Detour (1945) - Noirvember

Vera: I'm gonna see that you sell this car so you don't get caught.
Al Roberts: Thanks! Of course, your interest wouldn't be financial, would it? You wouldn't want a small percentage of the profits?
Vera: Well, now that you insist, how can I refuse? 100% will do!
Al Roberts: Fine! I'm relieved! I thought for a moment you were gonna take it all!
Vera: I don't wanna be a hog!

Director:  Edgar G. Ulmer
Producer:  Leon Fromkess
Main Cast:  Tom Neal, Ann Savage
Runtime:  68 minutes

So, you want a quick full-on introduction to what Film Noir is?  Made on a low budget and filmed in about 28 days, Detour (1945) is the epitome of Film Noir.  It was the first “B” movie to be chosen by the Library on Congress in 1992 for preservation (the same year in which a direct remake of the film starring Tom Neal’s own son playing the same character as his father did some 42 years earlier) which in itself says a lot about the importance of this film in history, particularly Film Noir history.  Much like the Noir classic D.O.A (1950), this film just screams noir and ranks high because of that yet sadly it also does not have a decent release available for the public to enjoy.

Soon after the movie starts Al Roberts (Tom Neal) is in a diner and the scene darkens while a dim light shines on his eyes as he begins to narrate the tragic story of how he came to be in this low state he is currently in.  He recalls the fun times of being in a jazz band in New York but in particular the joy he had when he was with his girl Sue Harvey (Claudia Drake).  Then comes the news that Sue is moving west to Hollywood and sometime later Al decides to hitchhike his way to Hollywood to meet up again with Sue and marry her.  His journey however, led him on a very different path.  The driver (Charles Haskel Jr. played by Edmund MacDonald) of his main ride to the west mysteriously dies and afraid that the police will not believe him, Al hides the body and takes on his identity.  All seemed to be going ok until Al ends up crossing paths with a girl who knew Charles Haskell and she ends up blackmailing him.

Yep, the above look is not one of love and affection!  Ann Savage plays the part to a “T” and it was even said that her performance was 30 years ahead of its time.  Tom Neal plays bit a of a weak fella whose main goal is simply to reach the girl he loves and ends up making bad choices along the way until he meets up with Ann’s character who makes it all the worse.  

I had heard so much about this movie while exploring the “Film Noir” theme and whilst it was not the first Noir, it was certainly ground-breaking in its raw portrayal of the femme fatale and therefore in some ways ahead of its time.  Unlike the majority of Film Noir’s, a good portion of the film is in rural areas and smaller towns, though not to the same extent as Rode the Pink Horse, Border Incident or The Live by Night along with various others, but the Noir theme is so strong and clear in the hopelessness of Al and the obsessive passion of Vera that it just cannot be missed.  Al’s desire is to go to Hollywood to be with his sweetheart but when he arrives he is held back from making contact because of Vera’s possessive behaviour that has desire for him but to a somewhat lesser extent than the potential dollars that could be coming her way if she can just convince Al to pull of one more impersonation of Charles Haskell Jr. (the original driver who mysteriously died).  With two characters at the edge something has to give and…..well your just going to have to watch it to find out how it ends!

The DVD reviewed was imported from USA and was released by a company called Image Entertainment which is the best one to go for as it has the strongest image compared to the other releases out there.  I was able to snag this one for about AUD $14 through Fishpond so they are available but you just need to dig around a little.  That aside, the film is in the public domain (no one has renewed the copyright for the film) so you can get it on Youtube or in the archive of public domain films here https://archive.org/details/Film_Noir along with many others.

The image quality of this DVD is in a 1.33:1 aspect ratio and is quite good from a detail and sharpness point of view, though there is a lot of scratches, dust, marks and whatever else you can think of but it’s not a mushy mess like some of the other releases (you can see a comparison here http://www.dvdbeaver.com/film/DVDCompare3/detour.htm) and whilst the audio is OK, there are some instances where it drops out for a fraction of a second along with a few missed frames.  So overall, it’s not what you would show if you were trying to give a good example of what a restored film looks like, but it’s the best copy of the film we have publicly available so we can’t complain.

The film is simply a classic Film Noir and is begging for a good restoration.  It’s not big budget high quality stuff like Out of the Past or In a Lonely Place but simply just reeks of Noir themes with a great femme fatale.  Hopefully a good source will be found and a boutique company like Arrow or Criterion will be able to give it a fresh restoration to bring life back into this cracker of a Noir.  Highly recommended for Noir fans!

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