The Cinematheque

New Restoration

“Lupino never relaxes the tension for one moment … Taut, tough, and entirely without macho-glorification, it’s a gem.”

Geoff Andrew, Time Out

“Her pictures are as tough and quick as those of Samuel Fuller,” says critic David Thomson of Ida Lupino, the trailblazing female filmmaker and noted actress who was the only woman to direct a film noir in the classic period. Lupino’s first noir (and most celebrated directorial outing) was this nerve-racking tale of two buddies (Edmond O’Brien, Frank Lovejoy) whose fishing trip turns into a nightmare when they pick up a psychopathic hitchhiker (William Talman). The hard-edged, claustrophobic drama, set against arid desert landscapes and within the confines of a car, is based on a story (uncredited) by blacklisted screenwriter Daniel Mainwaring (Out of the Past, Invasion of the Body Snatchers).