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In this case, Susan Gilvray (Evelyn Keyes) sees a prowler standing outside her window and calls the police. She has the misfortune of one of those officers being whining scheming Web Garwood (Van Heflin), who sees Susan as not too hard on the eyes and also that she is the lonely young wife of a middle aged radio show cornball. Oh, and the cornball just happens to be wealthy.

Usually you can see some good or mitigating factors in a film villain, but Webb is bad to the bone. He thinks he's been the victim all of his life, and he hates being "just another dumb cop". And Susan buys his lines. Did he plan what happened all along? I don't know, but I don't see how he could have figured it any other way.

But then a monkey wrench gets thrown into his path that will tell the whole world what he is just when he thinks he is home free. But this is the production code era, so it had to be that way. But at least the way he is found out is rather unique. With John Maxwell as Bud Crocker, Webb's cop friend/partner who would drive anyone crazy with his endless dull talk about rocks.

Highly recommended for those of you who like film noirs.

This is a really good and sadly overlooked film noir. No happy endings are to be found here, just good performances and writing and a close to perfect example of the film noir genre.

Van Heflin is "The Prowler" in this 1951 noir directed by Joseph Losey and also starring Evelyn Keyes. Heflin plays a bitter cop named Webb who meets the lonely Susan (Keyes), whose husband works at night on the radio, when he investigates a prowler at her house. He returns, ostensibly to check up on her, and they discover they're from the same part of the country. Soon, they're involved in a love affair that has serious implications.

Losey was a hit or miss director. He was blacklisted and made several films starring Dirk Bogarde in Europe, including the amazing The Servant and a big miss, Modesty Blaise. Here he's on the money with a suspenseful, well done film. Van Heflin is brilliant as Webb, who finally sees a chance at making his dreams come true, and Keyes is wonderful as Susan, disappointed in her marriage.

"The Prowler" was restored by UCLA, and for some reason, when Christopher-Jan Horrocks discussed it on TCM, he described the story incorrectly.

Frankly, I thought this film had a couple of plot problems, but I can't go into them without giving the film away. The event that the plot hinges on is certainly a daring one for those days. I'll just say that the two main characters would have had to have been Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt for a total stranger to have realized what he realized immediately.

Well worth checking out.

In California, the gorgeous housewife Susan Gilvray (Evelyn Keyes) glances at a prowler outside her house in a wasteland and she calls the police. Officer Webb Garwood (Van Heflin) and his partner attend the call and do not find anyone. Later Webb returns to her house with the pretext of checking if everything is OK with Susan and she invites him to drink a coffee with her. Soon he learns that Susan is married with John Gilvray (Sherry Hall), a middle age broadcaster of a late night radio show. Further, they discover that they are from the same homeland. Webb hits on Susan and soon they have a love affair. But when John suspects of Susan, their relationship comes to an end.

Webb plots a scheme to get rid off John and he kills John simulating an accident. Webb goes on trial and is considered not-guilty for the murder of John. Webb quits the police and manipulates John's brother to get close to Susan again. He learns that John could not have children and their marriage was not perfect. Webb meets Susan and convinces her that he is really innocent. Soon they get married and they buy a motel to start a new life. But in the wedding night, Susan discloses that she is four months pregnant. How could they explain the baby to the press after the publicity around the case?

"The Prowler" is a great but unknown Film-Noir directed by Joseph Losey with a story of adultery and greed. Webb Garwood is a sordid frustrated man that manipulates the housewife Susan Gilvray, who has a loveless marriage without children with an older man, to marry him. The conclusion is moralist but does not spoil the story. My vote is eight.

Title (Brazil): "Cúmplice das Sombras" ("Accomplice of the Shadows")

The most unsettling thing about THE PROWLER is the way Van Heflin inhabits the role of a corrupt police officer who worms his way into the life of an innocent woman (Evelyn Keyes), a bored housewife trapped in a loveless marriage with a jealous older man.

From the very first scene, we know that Heflin is going to set a trap for this woman and that eventually she'll succumb to his dubious charm merely to break the cycle of loneliness she's used to. The plot sustains interest up until the cliffhanger of an ending in which all hell breaks loose.

But along the way, there are several glaring faults in the script. Keyes falls in love much too quickly, needing him at her side so desperately that he concocts an accidental shooting to get rid of her hubby. And from then on, her motivations for lying at the inquest are shaky, to say the least. Credibility begins to slip as we lurch toward a very effective ending which won't be revealed here.

In the meantime, the performances are professional, with John Maxwell excellent as a loyal friend and Wheaton Chambers fine as a reluctant doctor. Joseph Losey gets all the suspense he can out of the script, but in the end the bleak low-key photography and sparse sets gives it the feel of a hurried programmer rather than an A-film.

Have seen a pattern in my recent classic film viewings. That being that many of them have been very good, if not quite outstanding, and interesting, with a lot of critical praise given to them but also not very well known today. Another pattern is high expectations, due to loving the genres and talented casts and crews. 'The Prowler' is another one of those films that had a promising premise and have liked Van Heflin in other things, his role here also sounded really intriguing.

'The Prowler' is mostly good with many truly great things, if not quite classic status. It does start out that way but it should have kept that all the way through. While it is understandable as to why it won't connect to some, the praise it has gotten here is every bit, perhaps even more, as understandable. While not loving 'The Prowler' and feeling that there are definitely better films in the genre, it is underseen and impresses in many ways.

It is very beautifully and atmospherically shot and tightly edited, although the sets are on the sparse side. While it is not exactly lavish or expensive-looking, 'The Prowler' also doesn't look cheap. The music looms ominously without being intrusive. Joseph Losey, have appreciated his output ever since his wonderful 'Don Giovanni', directs with a sure and stylish hand, that indicates somebody who knew what he was doing. The script on the most part is taut and intelligent, and it was amazing too at how daring and subversive it was for back then.

Did find the story engrossing on the whole, especially in the first half which is full of intrigue and suspenseful atmosphere. Especially the ending. The character writing fascinates, really liked its nuance and that it was not all black and white. Heflin is outstanding here, it's one of his best performances and he was seldom this nuanced and haunting. Evelyn Keyes doesn't look ill at ease, even with her suitably vulnerable body language and underplays beautifully yet also with the appropriate amount of steely edge. John Maxwell is rock solid support.

By all means, 'The Prowler' could have been better than it was. While Heflin and Keyes are spot on individually, the central chemistry felt on the bland and underdeveloped side. The ending aside, too much of the second half isn't quite as focused as the first, it loses tautness and parts do veer on implausible.

Also found myself frustrated by some of Keyes' character's behaviour and decisions, where they didn't make sense or seem silly.

Concluding, not a classic but recommended despite its unevenness. 7/10.

Patrolman Webb Garwood (Van Heflin), called to the upscale home of a late night radio DJ to investigate a reported prowler, covets the man's wife (Evelyn Keyes) and lifestyle and proceeds, through seduction, manipulation, and murder, to attain them with ironic results...

Alain Silver, in his "Film Noir: An Encyclopedic Reference To The American Style", notes that "like most of Losey's American films, THE PROWLER is concerned with complex social issues, which make it marginal to the film noir series." I couldn't agree more that using Film Noir to enlighten dilutes the dark universe the cycle represents but in this case that's a moot point. THE PROWLER doesn't examine social issues, complex or otherwise, and isn't an indictment of America in the mid-twentieth century as much as it is an expose of modern life itself with all its banality and dull aspiration. Better yet, there are no explanations, causes, or, thankfully, remedies offered for the ultimately empty American Dream. Existentially, there's no escape for the outwardly normal anti-hero who is, ironically, a psychopath sworn to "protect and serve" the very ideals he doesn't share. Lonely housewives in unhappy marriages, failed dreams of stardom and college scholarships, soulless ambition for mediocre achievement hidden beneath deceptive outward appearances, and hopes for a future (linked to a motor court) that isn't much better than the past or present all serve to point up the futility of upward mobility. In a bitter irony, Garwood has perverted the American dream but, once attained, that very dream becomes inverted and its ultimate reward (creating a family) proves his undoing. That the birth takes place in a desert ghost town perfectly illustrates a wasteland where everyone is either unfeeling, unsuspecting or dull-witted ...and everything's nothing, really. In its depiction of a monotonous, gray world, THE PROWLER is pure Film Noir and Joseph Losey skillfully conveyed the often pervasive sense of dissatisfaction and ennui with bourgeoisie life but, because of his off screen politics, the film was unfairly tarred with the same brush that derailed the director's career in Hollywood.

Lonely housewife, whose disc jockey husband works the graveyard shift, calls the police one night to report a peeping Tom and attracts the attention of one of the two policemen who come to investigate. Later that same night, he drops by again, and soon they discover they have a lot in common. Not terribly interesting crime-melodrama, with Van Heflin's cop going from wolf on the prowl to murderer in an unconvincingly short amount of time. The script, credited to Hugo Butler (fronting for blacklisted Dalton Trumbo) from an original treatment by Robert Thoeren and Hans Wilhelm, seems to take its cue from "The Postman Always Rings Twice", only Evelyn Keyes (whose acting is dry and ordinary, like a colorless Susan Hayward) is hardly in Lana Turner's league. Third-act in the Calico ghost town does provide for an unusual climax, but by then the story has gotten all balled up. ** from ****

One of the many great films noirs the director made in the fifties ,which would culminate in "time without pity" :and a very successful one, thanks to Van Heflin,who at first sight seems a helpful affable cop whereas he is actually a cupid embittered man:he was not given the chance to study at the university and he became a policeman by default.He must have gone through hard times :when the woman invites him for dinner ,he catches all that he can on his way to the dining room.

In its second part the movie recalls Fritz Lang's "You only live twice "(after "the prowler" ,Losey remade "M"),but with a big difference : Lang's heroes are both victims of an unfair society whereas Susan is completely innocent (as far as the crime is concerned)but her new husband is dangerous ,verging on paranoia (the scene when you hear the dead speak on the record is stunning).It's perhaps one of the rare movies in which a baby becomes a living threat.Even the wind ,in the shack -probably Victor Seastrom's silent movie influence- becomes an enemy .

John Maxwell is appropriately cast as 'Bud'. A salt of the earth cop, who has never fired his gun throughout a long impeccable career. Off duty, he lives a quiet, exemplary life with wife Katherine Warren. If he ever heard The Rolling Stones' 'Rocks Off, ' he would have assumed it was a song about geology. Collecting ancient rocks from ghost towns is his spare time passion. In stark contrast, his partner Van Heflin is an opportunist womanizer. The victim of too many bad breaks and a life-long member of 'The World Owes me a Favour Club'.

Answering a call about a prowler at the home of Evelyn Keyes, Maxwell offers practical advice about security, whilst Heflin practically moves in. Returning initially to check on Keyes' safety, an unusual - perhaps unique affair ensues. Keyes much older husband is always present; on air, performing his schmaltzy, cheesy, cornball radio show. Though it provides the ideal set up for their deceit, Heflin finally turns off the set, refusing to allow rubbish radio to ruin their racy romance.

When the dinosaur dee-jay grows suspicious, Heflin calls for a cooling off period. He retires to his spartan apartment, where, bearing an uncanny resemblance to The Royle Family's Craig Cash, he stares blankly into space. Does his vacant, vapid facial expression disguise profound perceptions permeating his punctilious brain....or is he merely musing over a hot dog which he ate in 1946? At this point Keyes bursts in, unlocking his libido and reigniting the relationship. If only her dull, ageing husband, hardly the future of rock'n'roll, the cause of her unhappiness and the barrier to Heflin's future were out of the way.

In the kind of plot where one lie leads to another, then another, followed by a porky of gargantuan proportions, the desperate couple head for Calico, one of Maxwell's ghost towns, uninhabited for many years. Though, apparently Poco knew a lady from there! Heflin has become so entrenched in his own web of corruption and crime that life is like attempting to swim through an ocean of treacle, whilst carrying Cyril Smith.

Not a classic, but a rarely seen noir, The Prowler deserves further investigation. Hope I've sold it to yez.

Webb Garwood (Van Heflin) is NOT your average policeman. After he and his partner respond to a prowler call, they leave....and Officer Garwood returns later. He claims he's just checking in on the woman but it soon is obvious that he is very interested in the pretty, well-heeled lady. At first, she rebuffs his advances...but soon is infatuated with him. The problem is that she is married...and Webb has a plan. You see, he's a master manipulator and his interest in Susan (Evelyn Keyes) is more than just sexual...he knows she has money...money which can help him retire in style! So he hatches a crazy plan to kill the husband...and thus live happily ever after! So what comes of this vicious plan?!

In some ways, this is a good example of film noir--such as the dirty cop, the murder and the affair. But in other ways, it's not quite a typical noir. The camera angles and dark cinematography is missing and the picture is a bit more Hollywood in look than a typical noir. I'd more consider this one noir-lite! This isn't really a complaint...more just an observation about the style of the film.

All in all, this is a very exciting and bleak film. The ending is top-notch and the film one of Heflin's best. Well worth seeing...and oddly not especially well known or formulaic in the least.

Van Heflin stars as a cop who is called to a woman's house to investigate a prowler outside of her window. He falls for the married woman and becomes a regular visitor at night while her husband is working as a DJ on the radio. After a few twists and turns, the two become entangled in a sordid affair. It all leads to some real nastiness and intrigue. I will not giveaway the story but it is a pretty good one. The ending was a bit disappointing but the cast is good.

Egads, what a creepy, strange film, and I mean that in the best possible way.

"The Prowler" is film noir at its weirdest, which for this film noir lover is synonymous with most entertaining. Van Heflin plays a psychopath cop who begins pretty much stalking Evelyn Keyes after being summoned to her house to investigate a peeping tom. He kills her husband in what is outright murder but which he stages as justifiable homicide so that they can run off and get married. But only a few days into their marriage, Keyes announces to him that she's four months pregnant with his baby, and he convinces her that they need to go hide out in an old abandoned ghost town until after she's had the baby, because he's afraid that if people find out they were getting it on before the husband's death, a proverbial can of worms will be opened.

All of this plays out as strangely as it sounds on paper. I found myself more than once thinking "WHERE is this movie going?" One criticism you most certainly cannot level at it is predictability.

Heflin is excellent as the kooky cop, and Keyes was one of the best noir dames. In this one, you spend the first half of the film willing her character to resist the passes of what is clearly a nut job, and the second half saying "I told you so" as she catches up with the audience and realizes Heflin is off his rocker.

This movie has cult classic written all over it.

Grade: A

A seedy but interesting minor early film noir from soon-to-be-blacklisted Hollywood director Joseph Losey who went onto make his name in the U.K. with films like "The Servant" and "Accident".

Although the action kicks off with an apparent prowler at the window of Evelyn Keyes Susan Gilvray character, the peeping tom is never seen or heard of again. Two cops come to do a routine check up on the incident and it's probably no accident that almost the first time we see Van Heflin's Webb Garwood character he takes up the exact position where the voyeur would have stood. Young and cocky, he decides to try his chances with the young home-alone woman even though she's made it quite clear she's married and so he pays her a return visit, this time on his own at the end of his shift ostensibly to see she's still alright but in reality he's on the make.

Initially she tries to give him the brush off even as we hear the voice of her obviously older absent husband in the background in his job as a cosy, late-night radio dee-jay who pointedly signs off every broadcast with a loving message directed personally at her, but Heflin's persistence pays off and soon enough they're off and running in an affair which you just know will never end well.

A key piece of exposition passed on to the viewer from a third party is that Susan and her husband could never have the children she wanted due to infertility on his part but regardless of this it's obvious that Garwood wants her to himself and so sets up a convenient night-time shooting of the docile-looking spouse in our only sighting of him in the whole movie. Garwood contrives a fabricated defence and gets off with an accidental death verdict that acquits him of blame which initially offends Susan but before long he's schmoozed his way back into her affections helped by a hefty life insurance pay-out on the dead man's name and soon enough they marry. But not soon enough, as Susan becomes aware she is already several months pregnant, he can't handle the scandal and whisks her away to an eerie, storm-buffeted ghost town to have the baby away from prying eyes. The conclusion shows Heflin's character to be the selfish heel he undoubtedly is and karma duly comes his way.

I was interested in the blunt way that the couple's brazen affair was presented and in particular the clear inference about the physicality of their relationship making the widow pregnant which I thought was quite daring for the time. Heflin is very good as the cake-and-eat-it guy who should have left well alone and Keyes is also very good as the conflicted wife lured in by Heflin's youthful passion and likely prospect of motherhood.

Like I said, it's a grubby, everyday story with none of the main characters coming out of it well, but sometimes life is like that and this effective little feature deserves kudos for that, at the very least.

As the story unfolds we see the true personalities of the main charcters come clearly through the film screen. There is the beautiful wife Susan Gilvray (Evelyn Keyes) who married a successful but older radio host who provides for his wife Susan but keeps her more as another prized possession under lock and key, than as his loving wife. When a prowler is spotted outside Susan's window she calls the police and two (2) policeman show up one of whom is a rugged looking unmarried and very single policeman named Webb Garwood (Van Heflin).

Officer Webb Garwood is immediately attracted to the pretty and helpless Susan, who spends her evenings alone listening on the radio to her older husbands well known radio broadcasts. So Webb makes some more than frequent late evening and impromptu visits to check up on the pretty Susan who falls prey to Webb's flattery and promises of a better life if she agrees to leave her wealthy husband for a beat cops salary.

The story unfolds slowly with lust and unfulfilled dreams becoming the films main focus with the third wheel becoming Susan's absent husband so Webb decides he has to make a plan to free Susan so that the two of them can have an open relationship.

As with any good plan there are flaws with Webb's own plan and we realize that the noose is closing in on these two adulterous lovers. Greed, lust and looking for a short cut to happiness can only end up in a bad result and this film is a good example of a film noir that works quite well and will hold your attention throughout.

I give it a solid 8 out of 10 rating.

Pity that Joseph Losey had to flee the USA because of HUAC. I would have liked to see a talent of his magnitude bankrolled to the levels afforded more average directors like Raoul Walsh, Anthony Mann, John Huston, Henry Hathaway, or George Stevens, among others.

Van Heflin performs with distinction, but the holes in the script make his character a trifle too jagged to be believed. His decision to shoot Keyes' husband just seems too overkill.

Beautiful Keyes posts a solid, even intuitive, performance. The rest of the cast has small roles but generally delivers.

Cinematography is top drawer. The final sequence, with Heflin trying to climb a hill, like Sisiphus in his impossible attempt to get to the summit of the mountain with a rock on his back, is memorable. The doctor who recommends a younger doctor and gets annoyed when he has to attend to Heflin because the latter shows his old police badge, posts a tiny but memorable part, and his abduction of the baby provides a touch of the unexpected and classy.

Ultimately, THE PROWLER misses a few opportunities to become something approaching masterpiece status. I blame it mainly on the script, which displays more holes in its logic than the proverbial Swiss cheese.

I doubt I'll watch it again, but I'm happy I have. It is an important film in the noir context. 6/10.