The Prowler

Our latest Film Studies series explores the works of leftist writers, directors and actors in the late 1940s, before the McCarthy era interrupted many careers through Hollywood’s self-imposed blacklist. Each film in this five week series (Mondays at 11am) will be introduced in a 15-20 minute talk by writer and film critic Mike Archibald.

Sordid, morbid, and utterly compelling, this film noir classic is dark enough to take the shine off America’s postwar economic boom. The Prowler features a terrific lead performance from Van Heflin. His Webb Garwood is a Los Angeles beat cop who responds to a distress call from Susan Gilvray (Evelyn Keyes) and quickly falls in love — not so much with her as with her husband’s money. From there unfolds a story of lust and deception — one in which Garwood’s banal ambitions are enough to compel him to murder.

Written by an already-blacklisted Dalton Trumbo and directed by a soon-to-be blacklisted Joesph Losey, this is an exploration of American greed that gains in power from its proximity to common dreams. Garwood is ready to kill for nothing more than the chance to own a motel, and the movie wouldn’t be nearly as disturbing if his ambitions were greater. From its scream-y opening to its ghost-town finale, this is noir at its most provocative.

Few films of this period show such a stark disdain for institutional authority; fewer still such sexual frankness… The Prowler functions perfectly both as a gripping genre picture and a portrait of a society twisted by cruelty and greed.

Dave Kehr, New York Times