It's a tribute to Edgar Ulmer that "Detour", made for about thirty thousand dollars, still keeps an interest with new fans who discover it. According to some comments, "Detour" has not been seen in this country in quite a while, but we recall the first time we saw it when it was presented at New York's Film Forum as part of a Film Noir festival in the late eighties. The copy shown recently on TCM has a poor quality, while the print we saw at Film Forum was in better condition.

What makes "Detour" a must see, is the clever way its narrative unfolds on the screen. Al and Sue are seen first in the small bistro he plays the piano and she sings, in Manhattan. Sue sings a happy rendition of "I Can't Believe You're in Love with Me", and Al shows he can improvise on a theme by Chopin as he jazzes it up. When Sue decides to pack it and move to L.A., Tom promises he'll follow. The tragic mistake he makes is to intent crossing the country hitchhiking. Even in the forties, it's a miracle he made it alive!

In Arizona Al meets the kind Charles Haskell, who happens to be going all the way to L.A. and offers him a ride. The two men develop an easy friendship until the point when Haskell dies of an apparent heart attack. Al disposes of the body and keeps going, assuming now, Haskell's persona. At the nearest gas station he sees a pretty woman, Vera, who appears is hitchhiking, and offers her a ride. This will prove to be his biggest mistake.

Vera turned out to be Al's worst nightmare. She knows Al is not Haskell since she, herself, knows the man. Al ends up a virtual prisoner hiding in the apartment they have rented in Hollywood. He can't escape. When Vera realizes there's a lot of money to be made by having Al pretend to impersonate the dead Haskell, he refuses. She threatens to call the police and he is left on the other room pulling the telephone cord...

The film works because all the elements are in place in this satisfying 67 minutes work and because of the great performances Mr. Ulmer got out of Tom Neal and Ann Savage. Edmund MacDonald and Claudia Drake played Haskell and Sue.

"Detour" was shot in two sets and it shows. It's a small film that doesn't pretend what it's not, and that's basically why audiences seem to like it as it's discovered.

This is a very low-budget movie with a small cast and simple sets and camera-work. However, despite the simplicity of the film, it succeeds very well and is better than the average Film Noir picture. This is because the script, though having a few holes, is very creative and original. Plus, the writers really did a good job of catching the snappy Noir-style dialog. I have seen a lot of non-Noir films called "Film Noir", but this movie's grittiness, lack of sentimentality and characters make it a perfect example of the genre. About the only problems with the film were the ridiculous way Tom Neal reacted when the owner of the car hit his head and the incident with the telephone just didn't seem plausible at all. But, considering how well everything else was handled and how the film kept me on the edge of my seat, I still strongly recommend this film and think young film makers MUST see this film to understand it doesn't take a big budget to make a great film--something Hollywood should remember a little more often.

Shot for chump change by the Poverty Row PRC company, Detour with its incredible performances has become a deserved cult item. It blew me away the first time I ever saw it and still does.

Tom Neal spent the rest of his life cursing the day he decided not to wait until he had the price of a train ticket from East Coast to West Coast. Or even more important that he didn't do the right thing and just report the death of Edmund McDonald to the authorities, the guy who gave him a lift on a dark rainy night. We're more forensics conscious these days due to shows like CSI and Law And Order. Forensics would have shown McDonald just simply died of a heart attack, stroke, whatever. Important though that it wasn't a homicide.

In his flashback narration for the audience Neal goes through all his justification for assuming McDonald's identity, taking his cash, belongings and clothes and car and leaving the dead guy on the side of road under some brush. But as luck would have it, he runs into one drop dead gorgeous woman also looking for a lift. The hormones take over and ruin him because Ann Savage happened to know McDonald and knows Neal ain't him.

After that Savage inflicts herself into Neal's life and the film is one acid portrayal of these two people who are now joined at the hip and hating every minute of it. If Detour had been done at a major studio we might have been talking Oscars for Neal and Savage. As it was this minor PRC film didn't guarantee big star careers for either of them.

Detour, don't make a wrong choice and detour away from seeing this minor classic.