[Editorial] Horror Meets Noir in Ida Lapino’s The Hitch-Hiker (1953)

A ground-breaking force in the world of cinema, Ida Lapino is an early example of an innovative and creative woman who broke through boundaries time and time again. Among Lapino’s most memorable works as a director is the 1953 sprawling and intimate film The Hitch-Hiker. Part horror, part noir, it tells a concise and tension-filled tale of friends Roy (Edmond O’Brien) and Gil (Frank Lovejoy) who, whilst on a road trip, unwittingly pick up Emmett Myers (William Talman) someone that just happens to be a psychotic murderer. 

The Hitchhiker opens with what is now viewed as a tired and familiar trope, promising that its contents are based on real events:

‘This is the true story of a man and a gun and a car. The gun belonged to the man. The car might have been yours – or that young couple across the aisle. What you will see in the next seventy minutes could have happened to you. For the facts are actual.’

However, alongside the gritty aesthetic of the film this feels more like a hard-hitting caution than a cheap and enticing trick. 

With their fishing trip interrupted, Roy and Gil are held at gunpoint by Myers who has earnt himself the title of ‘The Hitch-Hiker Killer’ and is the subject of a cross-state police search. Roy and Gil’s first encounter with Myers makes full use of shadow as he sits brooding with ambiguity in the back seat while they awkwardly attempt to make polite conversation. The continuous silent response creates an air of menace which circulates until the two friends realise that their guest has no interest in small talk. Rather, Myer’s declared mission is to reach the town of Santa Rosalia where he plans to take a ferry to Guaymas. 

Ida Lapino

Myer’s leading tactic in asserting control over the pair relies on their mutual care for one another; he knows that rather than take their chances as individuals, one will not desert the other, effectively rendering them powerless. In an early prolonged and disturbing scene, Myers torments the friends by directing Roy to step back with a beer can whilst Gil takes an open shot with a rifle. Held at gunpoint, there is nothing the men can do to oppose the unpredictability of their captor. 

Not only does Myers enforce the men to perform harrowing acts but they become enslaved to his whim by undertaking routine and mundane jobs such as preparing and cooking meals. Over the campfire one night, Myers informs the pair he is unable to fully close one eye. This makes for a particularly suspenseful scene when, as they discuss planning to make an escape attempt, it dawns upon them that they can never really be certain if the killer is awake or asleep. 

Lapino successfully combines the small-scale narrative between the three men with a wide scale search for The Hitch-Hike Killer through intermittent snatches of police reports heard on the car radio. The balance of sudden death and possible escape is also maintained throughout as Gil and Roy make every effort to secretly alert the gas attendants, the police and other drivers whom they meet along the way. The jeopardy plays out in real-time as the friends take markedly different approaches to their situation. Collected and composed at all times, the mild-mannered Gil keeps a rational mindset whilst Roy displays a hot temper and a tendency to act out, all of which makes for an interesting mix.

Thanks to gathering information from a range of witnesses, the police are soon on the scent of the killer when they realise he is using Gil and Roy to reach his intended destination. Ironically, it is Myer’s obsession with hearing updates on his own case (via tuning in to the car radio) that seals his inevitable fate, as the authorities hoodwink him into believing they no longer suspect he is travelling with his two victims.   

As is often the case, the landscape plays a crucial role in the overall effect and through use of wide, cinematic shots, Lapino exploits the wide-open space of the desert which serves to highlight the isolation and helplessness of the men. Throughout her illustrious career, Lapino was drawn towards issue based material and with its roots in the real-life murderers of Billy Cook, The Hitch-Hiker is no exception. 

In directing this all-male cast in the early fifties, Lapino’s achievement speaks loudly and clearly for itself. However, what is most interesting in revisiting this film some sixty eight years later are the prescient themes of masculinity, criminality, and friendship. The denouement might be easy to predict but, just like the arc of her film, Lapino’s focus is on the twists and turns of the journey rather than the ending.

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