Subtle, he is not! But none of the characters seemed subtle...not even the cops investigating the peeping Tom case! I am a bit surprised the film didn't cast Jayne Mansfield or Mamie Van Doren as well...they would have fit right in to the story. Overall, a bad but fun movie...the type you watch if you could use a laugh or if you like over-the-top stories.
Plot summary
A teenager's parents finally realize how bad their home life is when their son is arrested for prowling.
Uploaded by: FREEMAN
April 29, 2022 at 04:43 AM
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Suburban Confidential.
no nostalgic value
It's the suburbs and a peeping Tom is on the loose. He scares people with a disturbing mask. Craig Fowler (Paul Anka) is a disinterested teen and the only son of a loveless marriage.
Paul Anka may be a teenage music icon at the time but he's not a charismatic actor. Quite frankly, he would barely be cast as a supporting actor if not for his name. The problem is that he's way before my time and holds no nostalgic value for me. He's just another stiff amateur actor and he's not holding the screen. I do have to admire that a pop idol is willing to play a creepy character but nothing else.
"I look in any window, I walk by any open door, to see if someone will love me,love me forever more."
A few years ago on a poll taking place on IMDb's Classic Film board for the best films of 1961,I spotted fellow IMDber melvelvit-1 list a interesting looking "most wanted" title that I made a note on.
Planning to pick it up,I was surprised to find that despite some famous Pop stars in the main cast,the flick was not on disc or video! With X-Mas coming up,I took a gamble & searched for the first time in years,and was pleased to see the window open.
View on the film:
Peeping at the opened window with a stalking theme song tumbling in the background, the lone directing credit of Creature from the Black Lagoon producer William Alland cracks sizzling under the sun teen rebellion and broken suburban home with a bitter Film Noir atmosphere.
Closely working with cinematographer Wallace Kelley, Alland edges close to Drive-In teen thrills of wide-shot peeping tom and lingering panning shots up (clothed) women's bodies, but pauses, in order to take a full view of the stylishly dissolving overlapping images peeling away at the broken foundation of the households.
Peeping at the window behind the white-picket fence, the screenplay by Laurence E. Mascott rolls it up with tasty overripe dialogue, as the heightened Melodrama of Jackie and Jay Fowler's crumbling marriage, being grounded with their increasingly isolated son Craig picking up a peeping tom habit. Singing the eerie title track,Paul Anka gives a coiled up fused spin as teen son Craig Fowler, whose growth into adulthood has Anka incise Craig fiery, isolating desire to look in any window.