User Reviews

Available on DVD if you look hard enough (but without English subtitles), this 1955 re-make was apparently produced as sort of a memorial to (and fundraiser for the family of) a recently deceased actor in the Hong Kong cinema. It follows the Hitchcock version in some respects and not in others. There is no wisecracking insurance company nurse dropping by to give massages and the girlfriend not only enables but encourages the hero's voyeurism as a way to pass the time. In this version it's her apartment in which he's recuperating, and before she leaves to chastely spend the night at her parents, she provides him with binoculars and with the low-down on all the people in the apartments across the way. These include the fellow who bumps off his wife, the honeymooning couple, a troupe of barechested physical culture enthusiasts, and various vaudeville actors who are present to offer musical numbers. Eventually the murder takes place, suspicions are aroused, and the girlfriend goes over to the building across to snoop -- with just the same results as in the U.S. version. It's a strange mix of Cornell Woolrich meets "International House," but worthwhile for serious devotees of Woolrich, Hitch, and the Hong Kong cinema alike.