The Hitch-Hiker

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Among the original “tough dames” of ‘30s and ‘40s movies, actress Ida Lupino later moved behind the camera to become one of the industry’s few prominent female directors. After a series of films often categorized as “women’s pictures” (“Never Fear,” “Outrage”), Lupino took a hard turn with this gritty, hard-boiled tale. Two men (Edmond O'Brien and Frank Lovejoy) make the mistake of picking up a tormented hitch-hiker (William Talman). Upon its release in 1953, the film earned Lupino strong reviews and prompted the occasional comparison to Hitchcock’s style. Named to the National Film Registry in 1998.