Slow and uninvolving noir
Added 10/18/2009
The Bottom Line:
The Hitch-Hiker may be the only film-noir ever directed by a woman, but it's unfortunately also one of the worst I've seen; exceedingly dull even at a short 78 minutes, with a minimum of tension and a lot of pointless wheels-spinning, this is a disappointing film that has little to offer and should be eschewed in favor of more interesting films like John Sturges's similar but better Jeopardy.
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excellent noir dominated by William Tallman's riveting psychopath
Added 9/20/2009
My continuing explorations of noir have brought me to this exciting low-budget affair featuring the unknown-to-me William Tallman giving a stunning performance as multiple murderer Emmett Myers, who kidnaps a couple of old war veteran buddies (Edmond O'Brien and Frank Lovejoy) in the desert and forces them to drive him to Mexico. This is superbly done, and along with the other Lupino films I've seen ("The Outrage" and "The Bigamist") offers strong proof that she was one of the great directors of the early 50s; she builds suspense slowly and steadily -- it's hard to believe the film is only 71 minutes, and not because it is in any way "slow" -- and her eye for the landscape and for the psychology of fear gives even the obvious rear-projection sequences in the car a feeling of authenticity. Location shooting was still pretty rare in the early 1950s and it's nice that Lupino got a chance to get out of L.A. for this effort, which really profits from the desert desolation and loneliness.
Talman's performance and character -- the bum eye that causes a twitch in his face, the sadism, the sick sense of humor and the constant threatening of his companions -- is what is going to stick with most people, though O'Brien and Lovejoy are both fine in rather thankless roles; he is never so over-the-top that he becomes unbelievable, and he is given just enough depth through some vague comments about his past that you can practically trace his decline into insanity. We also are made uneasy enough that we never really are sure how things will turn out, as the captives become more desperate and their captor more crazy -- all the way up until the powerful climax on a pier in a port town in Mexico. I watched the KINO VHS.
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a great oldy
Added 6/13/2009
this movie is filmed with alot of suspence. I remember seeing it as kid on the old new york stations. The movie was around the start of never pick up hitch-hiker days. And its real hard to get a ride nowadays. (Espiecially in the desert) Believe me im an old hitch-hiker so this I do know to be true. And you cant blame the people with all the crazy's out there. (Its even 10 times worse today.) So if you want to see a good movie. (Espiecially on a rainy night.) Then this movie will surely intertest you. I bet for sure it keeps you on the edge of your seat.
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Wonderful Noir
Added 3/9/2009
I found a copy of this film at my favorite thrift store - It had been on my "to see" list for quite some time. The story is gripping and much grittier than many noirs I have seen - the scene in the store with the little girl was both touching and harrowing. This is a must have for any film noir collection.
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Brothers grim
Added 1/15/2009
The great Warner Brothers film actress Ida Lupino started a low-budget film company with her husband, Collier Young; when a director for their company, Elmer Young, became sick and couldn't do work on a project of his (based on Billy Cook who murdered a family of four from whom he hitchhiked a ride), Lupino stepped in and finished it for him. The result is this great film noir, the first ever directed by a woman, and Lupino's own favorite among all the films she directed. The tone is so incredibly assured that even where the film does not entirely satisfy you feel you're failing Lupino rather than vice-versa. One of the singularities of the film is that even though the narrative focuses almost entirely on three men--the psychotic serial killer Emmet Myers (the terrifying William Talman) and the two friends on a fishing trip he holds hostage--Lupino gives us almost no background for any of them. Their sparse dialogue is focused almost entirely on what Myers wants the two hostages to do and their accomplishing of their tasks; the two friends' complex relationship (one endures his terror almost entirely stoically, while the other slowly breaks down) is conveyed solely through subtle facial gestures and body language. The film's setting is a kind of nightmare vision of Baja California, devoid of almost all people or vegetation; almost all we are left with is the three men and the radio they listen to in order to pass the time. After a while the three men become more and more indistinguishable from one another (particularly when Myers forces one of the men to change clothes with him at gunpoint). We are to understand that, stripped of any civilized context, the three men become nothing more than three animals, separated or linked to one another solely by their bonds of affection or of loathing. This is a film that's almost impossible to forget, and all the more remarkable that it came from one of the rare women directors of the Fifties (there are no women whatsoever in the film other than one of Myers' first victims, of whom we see only her slumped body and open hand).
1 out of 1 people found this helpful.
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Slow and uninvolving noir
Added 10/18/2009
The Bottom Line:
The Hitch-Hiker may be the only film-noir ever directed by a woman, but it's unfortunately also one of the worst I've seen; exceedingly dull even at a short 78 minutes, with a minimum of tension and a lot of pointless wheels-spinning, this is a disappointing film that has little to offer and should be eschewed in favor of more interesting films like John Sturges's similar but better Jeopardy.
0 out of 0 people found this helpful.
|
excellent noir dominated by William Tallman's riveting psychopath
Added 9/20/2009
My continuing explorations of noir have brought me to this exciting low-budget affair featuring the unknown-to-me William Tallman giving a stunning performance as multiple murderer Emmett Myers, who kidnaps a couple of old war veteran buddies (Edmond O'Brien and Frank Lovejoy) in the desert and forces them to drive him to Mexico. This is superbly done, and along with the other Lupino films I've seen ("The Outrage" and "The Bigamist") offers strong proof that she was one of the great directors of the early 50s; she builds suspense slowly and steadily -- it's hard to believe the film is only 71 minutes, and not because it is in any way "slow" -- and her eye for the landscape and for the psychology of fear gives even the obvious rear-projection sequences in the car a feeling of authenticity. Location shooting was still pretty rare in the early 1950s and it's nice that Lupino got a chance to get out of L.A. for this effort, which really profits from the desert desolation and loneliness.
Talman's performance and character -- the bum eye that causes a twitch in his face, the sadism, the sick sense of humor and the constant threatening of his companions -- is what is going to stick with most people, though O'Brien and Lovejoy are both fine in rather thankless roles; he is never so over-the-top that he becomes unbelievable, and he is given just enough depth through some vague comments about his past that you can practically trace his decline into insanity. We also are made uneasy enough that we never really are sure how things will turn out, as the captives become more desperate and their captor more crazy -- all the way up until the powerful climax on a pier in a port town in Mexico. I watched the KINO VHS.
0 out of 0 people found this helpful.
|
a great oldy
Added 6/13/2009
this movie is filmed with alot of suspence. I remember seeing it as kid on the old new york stations. The movie was around the start of never pick up hitch-hiker days. And its real hard to get a ride nowadays. (Espiecially in the desert) Believe me im an old hitch-hiker so this I do know to be true. And you cant blame the people with all the crazy's out there. (Its even 10 times worse today.) So if you want to see a good movie. (Espiecially on a rainy night.) Then this movie will surely intertest you. I bet for sure it keeps you on the edge of your seat.
0 out of 0 people found this helpful.
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