Daily Dose of Darkness #18: Keep Driving (Scene from The Hitch-Hiker)

[Dr. Rich Edwards]

We continue our theme this week of "The Substance of Film Noir," with this scene from very early in Ida Lupino's 1953 film The Hitch-Hiker.

 

Let the discussion begin!

[BrianBlake]

Love this one! Watching the movie now thanks to this course/series.

 

Here is a URL link for those having difficulty finding the clips: https://youtu.be/M95uQlfig6s

 

The cinematography of this scene is extremely striking. From the opening credits, we already know that the dark pants and shadowy figure along the highway are a menacing omen of the potentially murderous hitchhiker. Here, the hitchhiker is almost always shown in shadow signaling that he's a threat, but also an unknown, despite how we do get a moentary glimpse of his face as he gets into the car though again, there, he's instantly shadowed facially as opposed to the two car riders, again underscoring how he's a threat and unknown. The gun reveal with the extreme closeup naturally flows as opposed to some other clips we've been exposed to thus far, perhaps because it also works as what the one character sees when he finally dares to look back and see/figure out exactly who they have picked up. The dolly move into the hitchhiker after this has happened, which pulls his face and figure closer into us, really brings out the impactfulness of this moment and the character along with the the actor playing Emmet Myer's mug. The slow pull back to all three of them in car without a cut...it's hard to quantify but I think it helps enhance our sense of dread by transitioning from the menace of this character to showing his potential victims seated in front of him, so that although one of them is literally driving the car and ostensibly the one in charge/pilotting, the audience understands who is actually taking charge of this trip and directing what's going on(something repeatedly returned to from what I've seen so far; for instance, the can shooting scene.) The reverse shot after this moment also foreshadows and signals this transition. It may seem like a throwaway shot, just transition shot, but  the shot centers the hitchhiker in front and indicates he is the one actually "driving" the car and the journey to come, which is what we see immediately after this shot when he orders a stop.

 

Almost all the POV or over the shoulder shots in the clip from this point forward are more from Myer's perspective, signalling his control. The only ones that aren't are the brief shot of the gun in the trunk (which has a strong score beat to signal it's urgency to the pov character at the time and one of the high-jacked men who holds our symapthy at the time), but that's quickly cut back to a shot of the 3 again, with the hitchhiker Myer's clearly holding the upper hand positioning wise (i.e. he can easily shoot any of the two men in the back). That short sequence helps us understand that these two men have no chance and have to play along; an impression the two actors vocal tones and expressions helps re-enforce as this scene goes along. 

 

I should add that around the end of this scene, I noticed that unlike the other two characters, it becomes clear that Myers/the hitchhiker is dressed entirely in what appears to be black or very dark colors, whereas the other two do have at least some lighter clothing from the waist up. The darker coloring of the hitchhiker's attire helps re-enforce the unkown, dangerous, and threatening presence the situation and scene has already conveyed to the audience.

 

Additionally, I'd say that the whole opening of the film, with the credits sequence and the two men passing through a natural resting and stopping point, when read with this scene and it's omnious but almost ticking score underscores that this was doomed or fated to happen--the journey that these 3 men will undergo together, willingly or not. And judging from the hitchhiker's facial appearance...it ain't gonna be pretty.

[Sir David]

Such a great scene...so much menace in such a short time! The way the hitch-hiker's face loomed into view with his bulging eyes from that impenetrably dark shadow was so well done, it was good to see an actor be so convincingly menacing like that - I'm sure a lot of the audience in 1953 jumped at that point! 

 

There were similarities of course with the opening on Kiss Me Deadly, but whereas you feel that Cloris Leachman had a backstory that could lure the protagonist into helping her, here we've no feeling of sympathy for the hitch-hiker: immediately we know he's danger personified and it's not whether the person picking her up is eventually going to live to regret it, but whether they are going to get out of the situation alive!

 

This is one of the films I've most been looking forward to seeing this summer! 

[MyMoll]

Today's lesson: always check your back seat and never pick up hitchhikers!

One thing I noticed is the lighting on the bad guys face.

Talman's face especially his eyes are really mean and scary looking. He looks deranged!.

I've seen bits and pieces of this movie, but I can tell he's gonna get worse

[anasu]

Threat, uncertainty and suspense are all Noir characteristics; the fabulous low-key lighting contributes and enhances the overall sinister tone... The opening scene of The Hitch-Hiker compared to Kiss Me Deadly is less dramatic and explosive; or rather, the "drama" is more psychological than physical, which can produce more lasting effect on the audience.

[JosephRicci]

I love the black cloud hanging in the middle of the car so one cannot see the hitchhiker's face! So obvious!!!  Then William Talman leans forward and splits the darkness with his face.  Classic effect!!! 

[Lisa D]

This is a film that I haven't seen but from the beginning I know it is going to be full of tension.  Unlike "Kiss Me Deadly", the opening is sinister, not sexual.  The use of lighting is used to maximum effect.  The revelation of the gun and the hitch-hiker's face is very dramatic.  We know he is in total control.  Lupino's direction and Musaraca's cinematography work together beautifully.  I would like to mention a couple other films that benefited from Musaraca's cinematography, "Cat People" and "The Spiral Staircase". 

[Louis' Friend]

Unlike yesterday's clip of two naked legs running down a dark highway towards headlights, we see two legs hiding in the shadows waiting for his opportunity to flag down a car.  Once in the back seat, the hitch-hiker's face hides in the shadows until he leans forward and shows his cruel looking face with those menacing eyes.  Unlike yesterday, we aren't seeing the fear in a helpless woman, but now in the dread and vulnerability of the two men.  

 

We are now in the car with these two men.  Feeling that dread and vulnerablility.  As the poster said..."Who will be the next victim...YOU? 

[HEYMOE]

This is yet another example how these Daly Doses continue to intrigue and tease our curiosity. This clip works as a trailer in that when it concludes, I want to see if and how these men escape or are rescued.

 

Themes introduced in the opening sequence of The Hitch-Hiker include:

 

1. Desperation

2. Criminal element

3. Helplessness

4. Vulnerability

5. Bullying

6. Paranoia

7. Fate

[JordanBlossey]

I haven't seen this movie, but this intro is classic! The shadows of the hitchhiker and his black clothing highlight his mysterious and sinister qualities. His face isn't revealed until he pulls the gun! Already, fear and paranoia has struck the heart of the audience, as we watch in suspense to see if the two guys are going to get out of this jam.

 

This opening reminded me of the 1986 movie The Hitcher, which uses similar techniques and wastes no time to become a tale of suspense.

[Mom of 4 Great Ones]

In this scene, we see 2 guys stopping to pick up a hitch-hiker.  As the scene plays out, we are introduced to several film noir themes/ideas.  The hitch-hiker himself is evil.  He is a bully, demands to be in control, and likes toying with his victims while reminding them that he's in control:  "Whose gun is this?  You like to shoot?  So do I."  Myers is desperate - so desperate that he tells the hunters his name, knowing that it will show just what a bad guy he is, but also letting them know that he won't hesitate to kill them.  

 

The 2 hunters are just regular joes, innocent victims.  The hiker mentions "a lot of dead heroes back there".  Not having seen the film, I see the possibility of the hunters eventually taking a chance at being heroes themselves.  This clip doesn't leave much hope for the hunters to stay alive unless they do take that risk.  They can identify Myers by name, and they realize the deadly possiblity open to them if a risk doesn't pay off.

 

The scene is all dark.  We see legs, mostly feet, and headlights.  We see the hunters in the front seat, but the man in back is hidden in darkness - the unknown.  When he chooses to reveal himself, the camera moves in, and he moves forward into the light.  From this point on, we only see a very small area - the car, the 3 men, and a small section of road lit by the car's headlights.  We never see more - all the surroundings are hidden in shadows, true to film noir fashion.

[Macee]

“Times  they are a changing” , is the major theme here for me on the Hitchhiker.  No more giving

Rides to strangers like we used too.  No more trust between  people unknown and civil actions were 

Places to be attacked.  Fear and mistrust moves in these movies like shadows , but instead of being

Just on the big screen they are in our hearts as well.

 

 

Musaraca paints the Noir like no other.  The lighting on William Talman’s face is just that touch

Of panic that you need at that moment.  The lighting on the character (Talman) is often in total darkness, presenting the ever present essence of  the unknown and with it the fear that takes you with the movie.

The staging by Ida Lupino of the Hitch hiker is masterful in each moment, the worn shoes first, the bad verbal response, and then the exposure.  You feel that you are in the Car with them, but also that you are hopeless as well.  Both of these experts give you the ride that you don’t want to take, on a journey

That  you must go on, even if you fear it.  Great Noir.

 

The roads and the car and the night bring the two movies together.  Both openings are attention getters

From the start.  They grab you were you live, and take you on that highway of shadows, fear, and the unknown.    I truly like the filtered lighting of the car in the Hitch Hiker, the Kiss me deadly opening

Had more realism for the opening, instead of the dreamlike lighting of the latter.

[NOIR Neophyte]

At first I didn’t realize the hitchhiker was in the back seat.  I didn’t watch closely enough.  I just assumed he was sitting in the front.  When his face popped out of the back, you knew it was trouble.  Edmund O’Brien and Frank Lovejoy are moderately handsome, average looking men.  The fellow in the back has a skewed face (and, of course, a gun).  Two men picking up a third man next to a disabled car seems more reasonable than Ralph Meeker picking up an hysterical woman in the middle of the road.  Although in both instances, you would think the driver has control of the situation and is doing a good deed.  But then you know what they say:  No good deed goes unpunished.  I get the Kleenex in the glove compartment, but do men always carry .22 cartridges in there?  OK, once they open the trunk there is food, blankets, and a shotgun.  I guess they were going on a hunting trip.  Now, we see the hitchhiker has a right eye that is not as open as the left, something with the eyelid.  Like an onion the layers are being peeled back.  I’ll be watching “The Hitch-Hiker” for sure.  I have no idea what is going to happen, but I'm rooting for the good guys.    

[Noirnado]

Lesson number one NEVER pick up  hitch hiker! Ida Lupino masterfully sets up this scene from the lone car driving down the highway at night. The way you only see the legs of the man in the shadows to build tention. The complete darkness of the back seat and the character has to move to highlight his face and gun. To the wsay the hitch hiker takes over and becomes the focus of the scene. The tough guy talk and the way he says his name makes you believe he is someone you should know and avoid at all costs.

 

Makes me want to call in sick and watch the whole movie today...

[Joifuljoi]

I have to say that this week's noir movies are doing their job...I don't like them!

 

I hate that feeling of not being able to control what happens...knowing there's danger afoot and having to sit there just like the characters and take it. 

 

"The Hitch-Hiker" has to probably be the worst so far. 

 

I had to keep asking myself why Hamilton Burger was being so nasty!

 

A true movie of the 50's with William Talman and Frank Lovejoy; both so involved in that decade.

 

Edmund O'Brien as well, with this and "DOA" to his credit, another edge-of-your-seater!

 

Interesting that after having killed several folks already for their cars and/or cash, he decided to use these two guys for awhile.  I guess had he not, there wouldn't have been a movie, right?

 

I didn't like this film...way too realistic!

[TonyZao]

What we have learned for films such as Detour, Dark Passage and Kiss Me Deadly is that picking up a hitch-hiker, or sometimes hitch-hiking yourself, never does you any good in a film noir. Instead, it's the beginning of troubles, usually big ones, which brings the characters into the well-known fateful world of film noir. No film, however, emphasizes this more than the Hitch-Hiker.

 

The film was a rather low-budget one, and this is made perfectly clear in the opening scene. No glamour, no impressive scenery, only shadows, extremely low-key lighting (especially when the murderer is introduced) and a car. The car is a key noir element in many films. When encountering such deadly hitch-hikers, the characters in the car become helpless victims and the setting is rather claustrophobic. They're trapped in the car with a murderer, and it could be even worse than being in an apartment or a dark corner, because in the car they're unable even to make a move.

 

There are some similarities between this opening and that of Kiss Me Deadly, the main one being that a hitch-hiker is getting mixed up with the owner(s) of the car they're being picked up and the lives of both the hitch-hiker and the owners are meant to change forever after the encounter. Although in Kiss Me Deadly the car scene lasts only a few minutes, while here it covers the entire first half of the film, both openings bring us to the claustrophobic and calamitous noir universe with the most convincing way.

 

Ida Lupino, a great film noir diva herself, does a great job in directing this opening scene, and, generally speaking, the entire film, defying the stereotypes that only a man could direct such a dark and violent film as films noir are. Although she had never directed a film noir before, she uses the camera like an experienced director from the first moments of the film, and manages to make another mark in film noir, having already influenced it heavily as an actress.

 

 

[Macee]

I have to say that this week's noir movies are doing their job...I don't like them!

 

I hate that feeling of not being able to control what happens...knowing there's danger afoot and having to sit there just like the characters and take it. 

 

"The Hitch-Hiker" has to probably be the worst so far. 

 

I had to keep asking myself why Hamilton Burger was being so nasty!

 

A true movie of the 50's with William Talman and Frank Lovejoy; both so involved in that decade.

 

Edmund O'Brien as well, with this and "DOA" to his credit, another edge-of-your-seater!

 

Interesting that after having killed several folks already for their cars and/or cash, he decided to use these two guys for awhile.  I guess had he not, there wouldn't have been a movie, right?

 

I didn't like this film...way too realistic!

The forties noir seem to be crime that was controlled somehow, be it the dectective/femme fatale roles or the social normals that were broken.  We were not as fearful watching them.  Then the Atomic age and the realism and randomism of doom that loomed

over us, made us demand more sinister work.  We wanted to see what we faced at the time.......is art reflecting life or art creating

life?  Change is art, so it is constantly evolving like us, but i like you, still like the great post war period of understanding the moral

underpinnings of life instead of the fear driven reality of the cold war period.

[HEYMOE]

-- Discuss the role of lighting and staging in this scene, and how lighting and staging both work to reveal the underlying substance of film noir?

 

It is my opinion that no matter how successful directors works with their technicians, craftsmen, and actors, if they fail to connect with the audience its all for naught. When this connection fails the result is what the industry refers to as a box office flop.  In this clip, Ida Lupino draws the attention of the viewer with her use of noir lighting, camera movement, close-ups and staging to create a sense of helplessness for the captured men. Overall the sense of horror and uncertainty becomes clear. 

 

The first shot is a close-up of a man’s worn down shoes with the wind blowing dust and debris forcefully across his pants thereby creating a sense of homelessness. A little later, the hitch-hiker sitting in the backseat raises his hand holding a gun. The light shines on the hand with the gun pointing at us. This attention is a result of the light shining on this only- the rest of the frame is darken, a noir technique of demanding attention from the audience.

 

The next shot focuses on the hitch-hiker sitting in the shadow. The camera zooms in to reveal his face the light shines on his face only. The camera zooms out to reveal both men sitting in the front. A look of helplessness on the face of the man sitting on the left and of fear on the man in the right.

They exit the car. With the gun constantly pointing on the backs of both men, the hitch-hiker begins to verbally humiliate them with a barrage of orders. They do not stand a chance of getting away.

[roblevy]

The one obvious theme shared in both films so far this week is do not trust strangers.  Some major themes here include violence, crisp, gritty dialogue, suspenseful music, and using darkness as a way to indicate tone for the overall film. 

 

The ideas of desolation and  isolation are both apparent here. Just like Kiss me Deadly we see a dark road, blurred lights and a long, dark highway. it's night which means there's not a lot of light to see what is really happening and this allows the story to move a the start.  The lighting is key here as we see most of two men's defaces and hardly none of another. the lighting is dark in nature because it's going to be a grim movie and having the darkness become so prevalent helps flesh out the characters, setting and pacing of the film. The lighting is again on display as a facet of noir that has become entrenched in the genre while also being used in a fresh way.

 

This film and Kiss Me Deadly are both the same in that they just hit the ground running and feature characters who find themselves hurled into danger from the onset with no real comprehension as to why. Bth films rely on black cars, a black road and dark light to establish their tone. although kiss me deadly features more light on the lead characters. Kiss Me Deadly also gives the viewer a smidgen more exposition which we don't get in the second film.

 

Both films have a snappy dialogue and feature unsavory characters who's true intentions are still being sussed out. Both films feature characters that inevitably neither black or white in there makeup. Instead we get anti- hero types, tinged with loss, rage, pain and fear.

 

The direction with Kiss me Deadly seems more direct and character driven shoe The Hitch Hiker appears to have direction that is not as revealing or obvious. It has a more subtle unveiling of what is going on.

 

Both films use classic noir techniques in style, lighting and dialogue. they both have gritty characters and they both have a story to tell that is not peaches and cream. They both typify how the noir style was being reused, but also retooled and added to to spark a new way of storytelling.

 

 

[Mandroid51]

-- What are some of the major themes and/or ideas introduced in the opening sequence of The Hitch-Hiker?

 

Control, mystery, fear, betrayal, and fire arms (man made machines/mechanisms) interesting that its void of women and directed by a woman.

 

-- Discuss the role of lighting and staging in this scene, and how lighting and staging both work to reveal the underlying substance of film noir?

 

The mystery of the hitchhiker is very striking even when have have his facial reveal we still continue down a path of uncertainty. The only indisputable truth I sense is his being in absolute control of the situation. As for lighting and staging it exemplifies the three characters and places the viewer in the know although the heavy use of shadows leave us guessing all the more. Dread, doom, and threat always linger with the staging and lighting. Doesn't off much hope in this tight situation neither when they are outside of the car in a more open space, they still seem trapped and void of freedom.

 

-- Compare and contrast the opening scenes of Kiss Me Deadly and The Hitch-Hiker? What is similar between the two? What is different? Why do these openings both work as excellent examples of how to open a film noir?

 

The setting is similar in both. Car and the road is the main set and props. I'd say our understanding of both scenes is based on what plays out moment to moment. In both set-ups we have to watch to ascertain truths/information like being detectives ourselves. Compiling as much of the certainty from unravelling events to come up with the truest answers. Control (or lack of control) is a recurring theme in both.

 

As for the differences I'd say the two (as in Kiss Me Deadly) versus three character setups, and there is no woman in The Hitchhiker was most obvious to me. Could that be a comment on men creating these paradoxical and destructive environments for themselves in The hitchhiker? As for Kiss Me Deadly perhaps there is a comment on woman as the source of destruction. I'd argue the obvious similarities and differences lie with men and women in using these two clips to compare and contrast. Ties into how they are completely character driven examples.

[jobo182]

This opening does play the dark clothes and the wind blowing creating a sense of alienation or estrangement.  The affability of the two men in the car and then the gun pointing directly at them with the bright lighted face of Talman.  This is th eexact opposite of him in another Film Noir where he played a rookie policeman under the command of Robert Mitchum.  The film was called THE RACKET.  I saw THE RACKET first so it is hard for me to see Mr. Talman in this HITCHIKER role.  The way he orders the driver and passenger around, he seems to have done this before.  He is in complete control here and the men are trying to define the situation. 

[asimplylucia]

-- What are some of the major themes and/or ideas introduced in the opening sequence of The Hitch-Hiker?

In my opinion, the main theme here is the irruption of danger in the life of two ordinary citizens (the detail of the groceries, for instance, is here to remind us Gilbert is an average Joe).

-- Discuss the role of lighting and staging in this scene, and how lighting and staging both work to reveal the underlying substance of film noir?

The use of close-ups emphasizes emotions and sometimes misleads us (the first image, with the hitch-hiker's legs, makes us think he's alone and needs help). The headlights at the beginning blind the spectator and at the same time, they're a sort of beacon for the hitch-hiker.

Close-ups become eloquent once the hitch-hiker gets into the car (the gun, for example). It's not a coincidence if, at first, he's always in the shadows, unlike the two good Samaritans who picked him up.

Myers' face is lit once he has revealed his true nature by threatening Gilbert with a gun and has started giving orders.

-- Compare and contrast the opening scenes of Kiss Me Deadly and The Hitch-Hiker? What is similar between the two? What is different? Why do these openings both work as excellent examples of how to open a film noir?

Picking up a stranger is dangerous (Mike Hammer will get into trouble at some point; Roy and Gilbert quickly regret their good deed. No one seems safe in The Hitch Hiker, though: the two main characters did nothing wrong, they tried to help and they had no good reason to suspect Myers at first sight. I think The Hitch Hiker conveys a much darker message, because it's not about a private investigator wondering what some pretty girl did before he picked her up, it's about two ordinary persons on a fishing trip who end up threatened by a thug. Nobody is safe in the world described by The Hitch Hiker.

[bjanicas]

Although both depicting a similar dramatic situation, the opening sequences of today's Ida Lupino's The Hitch-Hiker and yesterday's daily dose, Robert Aldrich's Kiss me Deadly, are very different in what concernes the stylistic treatment given to the scene. 

Kiss me Deadly opens with an explosion of madness and sexual contents that are overtly made obvious by the expressionist treatment given to the irrealistic respiration motif in the soundtrack and other formalistic elements such as the camerawork and the editing of the frantic running of the femme fatale. 

The Hitch-Hiker opens in a much more sober, realistic and disenchanted way. In one hand, this is a logical consequence of the low budget and limited ressources the director had for filming this film: that partly explains the low-key lighting, the natural shadows and the dominant darkness, that nevertheless fit the narrative context and operate as a key element in revealing (through a passage from darkness to light) the criminal's face in the back seat of the car; besides, dramatic and narratif elements are reduced to three male characters (none of them played by a Hollywood star actor), a car (such a small space for installing a camera and being innovative with it - and yet so perfect to develop the claustrophobic feeling that defines the noir atmosphere in many of these films), and fire guns (the only visual objects resuming the violence in tension and the feeling of dangerous menace that is being built up by the dry and hard dialogue of the men).

Almost 20 years before, hitch-hiking had been used by Hollywood's director Frank Capra as a romantic comedy device in his most famous film It Happened One Night. But not always these encounters with strangers end up with a "happily ever after", and the two noir films mentionned here are not the only ones proving that. The theme of hitch-hiking in the noir universe actually introduces other major noir ideas such as randomness and chance (always with negative connotations) that stress out the contingency and absurdity of human lives, as well as the idea that we might find "problems" (temptation, violence, criminality, traps intended for others) everywhere, anytime, no matter what we do or don't do.

[moviequeen2]

Come on now, every one knows you should never pick up hitch-hikers because no good ever comes of it.  Unfortunately those two guys found that out to late.  The opening scene of The Hitch-hiker and Kiss Me Deadly do have a lot in common with the dark. empty road with an unknown person trying to get whatever it is they need.  I can't wait to see the rest of these two films.

[VanHazard]

Lupino does an outstanding job in setting an ominous tone for the film in the first five minutes, half of which precede the clip shown in the DDD.  

 

We see the legs and feet of someone standing at roadside, pants fluttering in the dusty wind.   The shoes are worn, even ragged.   The pants are a little short and without crease.   Whomever the stranger is, he's no dandy.  

 

Fuzzy headlights approach in the distance.  The car stops.   More ominous still is the fact we see the faces of the two men in the car, but Lupino conceals the face of the hitch-hiker from us as he gets in the back seat.  

 

O'Brien's character tries some opening chit-chat, but there's no response from the shadow in the back seat.   He asks the Lovejoy character to light him up a cigarette, and Lupino plays with us by making us believe...OK, we'll finally get to see the face of our hitch-hiker when the match is struck...but she throws us a curve.  No match is struck, rather, it's the hitch-hiker's gun that comes first into view...before his face.   It 's a clever way of telling us the gun is in control, and only the man holding it by extension.   He leans into the light, brazenly welcoming it.  

 

Lupino plays with us again as the Hitch-hiker instructs the two to drive down a secluded side road and stop.    We've been conditioned to expect the worse, because the first few minutes of the film has shown us what happened when this guy did this before.   But this time he strays from his prior MO and seems to have other plans.   

 

The warning at the very opening of the film puts us on notice.   So, too, the prior two episodes where Emmett Myers (Talman) hitches rides.   He's been ID'd and made big headlines, so you wonder why these two buddies out on a hunting trip would stop to pick someone up?   

 

But it's distinctly different from the decision Mike Hammer makes shielding Christina from the police after realizing she's just escaped from an asylum.   

 

The confined camera shots, minimal lighting and pervading darkness is claustrophobic and unsettling.   O'Brien and Lovejoy are just two guys, like the Hitch-Hiker's priors, Everymen, doomed to become unwitting victims of what lurks in the night.