A remake of the prior year’s Métropolitain (1939) by French director Maurice Cam, Herbert Mason’s A Window in London (US: Lady in Distress) depicts the collision of two married couples whose entwinement is triggered by a fake murder but will end with a real one. The first couple is happy but separated by discrepant work shifts: telephone operator Pat (Patricia Roc) works nights while her new husband Peter (Michael Redgrave), a crane operator working on the reconstruction of Waterloo Bridge (a project actually occurring during filming), works during the day. The second couple is discontented but attached at the hip: pretty Vivienne (Sally Gray) works as a magician’s assistant for her older husband, the Great Zoltini (Paul Lukas), whose neglect of her belies his jealousy and suspicion of her extramarital interests. One morning, after Peter espies a man stabbing a woman on a balcony through the window of his commuter train, he tracks down the balcony to discover that it was just Zoltini and his wife rehearsing for their act. Despite Peter’s apology and swift departure, this encounter will have a lasting impact: the instantly enamored Vivienne maintains contact with Peter, which will create resentment in Zoltini and a friction that jeopardizes both marriages. Incorporating a frequently lighthearted score and occasional comic moments, the film isn’t dark the way noir would soon become, but the action moves steadily toward a deadly, bittersweet conclusion.