In this crisply directed thriller, a single, relatively innocent transgression (a mild flirtation) quickly and inexorably draws a college professor into a hopelessly tangled web of blackmail and murder. The story mirrors perfectly the harsh geometry and stringent fatalism of Lang's visual style, which together create a powerful vision of the ultimate futility of man's acts. The film's narrative denouement has been strongly criticized: for an interesting explanation of Lang's intention in altering the perspective of the original novel, see Peter Bogdanovich's paperback “Fritz Lang In America.”