The first and still one of the best of the Bonnie and Clyde, outlaw-lovers-on-the-run films. Henry Fonda is Eddie, a three-time loser sentenced to death for a crime he did not commit; Sylvia Sydney is Jo, with whom he escapes to the Canadian border in a gripping and uncompromising conclusion. According to historian Georges Sadoul, "This and Fury are Lang's best Hollywood films, and expositions of Lang's favorite theme of guilt. As in Fury it is society not destiny that is responsible, but whereas in Fury Lang focused blame on the mob, here society's guilt is more diffuse. Visually striking, the composition and lighting, in their brooding, atmospheric effects, sometimes recall those of expressionism. Though its plot is largely melodramatic, the total effect of the film (much helped by the touching warmth of Sylvia Sydney and Henry Fonda) is very powerful."