“Look in Any Window” is a slow moving 1961 Allied Artists movie about suburban morality featuring teen idol Paul Anka, Ruth Roman, Jack Cassidy and Gigi Perreau. The 40 minute interview on the DVD with a the director, a giggling, mumbling William Alland, is worthwhile.
Alland was the producer of successful scifi horror movies at Universal-International in the 50s including “It Came From Outer Space.” Before that he was a behind the scenes guy for Orson Welles on “Citizen Kane” at RKO and radio dramas.
Anka’s agent didn’t want him to make “Look in Any Window” but it went ahead and was completed in seven days. Anka sings the title song.
The DVD includes an interview with Alland’s second wife Helen about his role as a “friendly” witness for the House Un-American Activities Committee. In fact, Helen maintains that Alland was too friendly of a witness resulting in the end of their marriage and the family was shunned by the community.
Not much money was spent on wardrobe for “Look” with Anka and Roman in swim suits through much of the movie. The Anka character jumps from rooftops in a mask which one suspects involved a stunt double. The irony of Alland's career is that he started with “Citizen Kane” and ended with a teen drive-in drama. Anka recnetly appeared in the remake of "Shake Rattle and Rock," which originally was an American-International drive-in effort.
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