Stars: Tom Neal, Ann Savage, Edmund MacDonald, Claudia Drake | Written by Martin Goldsmith | Directed by Edward G. Ulmer
Thanks to its absurd plotting and an even more absurd running time (it’s not even seventy minutes long), Detour is a breeze of a watch. Essentially a noir road movie, it’s fast, funny, grimy and atmospheric, and it comes with an absolute belter of a last ten minutes.
We meet our protagonist Al (Tom Neal) as a dishevelled drifter, hitchhiking his way across Nevada. He remembers his glory days in New York. He was a pianist and she – Sue (Claudia Drake), the love of his life – was a singer. One day she decided to jet off to L.A. to chase her Hollywood dream. Al wanted to chase his dream of Sue. He was flat broke but determined to marry her, so off he went.
On the way he hitches...
Thanks to its absurd plotting and an even more absurd running time (it’s not even seventy minutes long), Detour is a breeze of a watch. Essentially a noir road movie, it’s fast, funny, grimy and atmospheric, and it comes with an absolute belter of a last ten minutes.
We meet our protagonist Al (Tom Neal) as a dishevelled drifter, hitchhiking his way across Nevada. He remembers his glory days in New York. He was a pianist and she – Sue (Claudia Drake), the love of his life – was a singer. One day she decided to jet off to L.A. to chase her Hollywood dream. Al wanted to chase his dream of Sue. He was flat broke but determined to marry her, so off he went.
On the way he hitches...
- 4/1/2019
- by Rupert Harvey
- Nerdly
This is a big one, the restoration we long thought would never come. CineSavant tries to explain what makes Edgar G. Ulmer’s masterpiece uniquely memorable, how it works its Loser Noir magic, and why this particular restoration bodes well for a certain class of picture mired in murky rights issues. Meet Al Roberts, a hard luck case happy to bend your ear for an hour, explaining how Fate has Done Him Wrong. This Prc gem transcends Noir pessimism, because a sensible read forces us to conclude that Al is his own worst enemy, a self-made misery man. This hitch-hiking epic carries an extra added jolt: Ann Savage delivers what has to be the boldest, most caustic hell-to-pay performance of ‘forties Hollywood.
Detour
Blu-ray
The Criterion Collection 966
1945 / B&W / 1:37 flat Academy / 69 min. / available through The Criterion Collection / Street Date March 19, 2019 / 39.95
Starring: Tom Neal, Ann Savage, Claudia Drake, Edmund MacDonald,...
Detour
Blu-ray
The Criterion Collection 966
1945 / B&W / 1:37 flat Academy / 69 min. / available through The Criterion Collection / Street Date March 19, 2019 / 39.95
Starring: Tom Neal, Ann Savage, Claudia Drake, Edmund MacDonald,...
- 3/12/2019
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
The Lady Confesses
Written by Irwin Franklyn and Helen Martin
Directed by Sam Newfield
U.S.A., 1945
Vicki McGuire (Mary Beth Hughes) is resting at home one night, awaiting the return of her husband to be, Larry Craig (Hugh Beaumont), when who should appear at her door but Larry’s believed to be deceased former wife Norma (Barbara Slater). Stern in composure and unimpressed by Vicki, she storms off, warning the shell-shocked fiancée that no one else can have her husband. All the while Larry is hanging out at a club owned by Lucky Brandon (Edmund MacDonald), getting drunk silly. The evening grows ever more complicated when Norma’s body is later discovered in her apartment. The recently departed caused quite a stir during the few hours when she made her presence known, and now her demise is about to further stir the pot, especially with police captain Brown (Emmett Vogan...
Written by Irwin Franklyn and Helen Martin
Directed by Sam Newfield
U.S.A., 1945
Vicki McGuire (Mary Beth Hughes) is resting at home one night, awaiting the return of her husband to be, Larry Craig (Hugh Beaumont), when who should appear at her door but Larry’s believed to be deceased former wife Norma (Barbara Slater). Stern in composure and unimpressed by Vicki, she storms off, warning the shell-shocked fiancée that no one else can have her husband. All the while Larry is hanging out at a club owned by Lucky Brandon (Edmund MacDonald), getting drunk silly. The evening grows ever more complicated when Norma’s body is later discovered in her apartment. The recently departed caused quite a stir during the few hours when she made her presence known, and now her demise is about to further stir the pot, especially with police captain Brown (Emmett Vogan...
- 5/1/2015
- by Edgar Chaput
- SoundOnSight
Detour
Written by Marin Goldsmith and Martin Mooney
Directed by Edgar G. Ulmer
U.S.A., 1945
The women of film noir, those seductive, cruel creatures baptized ‘femmes fatales’ (French for ‘deadly women’) present a unique sort of challenge for the male protagonists. All too often the latter is at least somewhat aware of the former’s cold intentions yet takes the bait anyways out of some delusional belief that they can outwit her and end on top, pardon the pun. Despite that the batting average for said vixen is incredibly high with respect to making the man’s life a living hell, there is usually a semblance of level footing, the male protagonist for the most part believing in his ability to counter his opposite’s mischievous.
In that sense, Edgar G. Ulmer’s Detour is a fitting title for many reasons which shall be explored shortly. The story opens...
Written by Marin Goldsmith and Martin Mooney
Directed by Edgar G. Ulmer
U.S.A., 1945
The women of film noir, those seductive, cruel creatures baptized ‘femmes fatales’ (French for ‘deadly women’) present a unique sort of challenge for the male protagonists. All too often the latter is at least somewhat aware of the former’s cold intentions yet takes the bait anyways out of some delusional belief that they can outwit her and end on top, pardon the pun. Despite that the batting average for said vixen is incredibly high with respect to making the man’s life a living hell, there is usually a semblance of level footing, the male protagonist for the most part believing in his ability to counter his opposite’s mischievous.
In that sense, Edgar G. Ulmer’s Detour is a fitting title for many reasons which shall be explored shortly. The story opens...
- 5/3/2013
- by Edgar Chaput
- SoundOnSight
Forty 1940s Films: ‘Detour’
Directed by Edgar G. Ulmer
Starring Tom Neal, Ann Savage, and Edmund MacDonald
USA, 67 min – 1945.
“Money. You know what that is. It’s the stuff, you never have enough of. Little green things with George Washington’s picture that men slave for, commit crimes for, die for. It’s the stuff that’s caused more trouble in the world, than anything else we’ve ever invented, simply because there’s too little of it.” – Al Roberts
Stripped of the glamorousness that gives other film noir pictures their appeal, Edgar G. Ulmer’s Detour presents us with the genre, in its rawest form. This B picture, from Prc (Producer’s Relations Corporation) has every element of classic noir films, from the use of flashback, to a doomed romance, to the femme fatale, and of course, a murder. Unlike Detour’s larger budgeted, star-studded counterparts, these elements aren’t seamlessly disguised,...
Directed by Edgar G. Ulmer
Starring Tom Neal, Ann Savage, and Edmund MacDonald
USA, 67 min – 1945.
“Money. You know what that is. It’s the stuff, you never have enough of. Little green things with George Washington’s picture that men slave for, commit crimes for, die for. It’s the stuff that’s caused more trouble in the world, than anything else we’ve ever invented, simply because there’s too little of it.” – Al Roberts
Stripped of the glamorousness that gives other film noir pictures their appeal, Edgar G. Ulmer’s Detour presents us with the genre, in its rawest form. This B picture, from Prc (Producer’s Relations Corporation) has every element of classic noir films, from the use of flashback, to a doomed romance, to the femme fatale, and of course, a murder. Unlike Detour’s larger budgeted, star-studded counterparts, these elements aren’t seamlessly disguised,...
- 1/6/2013
- by Karen Bacellar
- SoundOnSight
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