A film noir and a road movie in one. A road traveled under the gun of a serial killer, no less. Ray and Gilbert go fishing for the weekend. After picking up a hitch-hiker, as they soon find out, a man on the run followed by the FBI, the men’s trip out of town turns into a nightmare. Now it is Emmet Myers who navigates the trip to Mexico from the back seat. The more the frightened men show their dread, the more the killer derides them. Myers’ intention is to show his hostages what real masculinity means. The movie is based on the story of a real-life serial killer, William ‘Billy’ Cook, who terrorized America in 1950 and 1951, killing 6 people on a spree. He was finally captured in Mexico and sentenced to death in California in 1952. When PCA officials sternly rejected the screenplay as too violent, the authors turned to the Department of Justice for help. Lupino visited ‘Billy’ in jail to collect material. She reproduced his paralyzed eye which never closed, giving him a horrific resemblance to a Cyclops. Ida went out on set right after giving birth to her daughter, Bridget. Collier Young, Lupino’s second husband and producer of the film, got a cameo as a Mexican peasant.
Ida Lupino (1918–1995) was born into a British artistic family. She began her acting career when still a teenager, which gave her very early insight into the mechanisms that drive Hollywood. She got her big break in noir productions starring opposite Humphrey Bogart in They Drive by Night (1940) and High Sierra (1941). At 32, she gave up a lucrative studio contract and founded the independent label "The Filmakers" with two friends, which produced twelve feature films. Lupine directed or co-directed six of the films, she wrote the scripts for five, and starred in three.
1949 Niechciane / Not Wanted
1950 Pokonać lęk / Never Fear
1950 Zniewaga / Outrage
1951 Wygrać siebie / Hard, Fast and Beautiful!
1953 Autostopowicz / The Hitch-Hiker
1953 Bigamista / The Bigamist