Detour (1945 film)
| Detour | |
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theatrical release poster
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| Directed by | Edgar G. Ulmer |
| Produced by | Leon Fromkess |
| Screenplay by | Martin Goldsmith |
| Based on |
Detour: An Extraordinary Tale (1939 novel) by Martin Goldsmith |
| Starring |
Tom Neal Ann Savage |
| Narrated by | Tom Neal |
| Music by | Leo Erdody |
| Cinematography | Benjamin H. Kline |
| Edited by | George McGuire |
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Production
company |
PRC Pictures
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| Distributed by | Producers Releasing Corporation |
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Release date
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Running time
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67 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $20,000-$100,000 |
Detour is a 1945 American film noir directed by Edgar G. Ulmer starring Tom Neal and Ann Savage. It was adapted by Martin Goldsmith and Martin Mooney (uncredited) from Goldsmith's eponymous 1939 novel and released by the Producers Releasing Corporation (PRC), one of the so-called "poverty row" film studios in mid-twentieth century Hollywood.
Although made on a small budget, with bare sets and straightforward camera work, Detour has gathered much praise through the years and is held in high regard. In 1992, Detour was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant".
The film has fallen into the public domain and is freely available from online sources. There are many DVD editions.
Piano player Al Roberts (Tom Neal) is drinking coffee at a roadside diner in Reno, hitchhiking east from California, when a fellow patron plays a song on the jukebox that reminds him of his former life in New York City. At the time, Al was bitter about squandering his talent working in a cheap nightclub. After his girlfriend Sue Harvey (Claudia Drake), the nightclub vocalist, leaves to seek fame in Hollywood, he decides to go to California and marry her. With little money, he is forced to hitchhike his way across the country.
In Arizona, bookie Charles Haskell, Jr. (Edmund MacDonald) gives Al a ride in his convertible and tells him that he's in luck: he's driving all the way from Florida to Los Angeles to place a bet on a horse. During the drive, he has Al pass him pills several times. That night, Al is driving while Haskell sleeps. When a rainstorm forces Al to pull over to put up the top, he is unable to rouse Haskell. Al opens the passenger-side door and Haskell falls out, striking his head on a rock. Al then realizes the bookie is dead. Fearful that the police will believe he killed Haskell, Al drags the body off the road, takes the dead man's money, clothes, and identification, and drives away.
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Wikipedia