Twilight Zone: The Hitch-Hiker (1960)
Reviewed by Geno McGahee
Nan Adams (Inger Stevens) is on a road trip and has a minor accident where she pops a tire and need some assistance. After fixing up the car, she begins driving and seeing this old man hitchhiking or hitchin’ a ride if you are stuck in the 1970s. Ride, ride, ride, hitchin’ a ride. What a song!
The hitchhiker (Leonard Strong) seems to be everywhere, as Nan drives on and on, increasing speed, only to see him on the side of the road with his thumb up in the air. She cannot avoid this guy as she drives on and on, and there he is around every turn. She takes a side road to lose him and runs out of gas, leaving her now on foot. Luckily for her, she finds a gas station, but it’s 11:30 PM, and they are closed and the guy running the show wouldn’t help her. Since when doesn’t an old man help an attractive young girl? What was his problem?
Nan runs into a sailor at the station (Adam Williams) and they hit it off and she agrees to take him wherever he wants to go if he can get her some gas. He pounds on the old guy’s window and basically says, if you don’t get Nan gas, I’ll knock your thingy in the dirt.
I always wondered why sailors wear those tiny hats. It isn’t a knock against any sailor, but why wear a tiny hat? I can understand why a person wears a tiny hat with a propeller on top. The lighter you are, the better your chances are of taking flight.
On the road and in the company of a sailor, Nan now has a feeling of safety. That sailor will fix that old hitchhiker’s ass if he tries that creepy crap again. Unfortunately for Nan, the sailor cannot see the hitchhiker, and then bails out when Nan begins driving erratically, and even leaves after she throws herself at him. He has definitely been out to sea for far too long or that tiny hat has cut circulation to his brain.
Now completely alone, Nan finds a payphone to call her house and talk to a familiar voice, only to find out the horrible and somewhat predictable truth.
I LOVE this tale. That hitchhiker is creepy and every character delivers.
Ringside Report Rating:: 9/10: Sailor…I hardly know her.