Detour
Detour is a 1945 film noir directed by Edgar G. Ulmer starring Tom Neal and Ann Savage. The film starts off by a piano player Al Roberts drinking coffee at a diner while hitchhiking east from California and song plays on the jukebox which reminds him of his former life in New York City. In the flashback, we learn that Al was bitter about his talent going to waste in a cheap nightclub and so was his girlfriend, so she decided to seek fame in Hollywood, leaving him behind. Later, he decides that he cannot live without her and wants to marry her, leading him to hitchhike his way across the country. In Arizona, Al hitchhikes on a ride from Charles Haskell who is going all the way to Los Angeles to place a bet on a horse, and during this ride he asks Al to pass him pills many times. At night, Al is driving while Haskell is asleep and it starts to rain, so Al tries to wake him up but is unable to. Al then opens the passenger door and Haskell falls out, hitting his head on a rock, and then Al realizes that he is dead. Out of fear that he police will believe that he killed him, he drags out the dead body from the road, steals his clothes, money, ID, and car …show more content…
Once it was released on TV in the 1950’s, TV reviewers casually recommended it as a worthwhile “B” movie. During the 1970’s it began being seen as an example of film noir when critics began to write about it more often. Even today it is reacted to as universally positive due to its description of the importance of money through its production and presentation. The importance of money is shown through the presentation because “The sets reinforce the theme of social and cultural improvement, and the actors seem to belong to the same marginal world as the characters they play. Everyone is a low-rent pretender or imposter, and nobody has a chance of success” (Hirsch,
Detour is a 1945 film noir directed by Edgar G. Ulmer starring Tom Neal and Ann Savage. The film starts off by a piano player Al Roberts drinking coffee at a diner while hitchhiking east from California and song plays on the jukebox which reminds him of his former life in New York City. In the flashback, we learn that Al was bitter about his talent going to waste in a cheap nightclub and so was his girlfriend, so she decided to seek fame in Hollywood, leaving him behind. Later, he decides that he cannot live without her and wants to marry her, leading him to hitchhike his way across the country. In Arizona, Al hitchhikes on a ride from Charles Haskell who is going all the way to Los Angeles to place a bet on a horse, and during this ride he asks Al to pass him pills many times. At night, Al is driving while Haskell is asleep and it starts to rain, so Al tries to wake him up but is unable to. Al then opens the passenger door and Haskell falls out, hitting his head on a rock, and then Al realizes that he is dead. Out of fear that he police will believe that he killed him, he drags out the dead body from the road, steals his clothes, money, ID, and car …show more content…
Once it was released on TV in the 1950’s, TV reviewers casually recommended it as a worthwhile “B” movie. During the 1970’s it began being seen as an example of film noir when critics began to write about it more often. Even today it is reacted to as universally positive due to its description of the importance of money through its production and presentation. The importance of money is shown through the presentation because “The sets reinforce the theme of social and cultural improvement, and the actors seem to belong to the same marginal world as the characters they play. Everyone is a low-rent pretender or imposter, and nobody has a chance of success” (Hirsch,