On this day in movie history - The Devil Thumbs a Ride (1947):

The Devil Thumbs a Ride

directed and written by Felix E. Feist,

based on the novel by Robert C. Du Soe,

was released in the United States on February 20, 1947.
Music by Paul Sawtell and Roy Webb.

Cast:

Lawrence Tierney, Ted North, Nan Leslie, Betty Lawford, Andrew Tombes, Harry Shannon, Glen Vernon, Marian Carr, William Gould, Josephine Whittell, Phil Warren, Robert Malcolm, Arthur Q. Bryan, Roger Creed, Harry Depp, George Dockstader, Dick Edwards, Sarah Edwards, Dick Elliott, Carl Faulkner, Lee Frederick, Raoul Freeman, Dorothy Granger, Chuck Hamilton, William Joy, Perc Launders, Bert LeBaron, Lee Phelps, Tom Pilkington, Victor Potel, Harry Raven, John Roy, Dick Rush, Cy Slocum, Tex Swan, Minerva Urecal.

Recommended reading - The Devil Thumbs a Ride, by Robert C. Du Soe (1938):

The Devil Thumbs a Ride

By Robert C. Du Soe.

First published 1938.

Published by Avon Books

ASIN: B00730V9GY

Description:

Screenwriter Du Soe's only novel, about an innocuous fellar name of Steve who gets in a car with the simple, corpulent Furgison. The pair pick up a couple of girls, and only after the bodies pile up does Furgison start to wonder who it is he's riding along with.