The Prowler (1951 film)

The Prowler
Theatrical release poster
Directed byJoseph Losey
Screenplay byDalton Trumbo (uncredited)
Hugo Butler (a front for Trumbo)
Story byRobert Thoeren
Hans Wilhelm
Produced bySam Spiegel
StarringVan Heflin
Evelyn Keyes
CinematographyArthur C. Miller
Edited byPaul Weatherwax
Music byLyn Murray
Production
company
Horizon Pictures
Distributed byUnited Artists
Release date
  • May 25, 1951 (1951-05-25) (United States)
Running time
92 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish

The Prowler is a 1951 American thriller film noir directed by Joseph Losey, produced by Sam Spiegel, written by Dalton Trumbo and starring Van Heflin and Evelyn Keyes.[1][2][3][4] Because Trumbo was an admitted communist, the screenplay was credited to his friend, screenwriter Hugo Butler, as a front.[5]

Plot

Webb Garwood, a single and disgruntled cop, is called to investigate a report of a peeping tom by Susan Gilvray, whose husband works nights as a radio personality. Webb falls in love and becomes obsessed with Susan, and they begin an adulterous affair.

After Webb discovers that Susan's husband has a life insurance policy, he concocts a murderous scheme. One night, he makes noise outside Susan's house to suggest that a prowler is nearby. He returns to the house in his official capacity as a police officer and again makes noise indicating a prowler. When Susan's husband comes outside armed, Webb, hiding in the bushes, kills him with his service revolver. Webb wounds himself with the dead man's pistol to create the appearance that they had exchanged gunfire.

Webb's ruse fools a coroner's jury, partly because he and Susan testify that they did not know each other before her husband's death, although Webb's police partner knows otherwise.

At first, Susan suspects Webb of foul play, but he convinces her of his innocence and later marries her. Shortly after the wedding, Susan informs Webb that she is four months pregnant. Since her husband was infertile, she knows that Webb is the baby's father. The date of the baby's conception would prove that they lied in their testimonies to hide their previous relationship and suggest that Webb's killing of Susan's husband was intentional.

Webb and Susan flee to Calico, a ghost town, for the baby to be born without the knowledge of anyone back home. They enjoy a happy life until Susan enters premature labor. Webb drives to a nearby town and forces Dr. William James to come to Calico to help with the birth. Susan realizes that Webb intends to kill Dr. James to preserve their secret, so she warns the doctor, who escapes with the newborn and Webb's Cadillac keys.

Susan tells Webb that she knows that he intended to kill the doctor and that he intentionally murdered her husband. Realizing that the doctor will send the police after him, Webb drives away, leaving Susan alone in Calico.

Webb finds the narrow track out of town blocked by his former police partner. While desperately trying to push his friend's reversing car with his own car's front bumper, Webb sees two police cars approaching, so he flees on foot. After he refuses orders to surrender, a sheriff's deputy shoots him from afar.[6][7]

Cast

Production

Evelyn Keyes, under contract at Columbia, had long complained about the lack of challenging roles offered to her. When Sam Spiegel of Horizon Pictures (producers of the film for United Artists) bought the story, his partner at Horizon, John Huston, believed that it would be the perfect project for Keyes, his estranged wife. Although more famous for her role in Gone with the Wind, Keyes felt this to be the best role and performance of her career. Of those working on the film, only Spiegel, Huston and Losey knew that the screenwriter was Dalton Trumbo.[8]

Several crew members who worked on The Prowler were adversely affected by the Hollywood blacklist. Screenplay writer Dalton Trumbo, an admitted communist and member of the Hollywood 10, wrote under the pseudonym of his friend Hugo Butler. Butler was also blacklisted, writing in exile for 12 years and also using pseudonyms to deceive the public. Director Joseph Losey cast Trumbo as the voice of the radio disc jockey John Gilvray. Losey also faced blacklisting shortly after directing the film.

Release

The Prowler was theatrically released in the United States on May 25, 1951.[9]

Restoration

As The Prowler was produced independently, there was no studio to help preserve it and it was considered orphaned. After a time, there was only one deteriorating print left, but the Film Noir Foundation and the UCLA Film and Television Archive partnered to restore the film.[10]

Home media

The Prowler was released on February 1, 2011 on DVD via VCI Entertainment.[11] The film became available on Blu-ray on March 10, 2015 by the same company.[12] It has been shown on the Turner Classic Movies show Noir Alley with Eddie Muller.

Reception

In a contemporary review, The New York Times noted "an impressive drama."[13]

Film critic Dennis Schwartz liked the film, writing, "A neat noir thriller that has a slight variation on the Double Indemnity theme, this time it is the guy who is the seducer. This is a Joseph Losey American film, made before his self-exile from the 1950s HUAC witch hunt days when he fled to England. It is the director's aim to highlight social issues and class differences. They will play a major role in the motif, adding to the usual noir ones of dark character and sexual misconduct. Dalton Trumbo, the blacklisted writer, is the uncredited co-writer of the script."[14]

Leonard Maltin awarded the film 3 out of a possible 4 stars, praising its camerawork and production design and calling the film "unusually nasty and utterly unpredictable".[15]

Eddie Muller listed it as one of his Top 25 Noir Films: "Silent producer John Huston's goodbye gift to wife Evelyn Keyes: a terrific role in a truly weird film. Dated by the pregnancy angle, but relentlessly compelling."[16]

The Prowler holds a 100% rating on Rotten Tomatoes based on 18 reviews.[17]

Footnotes

  1. ^ Palmer and Riley, 1993 p. 156-157: Filmography
  2. ^ Hirsch, 1980 p. 232-233: Filmography
  3. ^ "The Prowler (1951) - Joseph Losey - Review - AllMovie". AllMovie.
  4. ^ "The Prowler (1950)". Archived from the original on August 11, 2016.
  5. ^ Arnold, Jeremy. "The Prowler: Home Video Review". TCM. Turner Classic Movies. Archived from the original on September 29, 2011. Retrieved May 18, 2017.
  6. ^ Palmer and Riley, 1993 p. 7-8: Plot summary
  7. ^ Hirsch, 1980 p. 47-48: Plot summary
  8. ^ Muller, Eddie. "Noir Alley:The Prowler (1951) intro 20180325". YouTube. Turner Classic Movies. Retrieved April 6, 2022.
  9. ^ "AFI|Catalog". catalog.afi.com. Retrieved August 1, 2023.
  10. ^ Axmaker, Sean. "The Prowler-The High Cost of Living a Lie: DVD of the Week". Parallax View. Sean Axmaker. Retrieved April 4, 2022.
  11. ^ Erickson, Glenn. "The Prowler: Restored and Remastered". DVD Talk. Retrieved July 23, 2024.
  12. ^ Erickson, Glenn. "The Prowler: Restored and Remastered". DVD Talk. Retrieved July 23, 2024.
  13. ^ "Unusual Drama Opens at Criterion". The New York Times. July 2, 1951.
  14. ^ Schwartz, Dennis (February 2, 2000). "Ozus' World Movie Reviews". Archived from the original on December 17, 2013. Retrieved July 8, 2013.
  15. ^ Jonathan Harchick (October 28, 2013). Leonard Maltin's 2014 Movie Guide: Leonard Maltin's Movie Guide. Createspace Independent Pub. ISBN 978-1-4936-2083-8.
  16. ^ Muller, Eddie. "Top 25 Noir Films". eddiemuller.com. Retrieved August 21, 2025.
  17. ^ "The Prowler". Rotten Tomatoes. Fandango. Retrieved July 23, 2024.

Sources

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