Like his Satan Tempts With Love (1960) a couple of years later, Rudolf Jugert’s Nachts auf den Straßen (US: The Mistress) also centers around a femme fatale who falls for her victim halfway through the con job. In this case, the predator is Inge Hoffman (Hildegard Knef), member of a smuggling gang, and her prey is happily married truck driver Heinrich Schlueter (Hans Albers) who takes a couple of on-the-job “detours” that trigger his descent: one to steal a sum of cash from an accident scene and the other to pick up a stranded stranger (Inge) in the dark. Marius Goring plays Kurt Willbrandt, Inge’s boyfriend and gang leader who later is happy to learn of Heinrich’s roadside theft as excellent blackmail material. Brilliantly, Jugert shows us a wonderful marriage at the center of Heinrich’s life: he stole the money to buy a fur coat for his simple wife Anna (Lucie Mannheim), who remains devoted, idealistic, and, most importantly, more wisely aware of her husband’s dalliances than he thinks. Rich in highway metaphors (the opening credits even describe the film as “co-starring the autobahn”) and spotlighting the everyday Germans who rebuilt the country’s commerce and infrastructure following the war, the film is just as much a study of love and loyalty as it is a crime film, which may or may not satisfy diehard noir fans.