Thursday, January 03, 2013

Movie review - "The Devil Thumbs a Ride" (1947) ** (warning: spoilers)

I kept wanting this to be better than it was - it had Lawrence Tierney, a really cool title, a running time that goes for not much over an hour, brisk pacing and an opening that throws you right into it. But as the story goes on it gets less and less believable - would a man on the run really pick up two extra hitchhikers even if one of them was hot? Would the others not sense something was wrong after he speeds past a cop? After he says he's been to juvey? After it's obvious he's going to get busted? After a lot of things, actually. I know in real life sometimes that happens but we're not watching real life we're watching a movie and it just didn't feel real.

There is an effective jolt in the death of the young girl - I didn't see that coming. And I liked the trashy blonde character they pick up. But the drunk guy who drives the car (Ted North) is an annoying simpleton, the comic relief involving the gas station attendant is tiresome. I'd really like to call this a "small gem" as I'm sure some people do, but it's too silly.

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