US 68m Dir: Edgar G. Ulmer
Based on: Detour: An Extraordinary Tale by Martin Goldsmith (novel)
Detour was made on Hollywood's 'poverty row', the small studios with little money. Therefore, this was made very quickly on a small budget, which is evident on screen with many technical errors and a generally cheap feeling. Despite this, it's actually a decent film.
Poverty-stricken piano player Al Roberts (Tom Neal) attempts to hitchhike from New York City to join his girlfriend in Los Angeles. When a driver dies unexpectedly Roberts realizes he will be implicated in the murder so hides the body and steals his identity. He then picks up hitchhiker Vera (Ann Savage) who discovers the truth and blackmails him.
The script doesn't entirely make a lot of sense. The death of the driver is really weird and then Roberts deciding to pick up a hitchhiker whilst on the run is an insane decision and it's absurd that she should turn out to be the one woman who has already met the driver. It continues to unfold in this way, the plot not standing up to a great deal of scrutiny.
The lead actors aren't great either. Roger Ebert said that Neal spends the whole time pouting and Savage spends the whole time sneering and that's a fair summary of their performances in the film. Both were unknown actors who didn't exactly go on to great things. Neal was best known for having an affair with engaged woman Barabara Payton and beating up her husband and later in life was convicted of manslaughter for shooting his wife. Savage left the film industry in the 50s after a string of B-movie roles with occasional appearances at events about Detour.
Somehow though, the film is actually pretty good. Director Edgar G. Ulmer must surely take much of the credit for this. He creates a real sense of doom here, never more than in the scene where Roberts stands next to the dead body and realizes there is no easy way out of this situation. The world of this film is a grim and hopeless one and doom is inevitable for all the characters. It's impressive that Ulmer achieves this despite the low budget and average actors.
This film is so well respected that it has made 'top 100' film lists. That seems a bit excessive and though it's very good, I don't think you can completely ignore the shoddy technical side nor the fact that the performances, especially of Neal, are underwhelming at best.
A great film noir despite its many flaws.
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