Alex da Silva
I'm a big baby doll" says Betty Lawford (Agnes) in one of the funniest lines in the movie. Another contender comes from Lawrence Tierney (Steve) who comments about a baby girl's ears. These two characters are the standout in the cast with Tierney running the show as a bad-guy who is being hunted by the police. He manipulates his way through the film and convinces as the tough guy that he really was in real life as well. As for Lawford, despite her strange intonation, she also does well as a lady who's slightly edgy. Tragically, this was her last film as she died the following year and Peter Lawford lost a cousin.Apart from the two cast members mentioned, the others don't fare so well with Ted North (Fergie) being the worst. There are unnecessary comedy characters that just don't belong in this film and I'm afraid to say that North is just hugely annoying and even gets a super-cheesy end sequence. The ending isn't well executed as, all of a sudden, it's over. Oh, that was convenient! This film could have been better if it was expanded and the lead good guy was replaced. He ruins the film and whilst Tierney is very good, he ultimately can't rescue the whole experience. The moral of this film is to get yourself hitch-hiking if you want some stories to tell. One of mine involves hitching on a tractor somewhere in the south of Portugal with a guy that spoke no English and my friend and I had no idea where we were going. Didn't involve murder, though – that's another story with a biker nutter going to Warrington. He was terrifying.
Spikeopath
The Devil Thumbs a Ride is directed and written by Felix E. Feist. It stars Lawrence Tierney, Ted North, Nan Leslie, Betty Lawford, Andrew Tombes, Harry Shannon, Glen Vernon and Marian Carr. Music is by Paul Sawtell and cinematography by J. Roy Hunt.After just robbing a San Diego theatre and killing the manager, Steve Morgan (Tierney) hitches a ride to Los Angeles with Jimmy Ferguson (North), a trusting young salesman. After a stop at a gas station, the two men pick up a couple of dames looking for a ride, and soon Morgan is manipulating everyone so as to stay ahead of the cops looking for him.Compact at just over an hour in length, The Devil Thumbs a Ride thrives on account of Tierney's strong performance. He in turn exudes a charming veneer and a cold hearted darkness that unnerves throughout. The set-up is pretty thin and even the most forgiving of noir fans will attest that the sheer idiocy of the other passengers beggars belief. No matter what Morgan does, however crazy or evil, he will spin a yarn and the dopes fall for it. While a plot strand that sees the head detective take a member of the public with him in pursuit of Morgan, is pushing it a bit too far.Still, once the four of them reach a beach house belonging to a friend of Ferguson, the picture gathers a pace and the drama explodes to reveal its bloody denouement. Good noirish characters and Tierney on form ensure it's never less than entertaining, though the weakness of the writing asks a lot of the audience. 6/10
tomgillespie2002
Steve Morgan (Lawrence Tierney) pulls off a heist and kills the cashier. Fleeing the police, he hitches a ride with love-sick Jimmy Ferguson (Ted North), who is on his way back home to his wife after a work party. They stop at a gas station where Morgan's bad attitude rubs off on night watchman Joe (Andrew Tombes). Steve invites two women to tag along and they set off again, only for Joe to report Steve to the police after he hears a warning on the radio. A road block is set up, blocking their path, so Steve suggests they go to the beach house of Steve's boss as Jimmy stinks of booze. While there, the group start to learn the truth about Steve's crime and just what he is capable of.The Devil Thumbs a Ride has picked up a cult following over the years from B-movie historians and fans of film noir. What makes it stand out amongst the endless list of B-movie noirs is the extremely gritty tone, and the sadistic, sociopathic character of Steve, coldly played to perfection by Tierney. This is noir at its nastiest. Steve will do anything to simply buy himself more time, including drowning a woman in plain sight. Sure, there are problems - the film is far too short at a mere 60 minutes and could do with some more character development, and Joe's tagging along with the police seems a bit silly - but this is a tightly wrapped quickie that leaves its mark regardless. If you can find it, I would urge you to see it, as although there are plenty of much better noirs out there, this is a fine example of how directors could get away with nasty themes and despicable characters if they placed them in a noir setting. Tough, impressive stuff.www.the-wrath-of-blog.blogspot.com
Carolyn Paetow
Written and directed by the auteur of the Crime Does Not Pay shorts, this entertaining film noir is not what one might expect. Rather than a straight, hard-edged drama, the movie is so riddled with comic relief that it has the quirky quality of a burlesque. Many of the characterizations are zany, and most of the acting ranges from mediocre to abysmally bad. Only Lawrence Tierney's portrayal of the diabolical hitcher keeps the plot from sinking into farce, as his sardonic, serpent-like treatment drives the story relentlessly through a cast of ditzy dames, doddering drunks, and card-dealing cops. Fans of Tierney and so-terrible-it's-terrific flicks should thus be delighted! (And keep an eye out for all the Production-Code-breaching innuendo!)
AD
