Movie Cosmos - The Hitch-Hiker

Description:

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.

Top Cast >

Edmond O'Brien

As Roy Collins

Frank Lovejoy

As Gilbert Bowen

William Talman

As Emmett Myers

José Torvay

As Captain Alvarado

Sam Hayes

As Radio Broadcaster

Wendell Niles

As Wendell Niles

Jean Del Val

As Inspector General

Clark Howat

As Government Agent

Natividad Vacío

As Jose

Larry Hudson

As FBI Agent

Collier Young

As Sleeping Mexican Peon

Gordon Barnes

As Hendrickson

Rodney Bell

As William Johnson

Orlando Beltran

As Salesman

Wade Crosby

As Joe

June Dinneen

As Waitress

Joe Dominguez

As Bit Part

Henry A. Escalante

As Mexican Guard

Al Ferrara

As Gas Station Attendant

Taylor Flaniken

As Mexican Cop

Nacho Galindo

As Jose Abarrotes, Store Proprietor

Martín Garralaga

As Bartender

Ed Hinton

As Chief of Police

Jerry Lawrence

As News Broadcaster

George Navarro

As Salesman

Kathy Riggins

As Little Girl at Abarrotes

Tony Roux

As Gas Station Owner

Felipe Turich

As Bit Part

Rosa Turich

As Woman

Top Crew >

Ida Lupino

Director, Screenplay

Collier Young

Screenplay, Producer

Mel Berns

Makeup Artist

Nicholas Musuraca

Director of Photography

Leith Stevens

Original Music Composer

Christian Nyby

Associate Producer

Douglas Stewart

Editor

James H. Anderson

Producer's Assistant

Darrell Silvera

Set Decoration

Walter E. Keller

Art Direction

Harley Miller

Set Decoration

C. Bakaleinikoff

Music Director

Harold E. Wellman

Special Effects

Robert Eggenweiler

Producer's Assistant

Albert S. D'Agostino

Art Direction

William Dorfman

Assistant Director

Robert L. Joseph

Screenplay

Roy Meadows

Sound Designer

Daniel Mainwaring

Story

Clem Portman

Sound Designer

Reviews:

CinemaSerf (6/10)

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.

2022-11-14