"The Twilight Zone" The Hitch-Hiker (1960)

User Rating:

8.1/10   

Director:

Alvin Ganzer

Writers:

Lucille Fletcher (play)
Rod Serling (teleplay)

TV Series:

"The Twilight Zone" (1959)

Original Air Date:

22 January 1960 (Season 1, Episode 16)

Genre:

Drama | Fantasy | Horror | Mystery | Sci-Fi | Thriller

Plot:

A young woman driving cross country becomes frantic when she keeps passing the same man on the side of the road. No matter how fast she drives the man is always up ahead, hitching her for a ride. |

Plot Keywords:

Driving | Hitchhiker | Narration | Narrator | Attempted Murder

Cast

Inger Stevens	...	Nan Adams
Adam Williams	...	Sailor
Lew Gallo	...	Mechanic
Leonard Strong	...	The Hitch-Hiker
Russ Bender	...	Counterman
George Mitchell	...	Gas Station Man

Runtime:

25 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

USA:TV-PG

Filming Locations:

Enchanto Turnoff Chevron Service Station, Agoura, California, USA

Company:

Cayuga Productions

Trivia:

In the original story, the character of Nan was a male, Ronald. Rod Serling believed that a female in the situation would be reacted to with more feeling by audiences.

Goofs:

Continuity: When Nan tries to run over the hitchhiker, she swerves her car, a light-colored 1959 Mercury, at him. But in the insert shot that shows the car swerving, it's a black 1957 Ford.

Quotes:

[first lines]
Narrator: Her name is Nan Adams. She's twenty-seven years old. Her occupation - buyer at a New York department store. At present on vacation, driving cross-country to Los Angeles California from Manhattan. Minor incident on Highway 11 in Pennsylvania. Perhaps filed away under "accidents you walk away from." But from this moment on, Nan Adams' companion on a trip to California will be terror; her route - fear... her destination... quite unknown.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in RV (2006)

Alone, and on the Road

Shabby hitch-hiker keeps reappearing as young woman drives cross-country.

Great episode. Perhaps the most haunting of all the entries. Serling's adaptation of the Louise Fletcher radio play is first rate, one of the best of the series. Everything entertaining and artistic comes together as Inger Stevens' cross-country trip descends from bright sunlight into the depths of midnight. There's suspense (the railroad crossing), humor (the sailor thinking it's his lucky day), mystery (what is this with the hitch-hiker), and finally pathos ( in a rear-view mirror). I particularly like the subtle way the final scene is handled with the superb camera work and expert use of half light and shadow. Notice how the camera shots become progressively tighter as the tension inside the car mounts. Also, there's the well-timed blinking neon in the final scene to convey a subtle transition. And for those who care-- there's a taste of radio drama in the voice-over sequences where Stevens is riding alone. Radio drama, of course, could not allow dead air time, so script writers such as Fletcher had to become skilled at verbalizing what the character is thinking. It still shows in these traveling sequences. (A half-facetious observation-- strange how so much of cross-country America looks like the scrub lands of southern Cal. But then, as good as the best shows are, TZ was never a big-budget series.) Anyhow, this is one of those haunting episodes that stays with you. So don't miss it.