Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #13844 in DVD
• Released on: 2005-03-15
• Rating: Unrated
• Aspect ratio: 1.33:1
• Formats: Box set, Black & White, Full Screen, NTSC
• Original language: English
• Number of discs: 3
• Running time: 780 minutes

Customer Reviews

The Hitch-Hiker
This film came in a Classic Film Noir DVD set I received as a Christmas gift. It contains eight other public-domain films noir and, at under $10, is a great deal even if you don't get it for free.

The Hitch-Hiker is widely considered to be the first film noir directed by a woman, acclaimed actress Ida Lupino. The cast, however, is what made me curious to see it, and it was not coincidentally the first film I watched from the set, though it is in fact the second film on the second disc.

To someone like me, this is an all-star cast: Edmond O'Brien (star of D.O.A., also included in this set), Frank Lovejoy (star of Nightbeat, my favorite old-time radio show), and William Talman (Hamilton Burger from TV's Perry Mason, the show that made me want to be a lawyer when I was a teenager). The three leads are all in top form: O'Brien and Lovejoy embracing their everyman status and Talman at his most threatening as the -- as Burger his threats were always just below the surface, but Lupino allows him the freedom to truly disturb.

That The Hitch-Hiker is supposedly based on a true story (Lupino co-wrote the screenplay) scarcely enters into the experience after this idea is pronounced on an introductory title card. The film itself is the reason to watch as it makes this simple story far more entertaining than it has any right to be. What would normally serve well as the plot to a half-hour anthology series is stretched to seventy minutes with hardly a look at the clock due to solid performances and a gripping narrative.

Classic Film Noir
A good variety. For the price, quality was good, good titles. Great for the film library.

Brightest of dark cinema
The CLASSIC FILM NOIR 9 MOVIE PACK offers thirteen full hours of spine-tingling shadowy melodramas and some of Hollywood's best actors, all at one terrific low price. Film noir (or "dark cinema") reigned supreme from the late 1930s until the early 50s. Unlike most "happy ending" movies, in noir the protagonist often faced humiliation, defeat and even death. These little gems are all still very highly regarded by connoisseurs of this genre, and for good reason. If you are new to film noir, here's the perfect set to start your collection off right!

And if you have all these great titles already, or would like even more of the same, then you simply cannot go wrong with the DARK CRIMES COLLECTION 50 MOVIE PACK. It'll keep you on the edge of your seat for weeks to come.

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The following alphabetized movie list includes viewer poll 1 to 10 ratings, years of release and principal actors for each title.

(7.3) Detour (1945) - Tom Neal/Ann Savage
(7.4) D.O.A. (1950) - Edmond O'Brien
(7.1) The Hitch-Hiker (1953) - Edmund O'Brien/Frank Lovejoy/William Talman.
(7.3) The Man Who Cheated Himself (1950) - Lee J. Cobb/Jane Wyatt
(6.4) Quicksand (1950) - Mickey Rooney/Peter Lorre
(6.4) The Scar ("Hollow Triumph")(1948) - Paul Henreid/Joan Bennett
(7.5) The Strange Love of Martha Ivers (1946) - Barbara Stanwyck/Van Heflin/Lisabeth Scott/Kirk Douglas/Judith Anderson
(7.5) The Stranger (1946) - Edward G. Robinson/Loretta Young/Orson Welles
(7.2) Too Late for Tears (1949) - Lizabeth Scott/Don DeFore/Dan Duryea