Thu 26 Mar 2015
Reviewed by Jonathan Lewis: THE DEVIL THUMBS A RIDE (1947).
Posted by Steve under Crime Films , Reviews[9] Comments
THE DEVIL THUMBS A RIDE. RKO Radio Pictures, 1947. Lawrence Tierney, Ted North, Nan Leslie, Betty Lawford , Andrew Tombes, Harry Shannon, Glen Vernon, Marian Carr, William Gould. Screenwriter-director: Felix E. Feist, based on a novel by Robert C. Du Soe.
You don’t watch the crime film, The Devil Thumbs a Ride, for the rather formulaic plot about an outlaw on the run. No, you watch for it for the noir atmosphere, set as it is in the late 1940s on one shadowy and violent Southern California night.
Most of all, you watch it for Lawrence Tierney. He portrays Steve Morgan, an inveterate liar, a forger, and a murderer.
Directed by Felix Feist, The Devil Thumbs a Ride is a taut thriller, economical on time, but rich in black humor, cynicism, and suspense. Replete with believable, punchy dialogue, the film tells the story of the diabolical Morgan, who after killing a cashier in San Diego, hitches a ride with Jimmy Ferguson (Ted North), a traveling salesman from Los Angeles who was in town for a drunken birthday celebration. The two men end up also giving a lift to two women they encounter in a gas station parking lot and off they go.
There’s murder, mayhem, and madness a plenty. Look for the close up shots of Tierney’s eyes. It’s not fancy camera work by any means, but they tell you all you need to know about who’s the charming devil in this one. Tierney was one of a kind, no doubt about it.
March 27th, 2015 at 3:47 am
Not a bad little flick and Tierney is certainly memorable.
March 27th, 2015 at 8:23 am
Is thi film available anywhere? A Vault Collection perhaps?
March 27th, 2015 at 8:55 am
As far as I can tell, there has been no official release in the US. Amazon.uk offers one released in Spain, but you will need a multi-region player in the US. A collector-to-collector copy is offered at the moment on eBay, paired up with SAN QUENTIN, though I can’t vouch for the seller one way or the other.
March 27th, 2015 at 9:01 am
Lawrence Tierney was supposed to have a recurring role on SEINFELD as Elaine Benes’s father, but he was so intimidating on the set as well as in the script, they quickly got rid of the idea. A very enjoyable episode!
March 27th, 2015 at 9:13 am
BORN TO KILL(1947) is a film noir classic starring Lawrence Tierney as the paranoid killer. He just about ruined his career by getting into fights and acting crazy.
This was obvious when he was on Seinfeld in the second season episode of “The Jacket”. Tierney was playing Elaine’s father and the plan was to have him on several future episodes. But he stole a butcher knife while on the set and when Seinfeld asked him about it, Tierney started waving the knife and talking about the film Psycho. He meant it for a joke but it scared the hell out of everyone and they never had on the show again.
This was a not uncommon reaction when meeting Tierney, one of the strangest actors in Hollywood.
March 27th, 2015 at 4:10 pm
Tierney was my idea for Mike Hammer, big, good looking psycho. Luckily his brother, Scott Brady, seems to have been a bit nicer, and ironically played a Spillane style writer complete with porkpie in the TVM THIS GIRL FOR HIRE.
March 27th, 2015 at 5:50 pm
Ironic, but this and BORN TO KILL are based on novels, the latter James Gunn’s (the screenwriter not the SF scholar and writer) DEADLIER THAN THE MALE. Born has him matched with femme fatale Claire Trevor.
March 27th, 2015 at 8:52 pm
I think this movie stands right next to Born To Kill as Tierney at his absolute nuttiest/frightening/psychotic role. Geeze, imagine being killed for not putting out for this guy? And her girlfriend knows he did her in and can’t wait to jump in the sack with him!! Now this is FILM NOIR!
May 12th, 2020 at 12:31 am
The brilliance of this noir is undeniable, with not a minute of its hour-long duration wasted. Tierney’s psychopathic behaviour starts with cold blooded murder in the first minute and never lets up; he electrifies this film with his presence. I’ve never seen sustained suspense created so convincingly before by a character in a noir who combined his knowledge of human nature with a devious, quicksilver psychopathic personality. “The Devil…†has a sharp & gritty script which fleshes out the characters’ personalities & motives superbly with a degree of wit, despite the underlying menace of the drama. The dialogue is edgy & filled with hard boiled crime banter. This film stays in your mind & you don’t want it to end, so when it does finish it comes as a bit of a letdown…but what an hour long ride this ‘devil’ took us on! There’s enough smart plot ideas, pacing & momentum here to cover 2 or 3 other film noirs. This is a rare noir gem worthy of the very best.