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*** This review may contain spoilers ***
HI-JACKED is another pleasant surprise for those seeking enjoyable minor films noirs from the B movie era. Like many others of its kind, this film begins with a stiff-voiced announcer warning us of the dangers of the crime at hand. Here, the featured crime is truck hi-jacking. A criminal organization sets up road blocks and other subterfuges to lead truck drivers into stopping, at which point their cargo is stolen.Once past the extremely brief announcer's segment, the film opens in a compelling noir mode. On a rainy, dark highway, a truck driver stops to help a stranded motorist. As he approaches the car, three men jump from behind it, cold-cock him, and leave him by the roadside. This particular driver will be seen to be the protagonist of HI-JACKED. Nicely played by Jim Davis (known to many of us from frequent western TV appearances), Joe Harper is placed immediately under suspicion by a detective. Harper has a criminal record. As he himself puts it, "a guy with a record has the deck stacked against him." Given another chance by his employer (Ralph Sanford), poor Harper only falls victim a second time to the criminal scheme (this time, unknowingly transporting stolen merchandise). As it turns out, Harper's employer is behind the criminal operation. When he and his partner (Paul Cavanaugh from HUMORESQUE) decide to gradually wind down their activities, they set up Joe Harper as their fall guy. This is where the film solidly enters noir territory: the fall guy with a criminal record is clearly the quarry of "fate". Things look bad for Harper, even though his faithful wife has returned to him. Thanks to his ability to recognize the voice of one of the hi-jackers (David Bruce of THE MAD GHOUL) on the phone, Harper is able to beat the thugs at their game. In a very dark, violent, classically noir sequence we see him vindicate himself nicely in speedy B movie fashion. The film has a good deal of well-executed violence and there is effective comic relief from a fast-talking truck stop waitress (Iris Adrian) and would-be tough-guy Sid Melton, who insists on being called "Killer".
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