LOOK IN ANY WINDOW
(director: William Alland; screenwriter: Laurence E. Mascott; cinematographer: W. Wallace Kelley; editor: Harold Gordon; music: Richard Shores; cast: Paul Anka (Craig Fowler), Ruth Roman (Jackie Fowler), Alec Nicol (Jay Fowler), Gigi Perrreau (Eileen Lowell), Carole Matthews (Betty Lowell), Jack Cassidy (Gareth Lowell), Dan Grayam (Police Sgt. Webber), Robert Sampson (Lindstrom), George Dolenz (Carlo); Runtime: 87; MPAA Rating: NR; producers: William Alland, Laurence E. Mascott; Allied Artists; 1961-B/W)
“Suburban Peeping Tom film.”
Reviewed by Dennis Schwartz
Longtime Hollywood producer William Alland directs this obscure suburban Peeping Tom film that’s scripted by Laurence E. Mascott. Teen pop star Paul Anka, in his first starring role, is the misfit teen who tries to do his James Dean impression as the misunderstood creepy teen in this lurid pic about an LA materialist community that measures success by the size of their swimming pools.
During a heat wave, as the July 4th holiday approaches, a nouveau riche affluent suburb has a Peeping Tom problem. The shy Craig (Paul Anka) is the awkwardly social outcast son of parents in a loveless marriage. His loser airplane mechanic father Jay (Alec Nicol) is away on the job for months at a time, and returns drunk after being fired. His flirty mom Jackie (Ruth Roman) doesn’t have the ability to talk to him about how screwed up he is, or get him some needed psychological help. The kid crosses the line to criminal behavior when he dons a frightening mask and stands on the rooftop as he prowls on his neighbor’s homes and looks inside their windows. The residents call the police and two detectives investigate, the hard-nosed veteran of 19 years, Sergeant Webber (Dan Grayam) and his opposite, the more sensitive college grad newcomer to the department, Lt. Lindstrom (Robert Sampson). To catch the prowler, they’re invited to attend the big bash holiday party given by the Lowells, the wealthiest family in the neighborhood. Gareth Lowell (Jack Cassidy) is a womanizer, while his long-suffering wife Betty (Carole Matthews) would have left him if it wasn’t for her teen daughter Eileen (Gigi Perrreau).
The night before the holiday Craig gets drunk and attacks Eileen by her pool. While running away from him she trips on the patio and blacks out. When the police question her she refuses to tell on Craig.
At the holiday party Gareth is openly kissing Jackie, when Craig appears in his mask looking down at them from the roof. The cops arrest him and jail him overnight. Lindstrom tells his mom he’ll see a judge in the morning, who will determine if his parents can give him the support he needs and, if so, will probably place him in a mandatory counseling therapy program instead of behind bars.
It’s a trashy soap opera, that has just about every character acting repulsive–with Anka being the creepiest. It makes one wonder why a popular pop star would choose to be in such a dour film.
REVIEWED ON 12/7/2024 GRADE: B-
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