Detour
Release date: 1945-11-30
Votes: 395
Genres: Drama, Thriller
The life of Al Roberts, a pianist in a New York nightclub, turns into a nightmare when he decides to hitchhike to Los Angeles to visit his girlfriend.
Reviews
talisencrw
This was excellent. One of my very favourite film noirs--and at a fraction of the budget. It made me instantly want to see ALL of Ulmer's films--as well as a lot more of Ann Savage. A priceless find for the adventurous cinephile.
John Chard
Sleazy Nightmare! Playing out as some kind of fate accompanied nightmare, Detour demands repeat viewings since the running time is so short it leaves you hankering for more come the end. We follow the protagonist Al Roberts on the road, and watch (with accompanied narration) a sequence of events that see him in the middle of nowhere at a diner fearing for his future. Devilishly dark in tone, the film relies on a fine underplayed performance from Tom Neal as Roberts, and a gloriously annoying harpy femme fatale turn from Ann Savage as Vera. The film was made for next to nothing in only one week, and the whole film screams out as a low budget movie shot with a sleazy tint and less than stellar tech credits. Yet money can't buy this type of atmospheric misery, where the vagaries of fate play their brutal film noir hands. Upon release, it was just a poverty row "B" picture, and it passed by almost quietly. Unsurprisingly a few years later "French" cineastes picked up on it and as the years rolled by it has garnered critical reappraisals. So much so the likes of Scorsese and The Coen Brothers cottoned on and gleefully let the influence wash over them. Director was one Edgar G. Ulmer ("The Black Cat", "Bluebeard", "Strange Illusion", "Ruthless"), and here he shows himself the master of low budgetary nous and devilish story telling. 9/10
CinemaSerf
I think that in order to get anything from this film noir, you have to accept from the outset that the acting is pretty poor. An implausibly weak Tom Neal, a downright irritating Ann Savage & an especially wooden Claudia Drake make this something you might win a perseverance award for, for sticking with. Tom Neal is driving across the USA when he makes a decision he soon regrets - picking up a rude, gobby woman (Ann Savage) on the highway who proceeds to rob, bully & blackmail him. Accidentally, she comes a cropper and (aside from a general feeling of thank the Lord from the audience) his relief is palpable. The route to his predicament is relayed via his somewhat pathetic retrospective narrative and her relentless onslaughts and they both combine to really grate after a while (say 20 minutes). It has little to redeem it, I'm afraid - neither the photography nor the script inject much pace and/or menace - it's just a tiresome tirade.
griggs79
While great fun, _Detour_ feels lacklustre. The final act seems hastily cobbled together, as if the writers need more ideas, leaving the plot and the characters underdeveloped. Yet, it’s delightful; I guess atmosphere wins over plot sometimes.
Movie Recommendation
Richard Pryor: Live in Concert1979-01-26Richard Pryor delivers monologues on race, sex, family and his favorite target—himself, live at the Terrace Theatre in Long Beach, California.More...
Cornered1945-11-23A World War II veteran hunts down the Nazi collaborators who killed his wife.More...
Born to Kill1947-04-30A calculating divorcée risks her chances at wealth and security with a man she doesn't love by getting involved with a hotheaded murderer.More...
Queen of Blood1966-03-01A spaceship is sent to Mars after an alien distress signal is picked up. They find one survivor, but when a crew member is found drained of blood it's evident they have rescued a bloodsucking monster. Uses footage from Encounter in Space (1963).More...
County Hospital1932-06-25Ollie is in the hospital with a broken leg. When Stan comes to visit him, total chaos ensues.More...
The Mummy's Shroud1967-03-15Archaeologists discover the final resting place of a boy king, removing the remains to be exhibited in a museum. By disturbing the sarcophagus they unleash the forces of darkness. The Mummy has returned to discharge a violent retribution on the defilers as the curse that surrounds the tomb begins to come true. One by one the explorers are murdered until one of them discovers the ancient words that have the power to reduce the brutal killer to particles of dust.More...
Seven Waves Away1957-03-12After a massive luxury liner sinks into the ocean, the ship's officer must command a rickety lifeboat, built for only nine, that is stuffed with over twenty desperate and injured passengers. As a hurricane approaches and the many wounded passengers struggle for life, difficult decisions must be made about who will remain on the boat and who must be cast to the sea in order to give others the chance to survive.More...
Apology for Murder1945-09-27Head over heels in love with a stern and cold older businessman's young wife, a reporter is seduced into conspiring to murder him so she can inherit his estate, while pinning the murder on another businessman.More...
9 Variations on a Dance Theme1967-01-31Bettie de Jong performs the same dance nine times, starting and ending in a reclined position. As the film proceeds the camera becomes more and more adventurous.More...
Aurora's Sunrise2023-04-21The story of how Aurora Mardiganian (1901-94), a survivor of the Armenian genocide perpetrated by the Ottoman Empire (1915-17), became a Hollywood silent film star.More...
Blonde Ice1948-07-24A golddigging femme fatale leaves a trail of men behind her, rich and poor, alive and dead.More...
The Strange Affair of Uncle Harry1945-08-17George Sanders stars in this engrossing melodrama about a very domineering sister who holds a tight grip on her brother -- especially when he shows signs of falling in love.More...
Trade Winds1938-12-28After committing a murder, Kay assumes a new identity and boards a ship. But, Kay is unaware that Sam, a skirt chasing detective, is following her and must outwit him to escape imprisonment.More...
The Belly of an Architect1987-09-23Stourley Kracklite, a driven, detail-obsessed architect, travels from America to Rome with his much younger wife, Louisa, to oversee an architectural homage to a personal hero, 18th-century master builder Etienne-Louis Boullée. En route by train, Stourley and Louisa conceive a much-wanted child — but Stourley's obsession with his wife's expanding belly, her perceived infidelity, and his own recurrent bouts of abdominal pain reach epic and dangerous proportions.More...
Shock Corridor1963-09-25With the help of his girlfriend Cathy and Dr. Fong, a psychiatrist, ambitious journalist Johnny Barrett poses as a madman in order to be admitted to a mental institution where a bloody murder has been committed.More...
Anchors Aweigh1945-08-13Two sailors on shore leave head out for four days of partying – only to become involved in the affairs of an aspiring singer and her precocious nephew.More...
Gamera, the Giant Monster1965-11-27A nuclear explosion in the far north unleashes Gamera, the legendary flying turtle, from his sleep under the ice. In his search for energy, Gamera wreaks havoc over the entire world, and it's up to the scientists, assisted by a young boy with a strange sympathic link to the monster, to put a stop to Gamera's rampage.More...
Mischief1985-02-081956: The shy Jonathan's luck with girls changes when he wins the rebellious Gene as a friend in his last year of high school. Gene is adored by many girls and manages to teach Jonathan a few lessons. Gene himself would rather just be with one girl: his girlfriend Bunny. But since his father is poor, her parents don't accept him.More...
QT8: The First Eight2019-10-21A detailed account of the life and artistic career of legendary filmmaker Quentin Tarantino, from his early days as a video club manager to the scandalous fall in disgrace of producer Harvey Weinstein. A story about how to shoot eight great movies and become an icon of modern pop culture.More...
Dark Passage1947-09-05A man convicted of murdering his wife escapes from prison and works with a woman to try and prove his innocence.More...
Similar Movies
Knockin' on Heaven's ...
1997-02-20Two young men, Martin and Rudi, both suffering from terminal cancer, get to know each other in a hospital room. They drown their desperation in tequila and decide to take one last trip to the sea. Drunk and still in pajamas they steal the first fancy car they find, a 60's Mercedes convertible. The car happens to belong to a bunch of gangsters, which immediately start to chase it, since it contains more than the pistol Martin finds in the glove box.The Wizard
1989-12-15A boy and his brother run away from home and hitch cross-country, with help from a girl they meet, to compete in the ultimate video-game championship.Jackie Brown
1997-12-25Jackie Brown is a flight attendant who gets caught in the middle of smuggling cash into the country for her gunrunner boss. When the cops try to use Jackie to get to her boss, she hatches a plan — with help from a bail bondsman — to keep the money for herself.The Name of the Rose
1986-09-2414th-century Franciscan monk William of Baskerville and his young novice arrive at a conference to find that several monks have been murdered under mysterious circumstances. To solve the crimes, William must rise up against the Church's authority and fight the shadowy conspiracy of monastery monks using only his intelligence; which is considerable.The Wages of Fear
1953-04-22In a run-down South American town, four men are paid to drive trucks loaded with nitroglycerin into the jungle through to the oil field. Friendships are tested and rivalries develop as they embark upon the perilous journey.North by Northwest
1959-08-06Advertising man Roger Thornhill is mistaken for a spy, triggering a deadly cross-country chase.East of Eden
1955-04-10In the Salinas Valley in and around World War I, Cal Trask feels he must compete against overwhelming odds with his brother for the love of their father. Cal is frustrated at every turn, from his reaction to the war, how to get ahead in business and in life, and how to relate to his estranged mother.Rebecca
1940-03-23Story of a young woman who marries a fascinating widower only to find out that she must live in the shadow of his former wife, Rebecca, who died mysteriously several years earlier. The young wife must come to grips with the terrible secret of her handsome, cold husband, Max De Winter. She must also deal with the jealous, obsessed Mrs. Danvers, the housekeeper, who will not accept her as the mistress of the house.The Outsiders
1983-03-25In 1960s Tulsa, class divisions ignite a violent rivalry between the working-class Greasers and the privileged Socs. When a deadly encounter forces two Greasers, Ponyboy and Johnny, to flee, their struggle for survival and redemption exposes the fragile innocence and enduring bonds of youth on the wrong side of town.The Blue Angel
1930-04-01Prim professor Immanuel Rath finds some of his students ogling racy photos of cabaret performer Lola Lola and visits a local club, The Blue Angel, in an attempt to catch them there. Seeing Lola perform, the teacher is filled with lust, eventually resigning his position at the school to marry the young woman. However, his marriage to a coquette -- whose job is to entice men -- proves to be more difficult than Rath imagined.Stand by Me
1986-08-08After learning that a boy their age has been accidentally killed near their rural homes, four boys decide to go see the body. Gordie, Vern, Chris, and Teddy encounter a mean junk man and a marsh full of leeches, but they also learn more about one another and their very different home lives. Just a lark at first, the boys' adventure evolves into a defining event in their lives.The Godfather
1972-03-14Spanning the years 1945 to 1955, a chronicle of the fictional Italian-American Corleone crime family. When organized crime family patriarch, Vito Corleone barely survives an attempt on his life, his youngest son, Michael steps in to take care of the would-be killers, launching a campaign of bloody revenge.The Godfather Part II...
1974-12-20In the continuing saga of the Corleone crime family, a young Vito Corleone grows up in Sicily and in 1910s New York. In the 1950s, Michael Corleone attempts to expand the family business into Las Vegas, Hollywood and Cuba.About a Boy
2002-04-26Will Freeman is a good-looking, smooth-talking bachelor whose primary goal in life is avoiding any kind of responsibility. But when he invents an imaginary son in order to meet attractive single moms, Will gets a hilarious lesson about life from a bright, but hopelessly geeky 12-year-old named Marcus. Now, as Will struggles to teach Marcus the art of being cool, Marcus teaches Will that you're never too old to grow up.The Killing
1956-06-06Career criminal Johnny Clay recruits a sharpshooter, a crooked police officer, a bartender and a betting teller named George, among others, for one last job before he goes straight and gets married. But when George tells his restless wife about the scheme to steal millions from the racetrack where he works, she hatches a plot of her own.Live and Let Die
1973-06-27James Bond must investigate a mysterious murder case of a British agent in New Orleans. Soon he finds himself up against a gangster boss named Mr. Big.Oliver Twist
2005-09-23When 9-year-old orphan Oliver Twist dares to ask his cruel taskmaster, Mr. Bumble, for a second serving of gruel, he's hired out as an apprentice. Escaping that dismal fate, young Oliver falls in with the street urchin known as the Artful Dodger and his criminal mentor, Fagin. When kindly Mr. Brownlow takes Oliver in, Fagin's evil henchman Bill Sikes plots to kidnap the boy.The 39 Steps
1935-06-06Richard Hanney has a rude awakening when a glamorous female spy falls into his bed - with a knife in her back. Having a bit of trouble explaining it all to Scotland Yard, he heads for the hills of Scotland to try to clear his name by locating the spy ring known as The 39 Steps.Murders at the House ...
2019-12-13Yuzuru Hamura is a university student and a fan of mystery novels. Against his will, he was forced to join the school's mystery club. The club is led by Kyosuke Akechi. Meanwhile, Hiruko Kenzaki appears in front of them. She attends the same university and she is also a private detective. These 3 people attend a summer camp and stay at Shijinso pension in the mountains. On their first day there, they must barricade themselves in the pension. The next morning, they discover a murder has taken place in the pension.The Hustler
1961-09-25Fast Eddie Felson is a small-time pool hustler with a lot of talent but a self-destructive attitude. His bravado causes him to challenge the legendary Minnesota Fats to a high-stakes match.