Year: 1945
Country: United States
Language: English
Number: 180
Written by: Martin Goldsmith, Martin Mooney
Director: Edgar G. Ulmer
Starring: Tom Neal, Ann Savage, Claudia Drake, Edmund MacDonald
Edgar G. Ulmer, The King of B-Movies made a film noir called Detour, about a nightclub pianist named Al Roberts (Tom Neal) who hitchhikes all the way from New York to Los Angeles to marry his girlfriend Sue. On the road he's being picked up by a bookie named Charles Haskell Jr. But while Al drives by night, Charles suddenly dies. Al believes that if he tell the truth as it is, the police wouldn't believe him. So Al hides the body and take Charles' car and clothes, and heads for the east-coast. But on his way, Al himself picks up a hitchhiker, a woman named Vera (Ann Savage), who happens to know Charles, and know that Al is an impostor. So this means blackmail, if Al don't want himself caught.
Detour is a great Noir B-movie, with an unknown cast, and a down to earth plot and setting. Cheap, short and good. Even though it's as cruel to women as any other film Noir. But I did like the relationship between Vera and Al, or should I say, lack of chemistry. You would have thought that all the times they yell at each other they would have kissed and have sex on the floor already. But since this is a forties movie, you know it's not gonna happen. But there's a drunk scene where they almost do it, and that's close enough. I did like Detour, it's realisticly dark, and not as glossy as the other mainstream Noirs. Thumbs up.
Detour is a great Noir B-movie, with an unknown cast, and a down to earth plot and setting. Cheap, short and good. Even though it's as cruel to women as any other film Noir. But I did like the relationship between Vera and Al, or should I say, lack of chemistry. You would have thought that all the times they yell at each other they would have kissed and have sex on the floor already. But since this is a forties movie, you know it's not gonna happen. But there's a drunk scene where they almost do it, and that's close enough. I did like Detour, it's realisticly dark, and not as glossy as the other mainstream Noirs. Thumbs up.
Grade: B+
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