Short Film - Late Evening DOT film?

[zoomzoom64]

Remember a short late evening film, late 70's, and I think it may have been something to do with Dept of Transport (although cant be sure!).



A car is driving along, see's a hitchhiker, who he picks up, they have a conversation while driving, they come across a road accident. the driver gets out, walks over, see's that the person in the fatal crash, is none other than the guy he was giving a lift to. When he looks at his car, the passenger has gone! I think thats all.. any ideas or anyone remeber this?

thx

[batman]

There have been several films featuring a variation of this story over the years. I can vaguely remember one during the 70s like the one you describe, but I don't recall it being a DOT film.



Bats.

[zoomzoom64]

still looking for a title... however, r there any similar storylines u know of..

[frame69]

I've recently found a 70s p i film with a man driving a mk1 granada tired on the motorway and at some point he falls asleep.When he comes round hes driving/approaching an accident scene,when he stops the camera zooms in on the driver of crashed car and its the same man.

Trying to find it again.

[will.15]

What you describe is an urban legend and there are many variations of it. On the old series, One Step Beyond, a man gives a lift to a teenage girl. She had run away from home some time ago, but she was determined to get back home. But when the driver gets to her house, she disappears. Her parents aren't surprised. She actually died in a car crash years ago. Many drivers have given their daughter a lift since. They only hope a time comes she does make it home so they can see her one final time.

[will.15]

Here's another variation from The Beyond Reality series.



Season 2: Episode 13, Segment 5



A man with a torn suit wanders into town. They find his car. He says he needs to get something from the trunk. The trunk is opened and his body is in there.

[Euryale]

There was a Dept. of Transport film from 1977 called Night Call in which one of the characters turns out to be a ghost. The cast included Barrie Ingham, Pamela Salem, and David de Keyser. The whole thing is on Youtube - you will need to click 'Watch on Youtube' to view it from here:







[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ymWYAuDyfcU&feature=channel_page]YouTube - Night Call - Part 1 (1977)[/ame]





[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7iJAbSNijEE&feature=channel_page]YouTube - Night Call - Part 2 (1977)[/ame]







[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XpJYFxqjo0Y&feature=channel_page]YouTube - Night Call - Part 3 (1977)[/ame]





E.

[Euryale]

The episode from One Step Beyond which will.15 mentioned was called If You See Sally. Couldn't find it on Youtube, although some episodes of OSB are on there.



All these feature spooky hitchhikers:



Return to Glennascaul (1951), short film starring Orson Welles.



The Girl On The Road - an episode from the Boris Karloff TV series The Veil.



Encounter with the Unknown (1973) was a supernatural anthology film narrated by Rod Serling. The third segment has a phantom hitcher.



All the above can be seen on Youtube.



The Hitchhiker episode from the original Twilight Zone series.



The City of the Dead aka Horror Hotel (1960). One minute you see Valentine Dyall, the next you don't!



Both of these are available online.



Panic (1978), a British short film but probably not easy to obtain.





E.

[will.15]

Euryale is an encyclopedia!



That Hitchhiker episode feom the Twilight Zone was adapted from a classic radio show written by the same author of the original radio version (before the movie) of Sorry, Wrong Number. The episode still exists. It might be on the internet.



There is also Carnival of Souls about a woman who survives a car accident (or did she?). I didn't check to see if that's on Youtube, but it's in the public domain in the United States, so probably.



I'm going to watch those other episodes.

[Jack Gurney]

Also look out for the song THE TALE OF LAURIE (1960) by Dicky Lee, which has the same theme.

[will.15]

Th original radio version of the Hitchhiker is on Youtube with added visuals. It stars Orson Welles.



There is more than one version of Carnival of Souls on Youtube. One version, which I thought had the best quality, allows you to make a copy of it. Many years ago I saw on television a version that had tinted scenes and think I read that was the one distributed in Europe.