The Hitch-Hiker

(Ida Lupino, US 1953, 70 min., 35mm)

The Noir Effect. Ida Lupino directs the story of two fisherman (Frank Lovejoy and Edmond O’Brien) taken hostage by the psychopathic, mass-murdering title character (William Talman). The almost unbearably suspenseful dark jewel of Lupino’s directorial career, The Hitch-Hiker is also the only classical film noir ever directed by a woman.