Screen/Society--"The Hitch-Hiker" (1953) 35mm archival print

Film Series Debut: "Ida Lupino 101"

"The Hitch-Hiker"
(Ida Lupino, 1953, 71 min, USA, English & Spanish, B&W, 35mm)

Businessmen Edmond O'Brien and Frank Lovejoy see their vacation go to hell when they pick up the wrong guy: psychopath William Talman. This film was Ida's personal favorite; exquisitely tense from the very first frame.
--35mm archival print courtesy of Library of Congress

"Taut, tough, and entirely without macho-glorification, it's a gem, with first-class performances from its three protagonists, deftly characterised without resort to cliché." Geoff Andrew, Time Out

"This hell-for-leather 1953 noir demonstrates Ida Lupino's facility with actors and flawless pacing." J.R. Jones, Chicago Reader