During the 1950s, a man's car trip from L.A. to Texas turns into a Cold-War espionage drama after his car breaks down and he accepts a lift from a stranger.During the 1950s, a man's car trip from L.A. to Texas turns into a Cold-War espionage drama after his car breaks down and he accepts a lift from a stranger.During the 1950s, a man's car trip from L.A. to Texas turns into a Cold-War espionage drama after his car breaks down and he accepts a lift from a stranger.
Karl Ludwig Lindt
- Kissel
- (as Karl Lindt)
John Frederick
- Sheriff
- (as John Merrick)
Leonard Bremen
- Collision Shop Owner
- (uncredited)
Sidney Clute
- Mechanic
- (uncredited)
Ken Curtis
- FBI Agent Jim Anderson
- (uncredited)
Harry Hines
- Motel Owner
- (uncredited)
Tom McKee
- Man from Sanitarium
- (uncredited)
Bert Stevens
- Motorcycle Cop
- (uncredited)
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaFilmed before, but released after Ruth Roman's fateful trip aboard the luxury liner, Andrea Doria. The ship collided with another and sank on July 26, 1956. Miss Roman and her young son were among the survivors. During their rescue, they became separated and she arrived in New York before her son did. She was hounded by the press and paparazzi while she waited for her son's ship to arrived at the dock.
- GoofsAfter Ann and John are handcuffed and escape from the sheriff and deputy, John drives the car. John and Ann are handcuffed with her right wrist and his left and so he has to drive with his arm across his body with Ann as passenger. It is Ann's car and she is a capable driver so why would they travel with the awkward seating. Later, when they stop and get out of the car and then get back in John is the driver again with the crossed arms.
Featured review
This is a clever directing job to make a film noir mystery into a good film.
Film noir often stumbled from being too Hollywood, with heroes and heroines automatically acting creepy just for the sake of acting creepy.
Here, we get the opposite. The best mysteries have the woman being the "woman of mystery", because that is part of being a woman, while being a man means having your mystery come out of your very straight forward approach.
Sterling Hayden often acted gruff for the sake of acting gruff. A modern day guy who thought there was always a camera on him.
But here he acts more like a believable man from the fifties, or any era before the twenty first century.
He becomes the "everyman" who is introduced to a mysterious world, which involves espionage.
The CIA and FBI are put in a likable light, which doesn't go over well with those who like the post 1965 cliché. Being 1957, this goes under the old cliché, which really wasn't around long enough to be a cliché. That's why such CIA and FBI characters are still fresh, and in the long run, more believable than the silly assassins of today.
What helps here is a great atmosphere. We get some road, and not too much of the cars. We have a few pit stops, and changing scenery, which makes this flow very well.
Film noir often stumbled from being too Hollywood, with heroes and heroines automatically acting creepy just for the sake of acting creepy.
Here, we get the opposite. The best mysteries have the woman being the "woman of mystery", because that is part of being a woman, while being a man means having your mystery come out of your very straight forward approach.
Sterling Hayden often acted gruff for the sake of acting gruff. A modern day guy who thought there was always a camera on him.
But here he acts more like a believable man from the fifties, or any era before the twenty first century.
He becomes the "everyman" who is introduced to a mysterious world, which involves espionage.
The CIA and FBI are put in a likable light, which doesn't go over well with those who like the post 1965 cliché. Being 1957, this goes under the old cliché, which really wasn't around long enough to be a cliché. That's why such CIA and FBI characters are still fresh, and in the long run, more believable than the silly assassins of today.
What helps here is a great atmosphere. We get some road, and not too much of the cars. We have a few pit stops, and changing scenery, which makes this flow very well.
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Details
Box office
- Budget
- $500,000 (estimated)
- Runtime1 hour 21 minutes
- Color
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