Back home

Detour

390 votes

Producing House

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.

movie

Status: Released

Released Date: 1945-11-30

Runtime: 68 mins

Director: Edgar G. Ulmer

Spoken language: English

Genres: Drama, Thriller

Original title: Detour

Production Companies: PRC

Production Countries: United States of America

Reviews

g

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.
2024-11-14

G

Geronimo1967
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.
2022-07-01

J

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
2020-04-19

t

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.
2016-07-31

Recommendations

Knockin' on Heaven's Door
3.8

Knockin' on Heaven's Door

1997-02-20

Two young men, Martin and Rudi, both suffering from terminal cancer, get to know each other in a hos

The Wizard
3

The Wizard

1989-12-15

A boy and his brother run away from home and hitch cross-country, with help from a girl they meet, t

Jackie Brown
3.7

Jackie Brown

1997-12-25

Jackie Brown is a flight attendant who gets caught in the middle of smuggling cash into the country

The Name of the Rose
3.8

The Name of the Rose

1986-09-24

14th-century Franciscan monk William of Baskerville and his young novice arrive at a conference to f

The Wages of Fear
4

The Wages of Fear

1953-04-22

In a run-down South American town, four men are paid to drive trucks loaded with nitroglycerin into

North by Northwest
4

North by Northwest

1959-08-06

Advertising man Roger Thornhill is mistaken for a spy, triggering a deadly cross-country chase.

East of Eden
3.8

East of Eden

1955-04-10

In the Salinas Valley in and around World War I, Cal Trask feels he must compete against overwhelmin

The Outsiders
3.6

The Outsiders

1983-03-25

In 1960s Tulsa, class divisions ignite a violent rivalry between the working-class Greasers and the

The Blue Angel
3.6

The Blue Angel

1930-04-01

Prim professor Immanuel Rath finds some of his students ogling racy photos of cabaret performer Lola

Stand by Me
3.9

Stand by Me

1986-08-08

After learning that a boy their age has been accidentally killed near their rural homes, four boys d

The Godfather
4.3

The Godfather

1972-03-14

Spanning the years 1945 to 1955, a chronicle of the fictional Italian-American Corleone crime family

The Godfather Part II
4.3

The Godfather Part II

1974-12-20

In the continuing saga of the Corleone crime family, a young Vito Corleone grows up in Sicily and in

About a Boy
3.3

About a Boy

2002-04-26

Will Freeman is a good-looking, smooth-talking bachelor whose primary goal in life is avoiding any k

The Killing
3.8

The Killing

1956-06-06

Career criminal Johnny Clay recruits a sharpshooter, a crooked police officer, a bartender and a bet

Oliver Twist
3.4

Oliver Twist

2005-09-23

When 9-year-old orphan Oliver Twist dares to ask his cruel taskmaster, Mr. Bumble, for a second serv

Worst Laid Plans
3

Worst Laid Plans

2022-12-03

Three tales of vacation-themed horror adapted from the bestselling book by Grindhouse Press.

Apocalypse Now
4.1

Apocalypse Now

1979-05-19

At the height of the Vietnam war, Captain Benjamin Willard is sent on a dangerous mission that, offi

War of the Worlds
3.3

War of the Worlds

2005-06-28

Ray Ferrier is a divorced dockworker and less-than-perfect father. Soon after his ex-wife and her ne

Blade Runner
4

Blade Runner

1982-06-25

In the smog-choked dystopian Los Angeles of 2019, blade runner Rick Deckard is called out of retirem

The Elementary Particles
3

The Elementary Particles

2006-02-10

Based on Michel Houellebecq's controversial novel, Atomised (aka The Elementary Particles) focuses o