This is an extremely well crafted film, and Hitchcock couldn't have made a better job of it. The great issue here is the problem of knowing your criminal more than well and still being obliged to let him go because of his minor offence being so trivial and petty that justice cannot put him for it, so he is free to carry on which he does with a vengeance, leading to unheard of consequences which no one could imagine. The character of the film, carefully building up to an explosive finale, is almost quite a documentary, keeping intimately close to the criminal all the way making him totally psychologically and logically credible, so this is actually a very realistic film. Ted Shackelford makes a wonder of a convincing character, and so does Don Meredith as the sergeant, who all the way has to tread with extreme caution not to cross the line of the law, although that actually will trigger the catastrophe. It's a great film in a small frame, and whoever sees it will not be likely to forget it.