The Prowler

Before he fled McCarthy-era America to become an art-house auteur in Europe, Joseph Losey (The Servant, Accident, The Go-Between) made movies in Hollywood, including this cool, stylish, nasty noir thriller exploring pet Losey themes of class difference and duplicity. “Set in a shadowy postwar Los Angeles, The Prowler opens on Susan Gilvray (Evelyn Keyes), a wealthy but neglected housewife who spends her evenings alone, with only her husband’s voice on the radio for company. When she’s spooked by a peeping Tom, a calculating cop answers the call. Officer Webb Garwood (Van Heflin) resents his own blue-collar status and covets the richer man’s house and its glamorous occupant. Soon Garwood weaves a complex web of deceit, drawing Susan into an illicit affair with devastating consequences. The Prowler was the third of five films Joseph Losey made in Hollywood, and his most critically and commercially successful. It was written by blacklisted screenwriter Dalton Trumbo, who also plays the voice of Susan’s DJ husband. By the time Hollywood’s red-baiters turned their sights on Losey the year after The Prowler’s release, the director had already left for Europe” (Mimi Brody). B&W, 35mm. 92 mins.