1953 film by Ida Lupino
The Hitch-Hiker is a 1953 American thriller film noir directed by Ida Lupino, who co-wrote it with her former husband Collier Young, and starring Edmond O'Brien, William Talman and Frank Lovejoy. Based on the 1950 killing spree of Billy Cook, the film follows two friends who are taken hostage by a serial-murdering hitchhiker during an automobile trip to Mexico.
Produced independently and distributed by RKO Pictures, The Hitch-Hiker was the first mainstream-released American film of its type directed by a woman. It was selected in 1998 for preservation in the United States National Film Registry as being "culturally, historically or aesthetically significant." The film is in the public domain in the United States.
Plot summary adapted from Wikipedia, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.