Sameir Ali
It's quite surprising to see such amazing films in those years.Al Roberts is traveling to Hollywood to meet his girl friend. The poor man has no enough money to travel. So, he tries different ways to get there. A strange man gives him a lift. He offer him food also. On the long drive,the stranger takes a nap and Roberts drives the car. Later he finds out that the stranger is dead. Afraid of the Police, he hides the dead body in the woods, and take the man's identity. On his way, he offers lift to a woman, that puts him into more troubles.A really interesting plot, and very well made movie. A must watch film for all movie maniacs. Do not miss it. #KiduMovie
Python Hyena
Detour (1945): Dir: Edgar G. Ulmer / Cast: Tom Neal, Ann Savage, Edmund MacDonald, Claudia Drake, Don Brodie: Intriguing noir suspense about levels of complications. Tom Neal plays a nightclub pianist whose girlfriend heads to Los Angeles to pursue an acting career. Neal hitchhikes after her and is picked up by a business gentleman who talks of his dying father and scars on his arm left by a woman. When he dies of a heart attack Neal buries the body and assumes the identity believing that police would accuse him of murder if he contacted them. Frankly, the coroner's report should prove otherwise. The biggest contrivance regards the hitchhiking woman who turns out to be the victim's blackmailing ex. Do we believe Neal's narrative? Even the silliness of the conclusion is striking from its viewpoint. Directed by Edgar G. Ulmer who plays with the film's sarcasm and thriller elements. Neal is fine as a victim of circumstance that concludes with two bodies. Ann Savage is vicious as the hitchhiker whom Neal learns much about and cannot counter. Edmund MacDonald is seen briefly as the victim but the role is pivotal. Claudia Drake rounds out the cast as Neal's girlfriend who seeks a career away from the madness. There are smaller roles that appear here and there but nothing beyond prop level placing. Low budget example of the compiles of sin and guilt. Score: 6 ½ / 10
sterlingwritesit
Watching Detour, it becomes apparent immediately that the movie was made on the cheap. The film relies on extensive rear projection work and shies away from using exteriors. All of this contributes to a certain cramped feel. This modest production is extremely effective nonetheless due to a few factors.First of all, we get a great raw-nerved, vulnerable performance from Tom Neal as our protagonist. This is complemented nicely by a vicious turn from Ann Savage as a hitchhiking femme fatale. Meanwhile, the script contributes several gems of dialogue that allow the two to really stand out. The limitations of the production actually work in the movie's favor. The cramped, constricted environment in which the characters operate becomes a pressure cooker, heightening the sense of dread as emotions boil over. On the negative side, the movie does fall victim to some clunky editing. This, along with a few other minor issues keeps me from rating this more highly.Bottom line: Worth your time for the performances of the two leads, especially if you're a film noir fan.
john-hogan23
Detour stars Tom Neil as Al Roberts, a hitch-hiker trying to make his way from New York to LA to be with a girl that had left him behind for Hollywood. Just hours away from his destination he gets picked up by Charles Haskell, who's willing to drive Roberts to his destination but suddenly dies in his sleep on the way. Detour is a hugely impressive film when you consider the meager $30,000 budget it was allowed by PRC. (a studio I've never even heard of) I didn't realize this when I started the film. I thought something was a bit off, but I didn't manage to figure out it was a budget flick until I had reached the ending. The film manages to carve a well-rounded narrative out of four actors, three sets, and the director's car. That's definitely worth admiring. Tom Neil gives a good performance, but he's completely overshadowed by Ann Savage as the film's femme fatale Vera. Vera is a character that feels like she was written to come off as real rather than cinematic. She's a good looking girl with a short temper and an angry demeanor. She didn't have the obnoxious lighting other femme fatales used that made them look glow in the dark and the writers didn't bother trying to shoehorn any completely out of place romance into the film, she was just a tough chick looking to make some quick cash off Roberts, a frightened, easy target. Ann Savage seemed like she was delivering her lines exactly how Vera would say them. She was harsh and irritable, and when she got the upper hand on Roberts she was smug and arrogant. Her performance was persuasive; she was dynamite, baby.
AD
