Hitch Hike Lady

Alison Skipworth is near the end of her rope in her small Sussex village, when she receives a hundred pounds. SHe decides to go to California, where she believes her son is an orange rancher. In reality, he is a prisoner in San Quentin. Arriving in America, she finds out that California is still 3000 miles away, and she is skint. She winds up hitch-hiking with Mae Clarke, but soon they are traveling in James Ellison's car-trailer, with the unwelcome (to Mr. Ellison) addition of small-time con men Arthur Treacher and Warren Hymer. As she gets closer to California and the truth, her companions worry about her.

Mrs. Skipworth is the sentimental still center of this comedy. While it is certainly not up to the standards of her Paramount movies, where she often battled W.C. Fields to a draw, she's quite believable as her simple and soft-hearted character.

Contrary to her appearance in her 1930s movies, Mrs. Skipworth was in her youth a beauty who often worked as an artist's model; that is how she met her husband, Frank Skipworth. Her stage debut was at the age of 31. She soon moved to America, where she honed her comedic skills in a series of flops. By the time she moved to Hollywood, she was quite the battleaxe. She made her last screen appearance in 1938, her last stage appearance in 1942, and died in 1952, aged 88.

Watching this very wacky movie, two other films came to mind. "Love on a Bet" of 1936 was an RKO film that starred Gene Raymond, Wendy Barrie and Helen Broderick. And, "Hollywood or Bust" was a 1956 Hal Wallis and Paramount film that starred Dean Martin, Jerry Lewis and Pat Crowley. What these three films have most in common is that they are "road" comedies. Not road shows, but very wacky, far-out and hilarious movies that take place with the characters on the road. And all three take place on the more than 3,000-mile drive from New York to California.

"Hitch Hike Lady" is a Republic studio movvie and is an example of a top notch film coming out of a minor studio during Hollywood's golden years. Of these three "on-the-road" films, it gets the nod as the wackiest. Another reviewer has likened the story somewhat to Columbia's 1933 movie, "Lady for a Day." It does have the similar element of pretending a mother's child is working at being a success. But that film is spent developing the ruse, where this film isn't occupied with that. It has a fast, furious and funny surprise ending of sorts, but the great comedy here is in the characters who meet, the hijinks that take place, and the far-out escpades of the main characters.

Five actors are the main characters in this film, and all give very good performances. Alison Skipworth is the British mother, Mrs. Amelia Blake, who inherits just enough money to be able to travel to the U.S. to pay a surprise visit on her son. She hasn't seen Alfred in eight years, but he has been writing her and telling of his struggles to make his orange ranch in California a success. Through a highway scam operator and some coincidences, Mrs. Blake meets up with four other people. When she tells them about her son's place, Rancho San Quentin, none of them has the heart to tell her why her son probably hasn't had the money or sent for her before this.

The ending will be a fast and furious, and very far-out but funny conclusion. But before that, lots of incidents, skirmishes, and adventures take place. Most challenge one's imagination but surely tickle the funny bone. Some very crazy antics occur after Mrs. Blake and the rest of the traveling quintet come together.

Mae Clarke plays Judith Martin, a young woman also on the way to California. James Ellison is Jimmy Peyton, a house trailer salesman who lives out of his demo model as he travels the country. Two shysters make themselves at home in Jimmy's trailer and clean out his refrigerator before they are discovered. While Jimmy tells them to hit the road, the good-hearted Mrs. Blake keeps bringing them along. Arthur Treacher is very funny as the sophisticated scam artist, Mortimer Wingate. Warren Hymer plays his sidekick, the street-wise but otherwise cluck of a small-time crook, Cluck Regan.

Republic had a winner with this story and did a good job with the film. The comedy is mostly antics and far-out situations. With a reworked screenplay to add clever and humorous dialog, "Hitch Hike Lady" could be a top comedy. It's very good as is, and most people should enjoy this film well into the future.

I remember Republic pictures mostly for the Saturday afternoon Westerns I saw as a boy growing up in mid-America in the 1940s. A brother and I got a dime each which would gain us admission and a small back of popcorn. Not all were Republic pictures, but we saw many Western matinees - Gene Autry, Hopalong Cassidy, Lash La Rue, The Cisco Kid, The Lone Ranger, Roy Rogers and others.

Here's one of the few witty dialog exchanges in this film.

Mrs. Amelia Blake, "My son has an orange ranch in California. I wonder if you've heard of it." Mortimer Wingate, "Really? What does your son call his estate?" Mrs. Blake, "Rancho San Quentin. I see you have heard of it." Cluck Regan, "Heard of it? Why lady..." Wingate, "Of course we've heard of it. It's one of the most arresting places in America. Not only is the fruit of California golden, Cluck my knave, but so is silence." Mrs. Blake, "Uh, let him tell me about it." Wingate, "No, no. He's not very poetic. I don't think he'd do it justice." Regan, "Aw, you see, when it comes to talkin', I'm almost a dummy." Wingate, "Yeah."

I first saw Alison Skipworth in the movie Madame Racketeer, an absolutely delightful film. While this one was not quite as good that, it still was highly entertaining thanks to such a strong supporting cast especially Treacher (playing as ever, an upper crust English butler type) and Hymer as a couple of lovable scam artists. The plot is silly, of course – Amelia Blake (Skipworth), an elderly and poor English woman hasn't seen her son for several years receives a small inheritance from a former employer and decides to visit her son who lives in California. The thing is the son, wanting to spare his mother, told her that he owned a ranch call Ranchero San Quentin. She meets Judith Martin (Clarke) and a crook promising to drive them to California scams both of them. Neither of them has any money so they start hitch hiking and soon meet up with Jimmy Peyton (Ellison) who is traveling the country in a trailer. The Treacher and Hymer characters hide out in the trailer and the group continues on its way with an interesting interlude at a camp of dispossessed families on their way to California hoping to find work. The group bands together with the goal of keeping Mrs. Blake from finding out that her son is actually in prison. Netflix has a beautiful print of this and it is worth seeking it out.

Hitch Hike Lade (1935)

A true Depression era small-budget film with some laughs and goofiness on a trip from New York to California. The only familiar face (to me) was the leading young woman Mae Clarke, who is chipper and realistic and always fun. But the title character is an old English woman who has arrived in the U.S. to find her son.

So, penniless and ready for adventure, but clueless about nearly everything, she stumbles and bumbles her way West, meeting some friendly and peculiar sorts along the way. This is largely made of unknowns, produced by Republic Pictures (not a major or minor studio) and directed by Aubrey Scotto, as unknown as directors get. It's fast, fun, and often really funny. There are some silly actors doing silly things, but at its heart its warm and feelgood and not at all bad. By the end you are cheering the gang along and hoping for the silly improbable conclusion you can see coming.

As an extra, the editor here is Joseph Lewis, who went on to do a bunch of great B movies like "Gun Crazy" in the 1950s. It's better made than you might expect, and it has some great scenes that are straight from the middle of the Great Depression--not clichés of hardship, but other kinds of clichés of survival with no money.

This B picture from Republic Pictures may have had a shoestring budget. But it boasts a nice group of familiar players with a very heartwarming story.

Hitch Hike Lady has Alison Skipworth in the title role. She's an old widow woman from the United Kingdom who after getting an unexpected windfall of an inheritance decides to visit her son Douglas Walton who writes to her every day saying he's a farmer in a place called San Quentin in California. She doesn't know that San Quentin is a prison and no one has the heart to tell her among all the people she meets.

That includes Mae Clarke who becomes her traveling companion and Jimmy Ellison who is a trailer salesman and who winds up giving them a lift to California. In a rather convoluted series of circumstances even con men Arthur Treacher and Warren Hymer become her friends and protectors.

If you've seen Lady For A Day it's clear that Hitch Hike Lady takes its inspiration from that Frank Capra classic.

Through a lot of maneuvering and conning it all works out for Skipworth and Walton. Dave the Dude couldn't have done any better.

A really nice story, catch it when broadcast.