The Hitch-Hiker (DVD, 2004)

Before Rutger Hauer scared us to death in "Hitcher", there was this little movie to warn us never to pick up hitchhikers. This 1953 movie is just as effective and has only male characters except one little Mexican girl. Ironically, it is directed by a woman--and a famous one at that, Ida Lupino.

The story begins with two friends driving the car to go fishing in Mexico. Roy Collins (Edmond O'Brien) and Gilbert Bowman (Frank Lovejoy) innocently pick up a hitchhiker Emmett Myers (William Tallman) after leaving their homes in California. Immediately, he gets in the back seat of their car and points a gun at them. From then on, he is completely in control, and our men are at his mercy. He does not even close one of his eyes when he is sleeping!

Emmett taunts the two men--makes Gilbert shoot a tin can out of Roy's hand, makes Roy change into his clothes in case the police know his description, and almost runs the car over them when they try to escape. He ridicules them mercilessly: "You guys are soft." "You're suckers." "You could have escaped if you had just not cared about each other."

This 71 minute movie has a lot of power for its short time period. Since Emmett does not kill either one of them, we have a feeling that everything will be all right. But we still are sitting on the edge of our seats until it is over.

I forgot to tell you that Emmett--you know, the bad guy--later becomes Hamilton Burger, the District Attorney who always lost on the famous "Perry Mason" TV show. Isn't that ironic?

This is a good movie to watch if you are in the mood to be frightened to death in spite of its modest budget and having been made in the 1950's!