This movie is a warning against acting on an impulse. The wanted criminal in the prologue on the impulse decides to grab the gun, which gets him arrested and adds resisting arrest to his list of felonies. Alice White is ready to chat on her boyfriend on an impulse of liking the handsome artist, she kills the artist on an impulse when she feels threatened. Her boyfriend, detective Frank Webber, on an impulse decides to hide the evidence of Alice's crime. The blackmailer, without thinking, on an impulse decides to blackmail them both. Little boy on the tram, on the impulse, decides to pull Hitchcock's hat by the brim. The blackmailer, hearing the police at the door, on the impulse decides to run and climb, which choice immediately kills him. Finally, Alice on an impulse decides to give herself in to the police - but at this point "deus ax machina" comically interferes (through the phone call) and this gives her the chance for a real absolution: to think about what he had done, and to rethink her attitude toward life. We must never act motivated by urges we have, whether it's a sexual urge we keep secret, or a sudden strong survival / self-defense impulse (acting on this makes us victims, rather than survivors). Our actions should be firmly controlled by reason.
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