Joseph Hurley

1930年、ロサンジェルスのハイウェイ沿いにあるガソリンスタンドの安食堂。ここにひとりの流れ者がやって来る。食堂の女房の体に魅せられた男は、そこで働くことにした。やがて二人は情事を重ねるが食堂の主人はまったく気づかない。そして二人はついに、恐ろしい計画を実行に移すのだが…。

A lonely Navy sailor falls in love with a Seattle hooker and becomes a surrogate father figure for her son during an extended liberty due to his service records being lost.

After runaway Ben Young is robbed and left on his own, he is taken in by Lil, the head of a Chicago brothel. Acting as a surrogate mother for Ben, who thinks she runs a boardinghouse, Lil gets him a job with Francis Sullivan at the local newspaper. As Ben is exposed to the workings of the big city, he realizes the extent of government corruption and sets out on the daunting task of reforming Chicago politics, finding several allies along the way.

伝説的ヒッチコック・スリラーにして全てのサイコ・サスペンスのルーツ。会社の金を横領した女が立ち寄ったベイツ・モーテル。そこには管理人の青年ノーマンと離れの一軒屋に住む年老いた“母”がいた。原作はロバート・ブロック。