Actress Ida Lupino was one of the only women directing American movies in the 1940s and '50s, and this independent 1953 production—inspired by the true story of an escaped killer who murdered his way down the West Coast—takes her into a distinctively masculine film noir thriller world. Roy Collins (Edmond O'Brien) and Gilbert Bowen (Frank Lovejoy) are married men on a fishing vacation that detours into Tijuana, where they end up in a hostage situation after fugitive convict Emmett Myers (William Talman—most famous for playing Hamilton Burger to Raymond Burr's Perry Mason) hitches a ride and forces them to drive him to the Gulf Coast. O'Brien and Lovejoy are convincing as middle-class guys in a nightmarish situation, and Talman is intimidating as a psychotic killer with a sadistic sense of humor and a scarred eyelid that never fully closes—even when he's asleep. The result is a sweaty, lean thriller that plays out almost entirely on desolate dirt roads and dusty rural highways, with California's striking, boulder-strewn Alabama Hills standing in for Mexico. One of the best low-budget film noirs of the era, and the only classic of the genre directed by a woman, The Hitch-Hiker slipped into the public domain years ago, resulting in numerous poor-quality releases over the decades on tape and disc. This edition, mastered from an archival 35mm print from the Library of Congress, shows minor damage but is otherwise a major improvement and is now the definitive home-video presentation. Extras include an image gallery. Recommended. (S. Axmaker)
The Hitch-Hiker
Kino, 71 min., not rated, DVD: $24.95, Blu-ray: $29.95 Volume 29, Issue 1
The Hitch-Hiker
Star Ratings
As of March 2022, Video Librarian has changed from a four-star rating system to a five-star one. This change allows our reviewers to have a wider range of critical viewpoints, as well as to synchronize with Google’s rating structure. This change affects all reviews from March 2022 onwards. All reviews from before this period will still retain their original rating. Future film submissions will be considered our new 1-5 star criteria.
Order From Your Favorite Distributor Today: