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The Hitch-Hiker

The Hitch-Hiker

  • Status: Released
  • 30-03-1953
  • Runtime: 71 min
  • Score: 6.801
  • Vote count: 193

Roy and Gilbert's fishing trip takes a terrifying turn when the hitchhiker they pick up turns out to be a sociopath on the run from the law. He's killed before, and he lets the two know that as soon as they're no longer useful, he'll kill again. The two friends plot an escape, but the hitchhiker's peculiar physical affliction, an eye that never closes even when he sleeps, makes it impossible for them to tell when they can make a break for it.

Edmond O'Brien

Roy Collins

Frank Lovejoy

Gilbert Bowen

William Talman

Emmett Myers

José Torvay

Captain Alvarado

Sam Hayes

Radio Broadcaster

Wendell Niles

Wendell Niles

Jean Del Val

Inspector General

Clark Howat

Government Agent

Natividad Vacío

Jose

Larry Hudson

FBI Agent

Collier Young

Sleeping Mexican Peon

Gordon Barnes

Hendrickson

Rodney Bell

William Johnson

Orlando Beltran

Salesman

Wade Crosby

Joe

June Dinneen

Waitress

Joe Dominguez

Bit Part

Henry A. Escalante

Mexican Guard

Al Ferrara

Gas Station Attendant

Taylor Flaniken

Mexican Cop

Nacho Galindo

Jose Abarrotes, Store Proprietor

Martín Garralaga

Bartender

Ed Hinton

Chief of Police

Jerry Lawrence

News Broadcaster

George Navarro

Salesman

Kathy Riggins

Little Girl at Abarrotes

Tony Roux

Gas Station Owner

Felipe Turich

Bit Part

Rosa Turich

Woman

CinemaSerf

William Talman ("Myers") is great in this thriller that follows the tortuous journey of two fishermen who stopped to pick up a traveller and discover they are now in the hands of a gun-toting psychopath. Determined to escape the pursuing authorities, he forces them to drive, then walk, through largely desert terrain heading for a port and his escape. To make matters worse, he has already informed them that when he gets there - he is going to kill them!. Ida Lupino directed this quite spooky drama with some skill and Edmond O'Brien and Frank Bowen play well together as the captives in what is essentially a taut three-hander. It does push the bounds of plausibility at times, though - there are opportunities to overwhelm their antagonist and after a while those begin to undermine the threat; you do begin to believe that good will out and so the tension starts to diminish quite quickly... It's a very darkly filmed, moody piece of cinema that is rarely seen nowadays and is still well worth catching up with almost 70 years on.