The Prowler, A Narcissist and a Babe

He's a liar.  He's a narcissist.  She's a sultry blonde in a loveless marriage.  Put the two together and we have a neat Film Noir film set in LA and the nearby desert. Sad, that babe blondes seem to involve themselves with miscreants.  What happens in this film will push your limits of sympathy for the beautiful as her decision making processes will prove ultra-flawed.  Our lonely babe meets predator drama will unfold as 1951's "The Prowler," directed by Jospeh Losey.

It begins innocent enough...on second thought, no it doesn't. Sultry blonde Susan (Evelyn Keyes) showers with the window open.  Bad judgment or an exhibitionist?  Not important.  A prowler comes to the window for the show and frightens Susan enough to call the cops.  Her husband works nights.  The cops show up.  Most notably the hunk Officer Webb Garwood (Van Heflin).  His partner is the milquetoast nice guy Officer Crocker (John Maxwell). Webb falls in love with Susan immediately and will return later to check on her. This return meeting is filled with outright narcissism on his part and repressed sexual tension on her part.  On the radio is Susan's husband who spins records on a late night radio show. With her husband yapping over the radio, Webb and Susan suck face and do the dirty deed. There's a problem... yep, she's married. Webb is not the type pf guy to just give up.  He concocts a plan and you can probably guess what it is.

The lying narcissist murders the husband and makes it look like an accidental shooting.  An inquest will clear him.  Initially Susan is horrified that Webb wants her, but he's a hunk and she's a lonely blonde. Now she is mad for him and the duo get married seconds after her husband's burial.  A bad move? Impulsive? Ha!  You have no idea.  What happens next will only take seconds to unfold but the marital bliss they both seek will be nuked, decimated, and pose homicidal challenges.  With a big risk of Webb's murderous intentions being figured out by his police department, the two decide on a desperate and impossible course of action.  What happens next will make you squirm and shake your head.

Is there any chance Webb and Susan can live happily ever after?  If the husband was alive would he have been able to tell us more about Susan's ability to be a good wife?  Having murdered once already, will Webb have trouble murdering again?  This is a dark one with no humor or wit. You will join Webb and Susan in falling down an abyss of bad decisions and bloody actions.  See "The Prowler" and heed the morality tale put before you.