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Waste of time

Captivating movie !

It was OK. I don't see why everyone loves it so much. It wasn't very smart or deep or well-directed.

The movie turns out to be a little better than the average. Starting from a romantic formula often seen in the cinema, it ends in the most predictable (and somewhat bland) way.

Tom Neal (Al) walks into a café and is pretty unpleasant to people. We then get a flashback story as to what has just happened before returning to Neal as he walks out to continue his journey.It's a good story as we follow pianist Neal's transformation from horrible man to nice guy. He gets no favours, though. Even his girlfriend singer Claudia Drake (Sue) leaves him to pursue a career. Indeed, she is the catalyst for his downfall and the reason for his fateful journey. She's a good singer and the music pieces in the film are entertaining.Neal gets a lift with Edmund MacDonald (Haskell) and things don't go well. Then, he gives Ann Savage a lift and things take off coz she really is bad news! It's a downbeat film but good entertainment and has all the noir elements present. Savage will make you laugh out loud – she's seriously deranged. Good value on the casting front. You have to hand it to Neal – great way to stop someone making a phone call from an adjoining room.

If you have a friend or family member who asks you, "What on earth is film noir?" Show them this movie. It has all of the hallmarks of a great noir flick: deceit, blackmail, twisted love, very unfortunate circumstances, unforeseen tragedy; and it is shot in low-budget black-and-white with minimal yet atmospheric sets. However, it all works most wonderfully, or uber-suspensefully. Detour, unlike many other fine noir films, has breathtaking pace; it doesn't stall or get mired in overly clever - or hopelessly cryptic - dialogue. That's not to say that the dialogue is on the cheap or not sharp; why, it certainly is. The weave of action and dialogue is just perfect: It's not a run of garish violence or verbose mega-star monologues. In fact, I think I'll watch it again tonight. Oh, BTW, I stumbled upon Detour on a Friday night in the mid-80s. It was featured on that old Night Flight series. I've been hooked on film noir ever since. Enjoy!

Edgar G. Ulmer's classic 1945 film noir "Detour" gives new meaning to the derisive phrase "Don't do me any favors." Anybody who does somebody a favor ends up paying for it. Fate proves worse than blind justice in this minimalist masterpiece. No matter what our unfortunate protagonist does in this trim 71-minute, black & white melodrama, he gets kicked in the teeth. Typically, film noir movies focus on men who find themselves on the wrong side of the 8-ball. Usually, a dastardly dame is on the other side and she lures them to their demise. The hero here is a destitute piano player who doesn't pack a firearm. Basically, he is an honest guy whose streak of bad luck earns him an inevitable seat in the gas chamber. Although we never witness his ultimate fate, the implication is rather obvious by the end of this taut tale. Like the standard film noir, "Detour" occurs primarily in flashback as our protagonist reflects on his disreputable past. The poverty row studio Producers Releasing Corporation made this melodrama, but the low budget doesn't constitute a liability. Instead, the austerity of everything enhances this cynical, unsavory, doom-laden subject matter. The performances all qualify as solid stuff, though none of the thespians left a cinematic legacy. Tom Neal is convincing but sympathetic as the conscientious protagonist who finds himself trapped in a web of circumstances. In real life, Neal was a scrapper. Later, he did time in prison for shooting his wife. Nevertheless, he is thoroughly credible as the ill-fated hero plagued by bad luck. Neal made some notable films, including "The Flying Tigers" with John Wayne and "The Bowery at Midnight" with Bela Lugosi. Neal's leading lady Ann Savage didn't murder anybody in real life, but she languished for most of her career in low-budget movies, most prominently "Renegade Girl" (1946). Aside from these two, the remaining nine actors and actresses made little impression. Meantime, acclaimed cult director Edgar G. Ulmer skillfully fashioned a memorable yarn on a threadbare budget, but he shared credit with Anthony Quinn's brother-in-law Martin Goldsmith. Nominated later for an Oscar for his contribution to "The Narrow Margin," Goldsmith penned this gripping narrative. Moreover, he contributed some sharp, snappy dialogue that Neal and Savage uttered with glorious irony more often than not. Their scenes in a Los Angeles apartment are unforgettable for their vitriolic repartee.Al Roberts (Tom Neal) plays piano in a seedy nightclub, while his attractive girlfriend, Sue Harvey (Claudia Drake of "Reunion in France"), warbles songs. Sue sings the song "I Can't Believe You Fell in Love with Me," and this song later haunts the forlorn protagonist. Sue wants to wed Al, but she prefers to make her fortune first before she ties the matrimonial knot. Sue surprises Al when she reveals her plans to head to Hollywood to seek fame and fortune. Ironically, when she arrives in Tinsel Town, Sue winds up slinging hash. Al perseveres around New York City, until he can no longer live without his songbird. He takes the ankle express to Hollywood, thumbing rides when he isn't wearing out shoe leather. Along the way, a motorist in a convertible, Charles Haskell Jr (Edmund MacDonald of "Destry Rides Again"), picks up Al in Arizona and agrees to drive him to their mutual destination Los Angeles. During the journey, Charles talks about his dueling scar. Al notices three scratches on Haskell's hand, and Haskell talks about an obstinate woman that he picked up and then turned loose. Al slips behind the steering wheel, while Haskell takes a nap. They are caught in a downpour with the roof down. When he tries to get Haskell out of the car, the man falls out and dies. Al suspects that nobody will believe that Haskell died in such a convenient manner. Instead of surrendering himself to the authorities, Al drags Haskell's corpse out into the desert, and he appropriates dead man's identity. The cash-strapped musician is pleased when he discovers a wad of dough. This good fortune doesn't last long because he picks up a hitchhiker, and she turns out to be Vera (Ann Savage) the same girl who scratched up Haskell. Vera threatens to turn Al over to the authorities, but she never makes good on her threat. Once they arrive in Los Angeles, they set out to sell their car. Neither Tom nor Vera utter kind words for the other. Eventually, she seizes the telephone and locks herself away in her room and threatens to call her cops. Al grabs the telephone cord and pulls on it. Little does he realize what he has done until he breaks into the bedroom and finds the cord wrapped tightly around Vera's neck. Talk about rotten luck. Al flees from the apartment complex, but the Highway Patrol nabs him. Things do not appear to be auspicious for Al."Detour" ranks as top-notch film noir. You cannot help but feel sorry for the woebegone protagonist. At the same time, Al Roberts emerges as a petulant loser, and it's easy to see why Sue would leave him behind. If you consider yourself a film noir completist, you have to have seen this gem.

When the pianist Al Roberts gets tired of being miserable and missing his girlfriend who traveled across the country to seek her fortune in Hollywood, he decides to leave New York behind. He has no money to pay for the trip from one coast to the other, so he decides to hitchhike, something that proves to be his downfall. A man who picked him up dies during the journey and Al panics when he pessimistically expects to be accused of the death. He steals not only the man's car, but also his identity and stows away the corpse in a ditch. He then decides to pick up a hitchhiker named Vera, but he will soon regret it because she seems to know his dark secret and will not hesitate to take advantage of it.The story feels more than a little strained on more than one occasion. It's hard not to fall in love the hopelessness that constitutes Detour. A low-budget thriller directed by Edgar G. Ulmer. Sure, it's an extremely simple B-movie, but it is packed full of interesting quotes, friendly cynicism, pitch black darkness and at least as much rain. It is insanely entertaining to see Vera and Al throw sharp barbs at each other while the tones are so miserable that they find it hard to laugh at them.With a playing time of over 70 minutes says Detour goodbye long before it has time to start to feel tiring.