The Devil Thumbs a Ride

The Devil Thumbs a Ride is a 1947 American film noir directed by Felix E. Feist and featuring Lawrence Tierney, Ted North, Nan Leslie and Betty Lawford.^[2] It was produced and distributed by RKO Pictures.

The Devil Thumbs a Ride
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Felix E. Feist
Screenplay by	Felix E. Feist
Based on	the novel by Robert C. DuSoe
Produced by	Herman Schlom
Starring	Lawrence Tierney Ted North Nan Leslie
Cinematography	J. Roy Hunt
Edited by	Robert Swink
Music by	Paul Sawtell
Production company	RKO Radio Pictures
Distributed by	RKO Radio Pictures
Release date	February 20, 1947 (1947-02-20) (U.S.)[1]
Running time	62 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English

Plot

Steve Morgan (Tierney) is a charming sociopath who has just robbed and killed a cinema cashier. Seeking to escape, he hitches a ride to Los Angeles with unsuspecting Jimmy 'Fergie' Ferguson (North). Part way the pair stops at a gas station and pick up two women. Encountering a roadblock, Morgan persuades the party to spend the night at an unoccupied beach house. The police close in after Morgan killed one of the women.

Cast

• Lawrence Tierney as Steve Morgan
• Ted North as Jimmy "Fergie" Ferguson
• Nan Leslie as Beulah Zorn, alias Carol Demming
• Betty Lawford as Agnes Smith
• Andrew Tombes as Joe Brayden, Night Watchman
• Harry Shannon as Detective Owens, San Diego Police
• Glen Vernon as Jack Kenny, Gas Station Attendant
• Marian Carr as Diane Ferguson
• William Gould as Police Capt. Martin, San Diego Police
• Josephine Whittell as Diane's mother
• Dick Elliott as Mack Wilkins, San Clemente Police (uncredited)
• Phil Warren as Pete, Roadblock Motorcycle Cop
• Robert Malcolm as Newport Deputy Sheriff Grover

Reception

Critical response

When the film was released The New York Times film critic identified as BC (Bosley Crowther) dismissed the film: "The Devil Thumbs a Ride, which came to the Rialto yesterday, is a distinctly pick-up affair ... In the role of the thug Lawrence Tierney, who played Dillinger a couple of years back, behaves with the customary arrogance of all gunmen in cheap Hollywood films. It is pictures like this which give the movies a black eye and give us a pain in the neck."^[3]

In 2007, film critic Dennis Schwartz was also critical of the film: "Felix E. Feist (The Man Who Cheated Himself/Donovan's Brain/The Threat) directs and writes this ugly hitchhiker crime drama that has little entertainment value, the characters other than the main protagonist are too incredibly dull to ring true and it has no redeeming social value. The low-budget programmer is helped only by its noir look, fast-pace, the manic performance by Lawrence Tierney and the offbeat nature of its story ... Feist fills both the police car and the hitcher's car with noir characters, but it ends up as a ride to nowhere."^[4]

See also

• Detour (1945)
• The Hitch-Hiker (1953)
• The Desperate Hours (1955)