Detour

A reviewer mentioned most of the movie was filmed at night. Dauh It's called a Noir cool guy. This film isn't great by any means. I honestly don't know why people luv it so much. You gut a spineless guy being bullied to death by a mean girl & also you get 2 see his woman out in Hollywood act like a B---- & tramp around in order to make it big.Both woman in this film got no redeeming qualities what so ever. The back story behind the original lead actor is pretty crazier. Even crazier a guy named Wade Williams supposedly bought old movies. That I guess conveniently went into public domain not long after. He made some cash & re-made this film. It's nice to see someone be so passionate about a film.I wish it had been a better 1, but the re-creation & great use of color is good. Of course their are much better noir's out their in color & don't cost 50 Dollars for a damn VHS. But hey I'm an obsessive collector. Was the film worth 50 Dollars. Heck No. Did I enjoy it. We'll yeah. It's sorta interesting seeing the lead man go from so dark. Then flash back 2 him being all happy, bossed around nice guy 2 being all hard again like Eastwood. It's quite amusing.I honestly wish more classy noirs were made & not updated in anyway except color. It sucks I searched everywhere for a cheap bootleg hopefully on DVD. Nope, all bootlegs are of the original film. Most people hardly know this film exists.Oh trust me it does & it's a miracle it exists at all & I do get a smile on my face knowing I'm 1 of the only people who probably owns it. I'd suggest someone buying it. But whoops. Just like with Hoodlums & The Big Heist. Looks like I got the only available copy. We'll sorry about that. Maybe 1 day they'll get released. I've actually scene Hoodlums available on some bootleg sites.

I've watched this twice, and something about it is incredibly engrossing. It's simple and unpretentious. The two main characters take sole focus, as they should in a film like this, so you quickly forgive the low-budget aura. Film noir grittiness at its best. Tom Neal is good, but Ann Savage's fierce performance makes this movie. She is remarkable to watch considering she was only 24 at the time. Two sad souls on a path to destruction. Compelling stuff. The restored version is the only one to watch. The unrestored version is nearly unwatchable.

Al Roberts(Tom Neal) is down and out: broke and hungry and his only mode of transportation is his thumb. But Al doesn't like hitchhiking: "It's dangerous. You never know what's in store for you". But nothing will deter him from finding his love, Sue(Claudia Drake). Al and Sue used to perform at the second-rate "Break 'O Dawn " nightclub in New York City(Sue was the vocalist, Al the piano player). Their relationship was "healthy" and Al was "in heaven" until Sue abandoned him for her dream of stardom in Hollywood. But Sue's dream went bust and now she is slinging hash. Al determines to find her and take care of her. In the Arizona desert he is picked up by a pill popping "piece of cheese and big blowhard" named Haskell(Edmund MacDonald). Haskell has nasty looking scratches on his arms, the result of an encounter with a woman who didn't appreciate his attempt to get "friendly". When Haskell zonks out from the pills Al takes over the driving. Sometime in the night Haskell dies and Al panics. Afraid he will be blamed for murdering Haskell, Al hides his body in the desert. Then he takes off with the dead man's identity and car. Outside Los Angeles he picks up a hitchhiker named Vera. Vera is played by Ann Savage and never was an actress so aptly named for her part: Vera is the most ferocious female ever seen on screen. Her eyes blaze with Hell fury. Her voice cuts like a machete and every word that passes through her snarling lips is an insult. At her most charming she is a vicious drunk. Unfortunately for Al, Vera is Haskell's "unfriendly" woman. She knows Al isn't Haskell and quickly takes control of him with threats of turning him in to the police so he can have some of "that perfume" Arizona dispenses in the gas chamber. Vera decides Al will sell the car and give her all the money. But to facilitate this they must pose as husband and wife. Al is about to close the deal on the car when Vera stops him: she has discovered that Haskell's wealthy,dying father wants to be reunited with the son he hasn't seen in fifteen years. Vera tells Al he is going to pose as Haskell and collect millions. For the first time Al stands up to the bullying woman and refuses. The two argue through a booze soaked night. Finally, a drunken Vera grabs the phone, locks herself in the bedroom, and tries to call the police. Al grabs the cord from the other side of the door and tries to pull the phone away. When he enters the room he discovers that Vera, in her drunkeness, fell with the cord wrapped around her neck. Al has accidentally strangled her. Once again, afraid he will be accused of murder, Al drifts away into the night.What makes "Detour" so intriguing is it's point of view. We never see anything as it happens. Al narrates the action, we know only what he tells us. And Al isn't telling the truth about a lot of things: Al, Sue, and Vera are not young. Al is pushing middle age and the women are already middle aged. And Vera is definitely not beautiful. Quite frankly, she is a hag. And a lot of things make no sense: Why do they need to pose as a married couple? Why has Al been hitchhiking for years? It doesn't take that long to get from New York to California. Is it really plausible that the lazy, passive Al would actually take care of Sue? And why is he so sure he will be accused of murdering Haskell? After all, the man's system will be full of drugs. More likely, Al's profession is kept man and Sue is another dead body in another run down apartment house. "Detour" is an endless guessing game of possibilities.The movie is famous for it's cheapness but it really isn't that bad. There are other movies with bigger budgets that look worse. The quality of this DVD is pretty good. There is one bad place but that is obviously on the negative. All in all, an excellent buy for the price. Highest recommendation.

Detour is one of the classic Film Noirs; very much a low budget “B” movie of the time it is nevertheless one of the key movies of the genre; this NTSC US import edition offers a very poor transfer of the film (which is in the public domain) and there's some obvious damage and frame-jumping.Until recently there was no alternative, but in 2019 Criterion released a properly restored version with many extras on Blu-ray, so if you have a player that's the one to go for.As there is – as yet – no comparable DVD edition, this is the best you'll find; it's tolerable, but be prepared for a low standard.There are no extras or subtitles on the disc.

There are several fascinating things about this film, and in a way the fun begins once you've watched it and if you are drawn to find out a little about its making and makers.The movie comes in a very poor DVD print - grainy and gloomy. But bear with it as in a way the strange subject matter is almost improved by the lousy print.This B-movie was shot in six days with a budget of approximately $20,000, and we are told that scenes left over from other films (and even included in them) were used here to keep down costs. The director Edgar Ulmer found footage of the eastbound Los Angeles to New York highway, and decided to use it in the scenes where Tom Neal picks up the hitchhiking Ann Savage and then drives on. As Neal was heading west to LA, the film had to be flipped over to show the reverse; this caused the cars to appear to be driving on the wrong side of the road, and the hitchhiker to enter the car on the driver's side. But still Ulmer used the footage!Tom Neal, the co-star, was an actor of little talent and unpleasant habits - drunken, violent and abusive. On set he was more than once disciplined for groping female members of cast and crew. A dumb, nasty piece of work you think - and then you read that at 24 he was awarded a law degree from Harvard University! Well worth checking out his wikipedia entry.Ann Savage, the other co-star (who died on Christmas Day 2008), never built on her success here as the movie quickly passed into oblivion until it was picked up decades later as a film noir B-movie classic. She dropped out of motion pictures and took office work. In 1983, she attended a screening of Detour held as a tribute to director Edgar Ulmer. Ulmer's widow was saying in a Q/A session that she had no idea what had happened to Savage, whereupon a half-remembered voice came loud and clear from the back of the cinema: "I'm right here!"The film itself is a classic exposition of film noir - creepy atmosphere, tasks undertaken that seem doomed from the start, dislikeable characters, impure motives, harsh lighting. But really its status is all about Ann Savage. From her extraordinary introduction when Neal stops to pick her up, she burns with an energy that consumes him and the viewer as she plays with and humiliates him. It's fitting that Neal never manages to quell her since her demise is a clumsy accident.Just a bravura acting performance that takes the breath away. Highly recommended.

One of the better films from "King of The B's" Edgar G Ulmer, Detour is a classic film knocked out on a tiny budget in 6 days, but holds its own and then some with bigger budget fare. Particularly of note is Ann Savage's performance as Vera, the gorgon en route to LA picked up by Tom Neal on his downward spiral of fate.Beware however, the quality of this DVD is truly horrendous and if you can find another edition of it go for that one!

The stars are for the film - a superb example of early film noir. This transfer, though, is a disgrace and merits minus five stars. I returned mine as I considered it unwatchable - there are levels that one can get used to but this is beyond redemption.

Notoriously difficult to get a decent print of legendary B noir, shot in six days. As it stands it seems the Region 1 Image Entertainment is about the best out there.