Hitchhike to Hell

Z-grade exploitation flick that promises a lot more than it delivers. Awful direction and chaotic editing are compounded by uniformly terrible performances from actors who mostly have only this one credit to their name.

Hitchhike to Hell (1937)

1/2 (out of 4)

Awful exploitation flick that pretty much forgets to do exploitative. A pimp named Slavick wants to take control of a small bar owned by a do-gooder so that his prostitutes has somewhere to bring their clients. You see, the pimp sits the girls on the side of the street where the hitchhike for clients so it would save time by just having the women come back to the bar. Daddy bar owner refuses and of course the pimp goes after his son who also happens to be falling in love with one of the girls. This film was released under countless titles including GOING MY WAY, MISTER?, HIGHWAY GIRLS and HIGHWAY HELL, which is the title used by Alpha on the DVD as well as the print. No matter what you call this thing the end result is one of the absolute worst of the 1930s exploitation. I think most people go into films like this, REEFER MADNESS and MANIAC expecting something really bad and you always want to get lucky and find one that's so bad it's good. Sadly, this film here is just downright bad and it's way too bland to have any sort of entertainment. The only reason this sucker doesn't get a BOMB rating is because it's one of those movies where you keep yourself entertained just by waiting for something good to happen but of course it never does but at least the 55-minute running time never dragged too much. The performances are all beyond horrible including the "girls" as many of them can't even get their line of dialogue (Going my way, mister?) out. Julian Harris plays the pimp and has to be the most boring, non-threatening pimp in the history of pimp hood. Charles Maurice plays the bar owner and doesn't do any better but his preaching to the camera gets a few minor laughs. What really kills this film is the fact that it was sold as an "Adults Only" film and yet there's very little here in terms of exploitation. It's known what the girls are doing yet you never see them with any clients and the worst thing they do in the film is have a drink of alcohol. I'm really not even sure if this thing would have had any issues getting past the Hayes Office but thankfully this thing didn't get into more theaters as I'm sure the manager of the place would have had to be handing out a lot of refunds.

Charles Maurice runs a bar and cabin set-up by the highway when he isn't busy philosophizing. His son, Don Hirst, loves Margaret Weiner, but he'd like to get some money so they can be married. Fortunately for him, so to speak, Julian Harris is running his string of girls who pick up men by pretending to hitch hike. "Going my way?" they ask, anticipating the Leo McCarey film. Hirst thinks it's a swell racket, but Maurice is opposed because his aphorisms keep him too busy.

This cheap exploitation film, like most of them, promises way more than it delivers. Except for the title and one scene in which Hirst and Miss Weiner are drugged and placed fully clothed on a bed so Harris can blackmail Maurice.

Most of the acting is competent but dully offered. The print, of course, was pretty bad.

"Hitchhike to Hell" (a.k.a. "Going My Way Mister" and "Highway Girls") is clearly a grade-z exploitation film--the sort of incredibly low budget film that pulled in audiences hoping to see a film with lots of hot action. But, as it pretends to be educational, it managed to be seen despite various censor boards. In this case, the film is trying to warn us of the dangers of prostitution along the highways of America. I doubt if there was a rampant problem of this sort but it made for a great topic for exploitation films. But there's a problem--the film isn't the least bit explicit and it's dull from start to finish.

The film is narrated by a guy who owns a bar--and his own son is a pimp and tries to steal his dad's liquor license so he can turn the place into a brothel. But, words like prostitution, brothel and the like are never used--and it's all tame. It also is chock full of bad acting, random edits and is incredibly preachy. It's not all that interesting unless you like watching and laughing at exploitation films. Sadly, this one isn't even all that funny on a camp level--it's just dumb.

This film essentially begins with an older gentleman named "Pop Bartlett" (Charles Maurice) who owns a small bar along with several cabins adjacent to it. Working alongside him is his teenage son "Bob Bartlett" (Don Hirst) who has become somewhat bored and wants to get out on his own and experience what the world has to offer. The scene then shifts to a pimp by the name of "Slavick" (Julian Harris) who has managed to convince several young women that they could get rich by working as prostitutes for him along the side of the highway. And it's during this time that Slavick sets his sight on Pop's bar which would serve as an ideal place for his illicit business. That said, when Pop initially refuses to sell his entire business to him, Slavick decides to use other methods which are much more persuasive--and this is where one of his female employees named "Billie" (Diane Winthrop) enters the picture. Now, rather than reveal any more, I will just say that, although this film may have been marketed as being somewhat edgy or provocative, it was actually quite the opposite with Charles Maurice essentially lecturing the viewing audience about the pitfalls of young ladies drinking and subsequently falling into a life of prostitution. Or something like that. Be that as it may, I found this to be an extremely dull film overall, and I have rated it accordingly. Below average.