The Hitch-Hiker

(1953) Directed by Ida Lupino; Written by Ida Lupino and Collier Young; Adaptation by Robert L. Joseph; Starring: Edmond O’Brien, Frank Lovejoy, William Talman, José Torvay and Sam Hayes; Available on Blu-ray and DVD 

Rating: ****

“I needed a release from Billy Cook to do our film about him. My company, Filmmakers, paid $3,000.00 to his attorney for exclusive rights to his story. I found Billy to be cold and aloof. I was afraid of him. Billy Cook had ‘Hard Luck’ tattooed on the fingers of his left hand and a deformed right eyelid that would never close completely. I could not wait to get the hell out of San Quentin!” – Ida Lupino (excerpted from Ida Lupino, Director, by Therese Grisham and Julie Grossman)

“She was one of the gang; in fact, our leader, who met everything with an unbeatable…sense of humor. She set the pace for the seventy men who made up the troupe, and held it.” – William Talman on Ida Lupino (Ibid)

During a time in Hollywood when women directors were about as prevalent as a $10,000 bill, Ida Lupino* carved a niche for herself in male-dominated Hollywood. Along with her then husband Collier Young and screenwriter Malvin Wald, they formed an independent production company, The Filmmakers, to create movies their way. After previously tackling such hot-button topics as teenage pregnancy and rape, Lupino’s next assignment was plucked from the headlines. The Hitch-Hiker** was based on the real-life case of Billy Cook, who was responsible for a string of six murders (including an entire family of five and a lone salesman) across the American southwest, followed by his eventual capture in Baja California (Mexico) in 1951. Once again, the film’s sordid themes presented another challenge for Lupino and Filmmakers. The production company fought with Joseph Breen and the Production Code censors*** to bring the story to the big screen. While initially reluctant to direct the film, due in part to its exclusive focus on male characters, Lupino crafted a tense thriller that probably influenced an entire generation to think twice before picking up that lone traveler on the side of the road. 

* Fun Fact #1: Between the 1930s and 1960s, Lupino was only one of two women registered with the Screen Directors Guild (The Directors Guild of America). The other, preceding her by more than a decade, was Dorothy Arzner. 

** Fun Fact #2: Before it was known as The Hitch-Hiker, the film was originally planned as the docu-drama The Cook Story. 

*** Fun Fact #3: One of the objections by Breen and his Production Code lackeys was that the film would somehow glorify Cook’s heinous acts. The finished movie, however, establishes the antagonist as incontrovertibly unsympathetic.

Roy Collins (Edmond O’Brien) and Gilbert Bowen (Frank Lovejoy) are two family men* on a fishing trip to Arizona, who decide to take a little unscheduled detour to Mexicali, Mexico, for some debauchery south of the border. Their plans don’t quite work out the way they figured, with Gilbert electing to catch up on some sleep rather than stopping for a sleazy strip show. Back on the road for plan A, they pick up a hitchhiker, whose car has broken down at the side of a long dusty road. Their choice to pick up Emmett Myers (William Talman)** proves to be an even worse decision than deceiving their wives. From the moment he sits in the back seat, Myers holds the two buddies captive at gunpoint. A bad situation becomes worse when it dawns on them that their days are numbered. Roy and Gilbert’s situation becomes dire, with the realization that their lives are only a a means to an end until Myers makes his getaway in the Mexican town of Santa Rosalía.  

* Fun Fact #4: The two characters were based on their real-life counterparts, Forrest Damron and James Burke, who were held captive by Billy Cook over a period of eight days. 

** Fun Fact #5: Myers was supposed to be 28, although Talman was 38 at the time. For reference, Billy Cook was only 21 when he embarked on his killing spree.

 

Emmett Myers, chillingly portrayed by William Talman, is about as unrepentant and irredeemable as they come, poised like a coiled viper ready to strike at any moment. He holds his gun like a warped security blanket, a phallic symbol of power in a society where he’s been rendered virtually impotent. Up to this point, he’s remained one step ahead of the authorities, which he credits to his intellect, as opposed to dumb luck. In his misguided attempt to level the playing field, he boasts about taking what he wants, while leaving a trail of dead bodies in his wake. His twisted notion of freedom only exists at the detriment of others. Among his miscalculations, Myers underestimates the strength of Roy and Gilbert’s friendship. Surprised that the two friends don’t turn against each other in their desperation to escape, he considers their compassion for one another a weakness. In his eyes, their sheltered suburban lives have made them “soft.” Even when he forces Gilbert to shoot a tin can from his friend’s hand, Myers fails to tear them apart. Myers meets a fitting end (SPOILER ALERT). Instead of being gunned down by the police, he’s cornered and captured, like a trapped wild animal. For Myers, denial of his freedom is a fate much worse than death.

One salient example of the way Lupino’s film bucked the trend of her Hollywood contemporaries is that the Mexican characters speak Spanish, without subtitles, rather than some bastardized pidgin English. Whether or not you understand Spanish is irrelevant (although understanding at least a modicum of Spanish certainly enhances your viewing experience). The viewer can clearly ascertain everything that’s transpiring through tone and body language. This artistic choice maintains the dignity of the characters, while not insulting the audience’s intelligence.

If there’s one lesson to be gleaned from The Hitch-Hiker, it proves the old adage that no good deed goes unpunished. Director/co-writer Ida Lupino crafted an almost unbearably tense noir thriller from beginning to end. Clocking in at a taut 71 minutes, there’s no wasted shots or extraneous scenes. Rather than appearing like a travelogue, the dusty southwestern landscape becomes its own character, a vast inhospitable expanse that swallows its victims. Amidst this unforgiving landscape is a villain who’s truly savage and unpredictable. Despite her misgivings, Lupino was the ideal director (and co-writer) for the job, with much to say about the myth of the “American Dream,” as well as toxic masculinity in a society that rewards gender stereotypes. The Hitch-Hiker is an unrelentingly visceral experience that will haunt you long after you’ve watched the final reel. 

 

Sources for this article: Ida Lupino, Director – Her Art and Resilience in Times of Transition, by Therese Grisham and Julie Grossman; Film Fatales, by Judith M. Redding and Victoria A. Brownworth; “’I’m Gonna Live by the Gun and Roam’: Portrait of an American Spree Killer,” by Ben Cosgrove, Life; “Ida Lupino’s America – ‘Just a Big Family of Little Failures,’” by J.E. Smyth, Cineaste (Winter 2019)