I mentioned yesterday that there was another movie coming up on TCM tomorrow that I had on my DVR. That movie is Look in Any Window, so once again I decided to watch it in conjunction with the upcoming TCM showing, tomorrow (July 9) at 3:00 PM.
The movie starts off after dark a couple of days before Independence Day in one of those tract housing suburbs that were springing up out in the Los Angeles area during the Baby Boom (IMDb says Reseda, which is apparently a part of Los Angeles proper, although I don't know the area well). Eileen Lowell (Gigi Perreau) is watching TV dressed in a mildly revealing outfit, trying to escape the heat wave that the area is experiencing. The camera pulls out to reveal from behind somebody in a mask looking into the window, and when Eileen realizes somebody is out there, she draws the curtain while our masked man heads off. The Lowells, understandably disturbed, call the police.
Mildly more interesting is the fact that Eileen's dad Gareth (Jack Cassidy) is not there. That's because he works late, owning a car dealership. Or, at least, that's his excuse, as it's quickly revealed he's a ladies' man who is carrying on with a woman who is not his wife Betty (Carole Matthews, a name I didn't really recognize from anything significant (IMDb shows a lot of TV roles, and bit parts in movies). Living next door are the Fowlers, who have about as good a family life as the Lowells. Mom Jackie (Ruth Roman) is a bored housewife, while Dad Jay (Alex Nicol) is an alcoholic airplane mechanic who has just lost his job and is going to hit the bottle even harder.
The Lowells have a son Craig (Paul Anka) who is about the same age as Eileen, and about as much friends with her as with anyone else. His parent's decaying relationship has hit him hard emotionally, to the point that he's a bit of a social misfit who doesn't seem to know quite how to act appropriately with other people, especially girls, ultimately resulting in his getting too handsy with Eileen and sending her to hospital for a night.
As for the police, they don't have much to go on, since the assailant was dressed in one of those white T-shirts which in those days looked thinner than today's, with shorter sleeves. So many men wore such shirts that it's not much to go on. One of the cops is old school and has no compunction about beating a confession out of whoever he thinks is guilty (like a dog who escapes its owner's yard), while the other is the "new" pyschological type. Meanwhile, Jackie escapes her humdrum life by seeing her other neighbor, as well as by going off for a bit with Mr. Lowell, leaving Craig alone to have his big emotional scene with his drunken father, although Paul Anka grossly overacts in this scene.
We get to the Independence Day pool party, which the cops wanted the Lowells not to cancel specifically because it would be likely that the peeping Tom would show up. That does indeed happen, while they older folks' relationship issues come out in the open. Things wrap up with the inevitable hopeful ending after the peeping Tom is found.
Look in Any Window isn't particularly good, although it's at least entertaining for its badness. Unfortunately, it could have been one of those "so bad it's good" movies except that it's not nearly as sleazy as it could be (consider a film like The Brain that Wouldn't Die); nor is it as grossly overacted as would be required to fit the "so bad it's good" genre. Still, there are reasons to watch it. There's a bit of a time capsule of Southern California as it was in the early 1960s, and there's also the evidence for why Paul Anka didn't become a movie star like some of the other young singers of that generation.
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