Sporting one of cinema’s most varied filmographies, American born Joseph Losey is one of the few blacklisted success stories of McCarthy’s witch hunt in the 1950s, who rose to significant international acclaim after fleeing to the UK. It wasn’t exactly a smooth transition, wherein Losey directed several titles under a pseudonym for the protection of actors who were afraid to be punished for starring in a Losey production. But by the end of the 1950s, Losey began to hone a more pronounced style across a variety of genres.

Like many auteurs, Losey had a flair for tinkering with gutting the mechanics of expected formulas, and such is the case with his 1961 crime thriller The Criminal, which seems to be less interested in its narrative than the sociological implications of its protagonist in this particular milieu.…...