The Hitch-Hiker (1953)

Synopsis of The Hitch-Hiker

Daniel Mainwaring took this story right out of the headlines of the day, penning this true story of a mass murderer who was eventually executed in San Quentin's gas chamber. Released during McCarthy's witch-hunt, Mainwaring was not given credit because Howard R. Hughes, who produced it under RKO, refused to give credit to any "radicals." The story is that of two men on a fishing trip who pick up a hitchhiker. He turns out to be a sadistic psychopath who has committed multiple murders, a sociopath who hates humanity because of his own abuse as a child. He also has an affliction which terrifies these two men: an eye which is permanently open, thereby never allowing them to know if he is really asleep or just faking it--something which he does with regularity to scare them...letting them take off and then meeting up with them just as they feel they have escaped from him. A tense thriller skillfully directed by the only female director of the time, Ida Lupino, it is a suspenseful tale of terror on the highways. ~ Tana Hobart, Rovi

Theatrical Feature Running Time:

120 mins

Director(s):

Ida Lupino

Writer(s):

Ida Lupino, Collier Young, Robert L. Joseph

Producer(s):

Ida Lupino, Collier Young

Theatrical MPAA Rating:

PG13(Not For Children)

Categories:

Mystery & Suspense

• 1998 - Library of Congress - U.S. National Film Registry

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