The Hitch-Hiker

Three men sit close together inside a dark car in a black-and-white film still. The man in front wears a cap while the two others stare tensely ahead.

Beyond its obvious cultural significance as the only classic film noir directed by a woman—the incomparable actress Ida Lupino—The Hitch-Hiker is perhaps better remembered as simply one of the most nightmarish motion pictures of the 1950s.

Inspired by the true-life murder spree of Billy Cook, The Hitch-Hiker is the tension-laden saga of two men on a camping trip (Edmond O'Brien and Frank Lovejoy) who are held captive by a homicidal drifter (William Talman). He forces them, at gunpoint, to embark on a grim joyride across the Mexican desert.

Renegade filmmaking at its finest, The Hitch-Hiker was independently produced, which allowed Lupino and ex-husband/producer Collier Young to work from a treatment by blacklisted writer Daniel Mainwaring, and tackle an incident that was too brutal for the major studios to even consider.

In English and Spanish with English subtitles. Part of our "Noirvember" series. Courtesy: Kino Lorber

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